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Gary’s Year In Books

Gary’s 2024 Year in Books

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Gary J. George’s Followers (96)

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currently-reading (60)
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David Heslop

93 books | 52 friends

Michael Francis

190 books | 259 friends

Marianne Long

512 books | 19 friends

Connie Bredernitz

1,174 books | 2 friends

Ashleigh Pressy

3,825 books | 23 friends

Danny Mac

18 books | 5,001 friends

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242 books | 2,923 friends

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14,950 books | 752 friends

Gary J. George

Goodreads Author

Genre

Mystery, Crime

Member Since

August 2013

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Gary George spent his teenage years in Needles, California, and his Smoke Tree novels are set in the Mojave Desert of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Gary was blessed with a long and happy marriage to his beloved, Ginny Boyd, author of the book "Birdy Bird." When Ginny died in January 2018, Gary could not write for a while. However, during a seventy-mile backpacking trip across the desert from the Colorado River to the middle of the Mojave National Preserve in May of that year, he began to come to terms with her death. When he returned home, he discovered that immersing himself in his writing allowed him a few hours of relief from sadness, and he began work on "The Carnival, The Cross, and the Burning Desert."
In 2024, Gary was diagnosed with ...more

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Combine Editions
Gary J. George’s books

Average rating: 4.57 · 5,635 ratings · 460 reviews · 16 distinct works • Similar authors

	Horse Hunts (Smoke Tree Mystery #2) 4.46 avg rating — 671 ratings — published 2014 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The House of Three Murders (Smoke Tree Mystery, #1) 4.41 avg rating — 639 ratings — published 2013 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Deep Desert Deception (Smoke Tree Mystery #5) 4.69 avg rating — 548 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Death on a Desert Hillside (Smoke Tree Mystery #4) 4.65 avg rating — 540 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Walks Always Beside You (Smoke Tree Mystery #7) 4.65 avg rating — 503 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mojave Desert Sanctuary (Smoke Tree Mystery #3) 4.57 avg rating — 493 ratings — published 2015 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Woman of the Desert Moon (Smoke Tree Mystery #9) 4.60 avg rating — 467 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Carnival, The Cross, and the Burning Desert (Smoke Tree Mystery #6) 4.55 avg rating — 446 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Desert Drowning (Smoke Tree Mystery #8) 4.62 avg rating — 426 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Devil in the Desert Wind 4.56 avg rating — 403 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Gary J. George's Blog

Mojave Desert Jezebeth

The twelfth book in the Smoke Tree Series, "Mojave Desert Jezebeth," will be finished this summer. I'm having great fun writing it.

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Published on April 23, 2025 11:08

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Series by Gary J. George

Smoke Tree Mystery (9 books)
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Gary J. George (Goodreads Author)

4.57 avg rating — 4,728 ratings

Gary is Currently Reading

Gary George is currently reading

Separation Anxiety

by Laura Zigman

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Mar 06, 2022 10:01AM

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The Bottoms

by Joe R. Lansdale (Goodreads Author)

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The Magician

by Colm Tóibín

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Mar 06, 2022 10:00AM

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Gary’s Recent Updates

Gary George finished reading The Raven Spell (Conspiracy of Magic, #1) by Luanne G. Smith (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 21, 2025 12:25PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Raven Spell by Luanne G. Smith. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Raven Spell by Luanne G. Smith <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Gary George finished reading DeadFall: A Navajo Nation Mystery by R. Allen Chappell	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 21, 2025 12:25PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of DeadFall by R. Allen Chappell. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — DeadFall by R. Allen Chappell <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Gary George finished reading The Englishman's Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 21, 2025 12:25PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Englishman's Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Englishman's Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Gary George rated a book it was amazing The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 11, 2025 09:12AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Gary George is now following James R. and Patricia Pizzato
Sep 04, 2025 08:49AM
Gary George rated a book it was amazing In the Moon of Red Ponies (Billy Bob Holland, #4) by James Lee Burke	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 15, 2025 02:21PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of In the Moon of Red Ponies by James Lee Burke. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — In the Moon of Red Ponies by James Lee Burke <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
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Gary George rated a book it was amazing Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 13, 2025 03:34PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Gary George rated a book it was amazing How the Light Gets In by Joyce Maynard (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Quotes by Gary J. George (?)

“We will pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”
― Gary J. George, The House of Three Murders

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“There are those who think the desert has been dealt so severe and desiccated a hand by nature that it cannot be rendered more singular and sere by any act of man. But it can be. It had been. And would be yet again. Greed and avarice can always further denigrate even the bleakest of realms. Deep Desert Deception”
― Gary J. George

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Cozy Mysteries : Title and Author Game, Round 2	15570	1206	Mar 21, 2016 09:15AM
Cozy Mysteries : Mystery ABC's, Round 4	14302	802	Jan 05, 2019 05:39AM
Cozy Mysteries : Title and Author game, Round 5	7285	327	May 14, 2020 09:14PM
Cozy Mysteries : Mystery ABC's, Round 5	6766	353	May 14, 2020 09:27PM
Cozy Mysteries : Mystery ABC’s game, Round 6	3761	202	Jan 16, 2021 07:07PM
Cozy Mysteries : Title and Author, Round 9	4795	739	Oct 17, 2025 01:16PM

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Gary’s Quotes

“All America lies at the end of the wilderness road, and our past is not a dead past, but still lives in us. Our forefathers had civilization inside themselves, the wild outside. We live in the civilization they created, but within us the wilderness still lingers. What they dreamed, we live, and what they lived, we dream.”
― T. K. Whipple

tags: america, wilderness

51 likes

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“The boy was called from his work of teaching the dog to retrieve a stick. Secretly, the dog thought he was teaching the boy to throw it. They both came to the call rather reluctantly as each felt himself just on the verge of success.”
― R. Allen Chappell, Boy Made of Dawn

8 likes

“A single person is missing for you, and the whole world is empty.”
― Philippe Ariès

2364 likes