Stars, Storms, and the River of Life

Following a young lady’s abduction, Brad Walker is forced into a race against time if her life is to be spared. In a dramatic encounter with the single person who holds a key to deciphering the abductor’s deranged mind, Walker enters the shadowed chambers of religious fundamentalism and polygamy. A woman who came from this world must be convinced to resurrect tortured memories and re-live a life she had courageously managed to escape. Life-long convictions of love and loyalty become clouded in an eye-to-eye collision with hatred and betrayal.

And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

Sadly, the truth is sometimes a dungeon.

The solace of fly-fishing in wilderness waters, the magnificence of New Mexico’s landscape and the history of the Southwest become threads of a canvas that portrays a twisted criminal mind, human courage and hope for new beginnings. Unending devotion to his deceased wife and a new love who has miraculously entered his life are Brad Walker’s source of strength as he confronts the epitome of evil in a remote corner of New Mexico.

Stars, Storms and the River of Life is the fourth Brad Walker novel of suspense. Colorado Humanities, Center for the Book, selected the second novel, Strangers, Lovers and the Winds of Time as a finalist for the 2015 Book of the Year, Mystery Category.

Please scroll below to see photographs of scenes depicted in the book.

Valles Caldera, National Preserve, Northern New MexicoPhotograph by Author — **Valles Caldera, National Preserve, Northern New Mexico**
**Photograph by Author**

“Afternoon light slanted in a manner that caused the rolling valleys of the Caldera to illuminate as if subterranean lights glowed from within the earth.

‘What is it about this place?’ Brad whispered the question as he contemplated the vastness within the Caldera’s encircling rim.”

Rio San Antonio, Valles Caldera, National Preserve, Northern New MexicoPhotograph by Author — **Rio San Antonio, Valles Caldera, National Preserve, Northern New Mexico**
**Photograph by Author**

"It was amazing to Brad that, within the rugged peaks of the surrounding mountains, a landscape so gentle as the Caldera somehow existed. Idyllic meadows stretched endlessly and streams, such as Rio San Antonio, meandered with dispositions so delicate that, if one paid attention, the ages drifting within the water could be seen and felt."

Highway on the plateau of Johnson Mesa, Northern New MexicoPhotograph by Author — **Highway on the plateau of Johnson Mesa, Northern New Mexico**
**Photograph by Author**

“Brad felt he and his truck had somehow flown onto an island in the sky. Driving the narrow road, he felt as though they were soaring. It was absolute exhilaration.”

“Sheer majesty. The air was at peace and immense silence lay over the land."

Landscape as seen from Johnson Mesa, Northern New MexicoPhotograph by Author — **Landscape as seen from Johnson Mesa, Northern New Mexico**
**Photograph by Author**

“Rangeland extended until time and space converged into imagination of the planet’s birth: Volcanic mountains, mounds, cones, plugs and vents, the ancestral skeletons of a boiling planet.”

St. John’s Methodist Episcopal Church, Johnson Mesa, Northern New MexicoPhotograph by Author — **St. John’s Methodist Episcopal Church, Johnson Mesa, Northern New Mexico**
**Photograph by Author**

“Even though it was quite old, the stone and mason structure was obviously well cared for. Sitting atop the the elevated heights of Johnson Mesa in a world of beauty and solitude, St. John’s Methodist Episcopal Church was the only vestige of human habitation for miles."

Interior, St. John’s Methodist Episcopal Church, Johnson Mesa, Northern NewMexicoPhotograph by Author — **Interior, St. John’s Methodist Episcopal Church, Johnson Mesa, Northern New**
**Mexico**
**Photograph by Author**

"What did he feel? Was it heartsickness for his past or reverence of the present moment? How many hours of his life had been spent in churches so very similar to this. Brad looked to the piano. Its aged keys held their own life and memories and could tell countless stories of people, labor, marriages and funerals."

“Three tear-drop shaped windows lined walls on both sides, offering views to the miles of open, rolling land.”

Cemetery, Folsom, New MexicoPhotograph by Author — **Cemetery, Folsom, New Mexico**
**Photograph by Author**

“Exquisite beauty but extreme loneliness were the eternal companions to those laid to rest in this tiny patch of New Mexico soil. Wind stirred as he stepped through the gate. In a ripple over the prairie, sunflowers and grasses swayed and headstones appeared to rise and fall as though they floated on ocean swells."

“‘…Brad moved to where the dog had been lying. His eyes widened as the gravestone that had served as a resting place to the dog came into view:

George McJunkin

1856- 1922

Brad was stunned. This was the grave of the black cowboy he had just read about, whose discovery had shredded scientific theories and assumptions about early man in North America. ‘“Absolutely amazing!’” Brad’s words were carried on the wind.’"

Grave of Sarah Rooke, Folsom, New Mexico CemeteryPhotograph by Author — **Grave of Sarah Rooke, Folsom, New Mexico Cemetery**
**Photograph by Author**

“This was the grave of Sarah Rooke, the telephone operator who had died in the flood of 1908 while attempting to warn others of impending danger. Etched in a bronze plaque were words memorializing her heroism. Brad silently mouthed the words as he read the inscription."

Sarah Rooke Memorial, Folsom, New Mexico CemeteryPhotograph by Author — **Sarah Rooke Memorial, Folsom, New Mexico Cemetery**
**Photograph by Author**

Bronzed memorial on the headstone of Sarah Rooke.

In Honored Memory of

SARAH J. ROOKE

Telephone Operator

Who perished in the flood waters

Of the Dry Cimarron at Folsom, N.M.

August 27, 1908

While at her switchboard warning

others of their danger

With heroic devotion she glorified

Her calling by sacrificing her own

Life that others might live

“Greater love hath no man than this.”

Erected by her fellow workers