Cartel vengeance in Oregon\u2019s Lake County plagues Sheriff Henry \u201cBud\u201d Blair until his friends plan war against the Ortegas in the Mexican state of Sonora in an effort to keep Bud safe from reprisals. In a surprising turn of events, a rival cartel tries to make sure Bud\u2019s friends leave Mexican affairs to Mexicans.<\/p>\n
Back at home, Bud has his own hands full.<\/p>\n
Mariah\u2019s Song<\/em> also takes the reader into the desperate world of drug addiction. When street-wise, thirteen-year-old Mariah finds her mother passed out on the living room couch, she says \u201cBabs, you\u2019re gonna get high once too often.\u201d And when she sees Manny, her mother\u2019s live-in boyfriend trying to beat a man to death, her involuntary shout earns her a threat that sends her running for her life.<\/p>\n Her flight takes her to the High Desert where an Amber Alert leads Sheriff Blair and his deputies on a desperate search to find Mariah before Manny does.<\/p>\n