Devils Canyon

The Apache County Series #2

by John F. Mullins

From the time Isaac ‘The Hanging Judge’ Parker sent his deputies into Indian Territory, Oklahoma has had a tradition of hiring gunmen and killers to enforce the law. Men whose ruthlessness matches or exceeds that of the murderers, bootleggers, drug dealers, rapists, bank robbers and assorted other miscreants who plague the place. These men can be heroes or villains - simply depending upon whose side you’re on.The new sheriff of Apache County is such a man.THE PLACEApache County, Oklahoma. Carved out of the Kiowa/Comanche Reservation around the turn of the century, settled by pioneers who had run out of other places to go. Many of these were honest, hard-working folk who simply wanted their own bit of land. However, there were those who had been run out of settlements throughout the Grifters, itinerant preachers who fled just ahead of the angry fathers of impregnated girls, bootleggers, murderers and ne’er-do-wells of all stripes. And their descendants carry on the traditions.Apache County is still a wild place, and growing wilder with each passing year. The country should never have been broken to the plow, rain being a phenomenon that completely passes by most of the time, and when it does come, comes in such torrents that it does little good and much harm. From a time when every quarter-section (160 acres) had a farmstead, it has become largely deserted; the closest neighbor often five to ten miles away. It is a place ready-made for those who simply seek isolation, as well as for those who are still running from something or somebody.Towns are little enclaves where the only successful business is the funeral home. Law enforcement is sketchy, underfunded, and often corrupt. This has not slipped by the attention of organized crime. Meth labs abound, marijuana patches line the wild lands along the river, and no one seems to care.THE MANJAMES NMI CARMICHAEL is one of those who came seeking isolation. He has returned to the place of his birth, and wants nothing more than to be left alone while he renovates and rebuilds the family farm.For Carmichael, this isolation is both a desirable and necessary thing. He has enemies, carry-overs from a lifetime of soldiering for an often-ungrateful government. But that isn’t the most important consideration. He’s just tired. Tired of fighting. Tired of constantly trying to do something good, only to see the effort collapse due to factors outside his control. Thirty years of near-constant war have left him with a desire to do nothing more than become an anonymous citizen who bothers no one.James Carmichael is very possibly the best-trained and most experienced consultant (he prefers this title to that of mercenary) ever to work for the U.S. Government. He started with the U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets), first as a medic and later as an officer, serving three tours in Vietnam. Wounded a number of times, highly decorated, he capped off Vietnam service by working in the ultra-secret Phoenix Program, where his job was to neutralize the Viet Cong Infrastructure – to capture or kill the people who sent the killers out. He was so good at his job that he was thrown out of Vietnam. Peacetime service in the Army chafed him, causing him to volunteer for “off the books” missions. It was during one of these missions that his pregnant wife died in a botched medical procedure. Consumed by guilt and rage, he assaulted the doctor responsible, and was invited to leave the Army. Thus when ROGER McMURDOCK, a CIA officer and his old boss from the Phoenix Program, approached him to work for the Agency as a contractor, he gladly took the job. Since then he has been a soldier-for-hire, working in every hot spot in the world. But now he just wants Peace. Even if he has to kill someone to get it..

231 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 18, 2013

Reviews

[Randal White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good book in the series. I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first, but this one really developed the main character. Really looking forward to the next two books. They need to make a movie out of the series. Starring Sam Elliot as the sheriff.

[Forrest Billington · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the proximity of the Devil's Canyon to a real Devil's Canyon of my youth. I have explored it and camped in it as a Boy Scout. Good plot and plenty of action, hard to put down, I read it in two settings.

[John Bowes · Rating 4 out of 5]

good follow up

Hope that unknown saviors from a previous life don’t keep showing up to save the day.
But a good author deserves credit for creating a realistic hero, who still gets hornet at his age.

[Ollie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Child Endangerment
Sheriff Jim Carmichael gets a call about a missing two year old. The search begins with the sheriff tracking the toddler. The FBI is called in and the race is on.

[judith hagmayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devils Canyon

These books ate really good. Can't seem to put them down.. Can't wait to read the next one..great books mr. Mullins

[Beverly Kee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book!

I really enjoyed this book, he reminded me of a very similar veteran in my life though mine didn't live in Oklahoma. Loved the tracking part! Great storyline!

[KerryO · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and Sheriff Jim Carmichael's approach to legal enforcement. I can only hope that the fate of other "Jeffie's" is as optimistic.

[Mary Stenvall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Series had a great beginning, then wandered off into a military stew, without any salt.

[Kevin Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simultaneous plots

Excellent and complex character development. Entertaining and intertwined plots. Keeps the reader guessing as to good guys and bad guys!