The Maya Bust

A secret stash, a hidden crypt, a father's love—spelled out in blood

When his commander's estranged daughter vanishes in Guatemala, Grant Casey treks a deadly jungle and dives a sacred cenote to free her from a drug smuggler looking for a stash in a Maya pyramid.

Before his death in a rain of gunfire at her Quinceañeria, Raxha's druglord father encoded a map on a cacao cup, a map that might lead her to millions in drugs in the tomb of Maya royalty. Unfortunately, his old mistress gave the cup to some Americans to prevent Raxha from completing the delivery and drawing the village back under the influence of the deadly Zetas cartel. Determined to claim her father's legacy, kidnapping is only the beginning of a quest that may end with Raxha tearing out the heart of her enemy.

Awakened by a call from his old commander's ex, and sworn to secrecy about the rescue mission, Grant's integrity is torn. Does he betray his client's trust, or the man who hated him for so long, the man who risked his life to save Grant's own? He sets up for his CO to follow the clues while he tracks down Lexi's friends to find the cup—and only then finds out Lexi's boyfriend is missing, too. How complicated could this get? Oh, yeah, Lexi is deaf, the police are complicit, and their adversary keeps a pet jaguar. When the ransom exchange goes south, Grant embeds with the bad guys in a desperate attempt to rescue the victims before they become the latest blood sacrifice.

E. C. Ambrose writes knowledge inspired adventure fiction including The Dark Apostle series about medieval surgery, The Singer's Legacy fantasy series as by Elaine Isaak, and the Bone Guard international thrillers as by E. Chris Ambrose. Her latest releases are The Maya Bust (Bone Guard 4), and The King of Next Week (Guardbridge). In the process of researching her books, Elaine learned how to hunt with a falcon, clear a building of possible assailants, and pull traction on a broken limb. Her short stories have appeared in Fireside, Warrior Women and Fantasy for the Throne, among many others, and she has edited several volumes of New Hampshire Pulp Fiction. A graduate of the Odyssey Writing Workshop, Elaine has returned there to teach, as well as at conventions and writer's groups across the country. She has judged writing competitions from New Hampshire Literary Idol to the World Fantasy Award. Elaine dropped out of art school to found her own business. A former professional costumer and soft sculpture creator, Elaine now works as a part-time adventure guide. In addition to writing, Elaine creates wearable art employing weaving, dyeing and felting into her unique garments. To learn about all of her writing, check out RocinanteBooks.com