Acknowledgments

We say this novel is set on the Utah-Arizona border and that the action unfolds across many jurisdictions. But this story takes place on Native land. So much of American fiction does.

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Thanks to my agent, Nat Sobel, who saw a certain criminality in my writing and encouraged me to explore it. My editor Jennifer Alton’s work and insights transformed this book. This perfect cover comes from Donna Cheng. Thanks to Megan Fishmann, Lena Moses-Schmitt, Katherine Boland, Rachel Fershleiser, Jack Shoemaker, Jordan Koluch, and everyone at Counterpoint Press. They are the champions. And thank you, Dallin Jay Bundy, for being one of my first and best readers.

Before there was a story, there were hundreds of conversations with rangers, American Indian people, archeologists, geologists, biologists, cartographers, morticians, librarians, police officers, historians, curators, writers, adventurers, neighbors, colleagues, students, acquaintances, and friends. Thank you for sharing your time, expertise, and insights. Many thanks to Southern Utah University special collections librarian Paula Mitchell for her inspired assistance. I am also indebted to Dr. Johnny MacLean for checking my stratigraphy over and over.

I would like to express my thanks to Southern Utah University for their generous support. A faculty development grant helped me travel to gather the first details of this book, and a semester sabbatical gave me the time to revise the manuscript.

Finally, I want to thank my wife, Alisa, for letting me tell her the unformed bits and pieces of this story one hundred million times until they finally came together.