Amazon RL Coffield Moonlight Mesa Associates Nothing Binding Category:  Action/Thriller Publisher: Moonlight Mesa Associates ISBN-10:  9780977459339 Type: Fiction Pages: 196 Copyright: September 2008 ISBN-13: 9780977459339 Set in the Sonoran Desert, Death in the Desert brings the current fiascos with the Mexican border, illegal immigration and drug issues to literature through a fast-paced, compelling fictitious scenario. Death, drugs and despair leave their mark across the torpid stretch of desert along the Arizona border as an Arab-sponsored Mexican drug cartel is bent on seeing a Mexican flag waving at the White House, and Americans on their knees begging for mercy...in Spanish. R.L. Coffield’s newest release, Death in the Desert, brings the current fiascos with the Mexican border, illegal immigration and drug issues to literature through a fast-paced, compelling, fictitious scenario that is politically and socially very timely. Deaths, drugs and despair leave their mark across the torpid stretch of desert along the Arizona border – and into towns and cities across America. The novel proposes that the elusive weapons of mass destruction that the Americans have waged a war against are not nuclear missiles and chemically engineered diseases. Rather, the real weapons of mass destruction grow in poppy and coca fields round the world, fields that the United States government subsidizes. An Arab-sponsored Mexican drug cartel is bent on seeing a Mexican flag waving at the White House, and Americans on their knees begging for mercy...in Spanish. Coffield uses Detective Ben Thomas and Chloe Littlebird one last time to solve a string of bizarre murders in the Arizona desert. Complicating Thomas’ investigation is U.S. Marshal Jake Starr, a rugged, popular Arizona hero who arouses the detective’s suspicion. When Thomas’ daughter and ex-wife are kidnapped while on vacation in Mexico, Starr’s assistance in rescuing them makes Thomas doubt his reasons for suspecting the marshal. Faced with yet another moral dilemma, Thomas chooses a dubious path. Readers will love the sad, sweet Mexican heroine Juanita Salcedo, despise the snake-like Miguel Lorenzo and positively hate the brutal, heinous Bill Passkey. Like "Northern Escape," the first novel in the trilogy, readers will again be completely surprised at the unexpected ending. Give this book a 5 star rating. It’s available on the publisher’s website and on amazon. this book is nothing if not controversial...and brutal.

Coffield Does it Again!
Coffield has done it again. Diabolical villaines, innocent victims and noble but engagingly flawed heroes weave their way through a tangle of mystery and intrigue as heated as the Sonoran Desert itself. A completely satisfying read that will leave you clamoring for more. Paula Silici, Editor and Author

Terrifying in its Implications!
Death in the Desert is a fast paced, romantic thriller taken right out of the night news! R.L. Coffield brings back ace investigator Ben Thomas and Chloe Littlebird, the former Alaska State Trooper that fans came to love in "Northern Escape." As Thomas and Littlebird investigate drug-related murders in the southwestern United States, Coffield again demonstrates an ability to combine convoluted plot, vivid characterization, and international tensions - a read that is terrifyiing in its implications!

Tom McDannold, Author, Publisher, Professor

Jeff Baker Review
Chekhov once said, "One must not put a loaded rifle on the stage if no one is thinking of firing it" and R. L. Coffield uses this technique masterly in her criminal drama, Death in the Desert. The book opens with detective Ben Thomas investigating the Cactus Murders in the Arizona desert when he comes upon an illegal immigrant holding her two dead children. Ominously, from the hills above this heat blanched valley, two antagonists, Jake Starr and Bill Passkey with murky pasts look on as this complex tale of poverty, revenge, corruption and crime unfolds at the cross-roads where illegal immigration and the narcotic trade meet.
A love triangle between Ben Thomas, his ex-wife and a former partner and lover floats atop this criminal drama and give the story a romantic counterpoint to its violent dénouement. Coffield leavens her story with enough hints and clues to make it a compelling mystery and it contains a rich attention to detail which gives the reader a feeling they're in room as the plot unfolds.
This book is a cogent examination of America's drug and immigration policies and should be required reading for anyone who thinks that there's no harm in just buying a "little" pot or cocaine. The novel is at times brutal and violent and at other times thoughtful and tender, but once the reader is swept up in this story it's very hard to put down.