The Devil's Hawk

Ornithologist Jon Wilder studies the native bird population in the Tucson area at about the same time that human smuggler The Hawk leaves six dead people in the nearby desert. Jon learns that the deceased include the sister of close friend Emilio Flores and five other family members abandoned without food or water during a border smuggling incident. Jon vows to bring the Hawk to justice over the objection of Emilio who insists that it is too dangerous to mess with the smuggler.Jon obtains the help of US Border Patrol Officer Max Montoya. However, she is shot during their investigation. Refusing to concede to the peril, Jon wears the garb of a priest as he enters Mexico to confront the deadly Hawk in the villain's aerie.Though the use of flukes of nature seems more like a bird's fancy, fans of Southwest amateur sleuth tales will enjoy THE DEVIL'S HAWK for its timely scenic look at the region with the impossible patrolling of the border and especially the fowl population. Jon appears to be brilliant in his professional field, but readers will need to overcome his volunteering as an amateur sleuth to achieve the impossible stretch that the Border Patrol has not been able to attain. Still, the settings are beautifully painted and incorporated so that the background enhances the action-packed story line leading to Ray Sipherd's novel being for those regional readers who delight in picturesque depictions filled with natural wonders and birdbrains.Harriet Klausner