Jonah Becker

The recently completed work, "Flash of Monochrome", grew from the seed of a single piece of information - the specialised forensics being brought to bear on the investigations of deaths of border migrants along the US / Mexico border. Many do not make the crossing, but perish in the desert. Some of the bodies are recovered, but many are never found. The victims of the grasping sands of the Arizona deserts come from as far afield as Central America. The corpses often carry clues to their origins; tokens, charms, letters, flowers, photographs, religious objects and in the case of the subject of this novel, tiny hummingbirds from Cuba.

"Flash of Monochrome" traces the investigation by forensic scientist, Gayle Antrim and desert bounty hunter Noon as they attempt to locate the origin of the men carrying the hummingbirds. The investigator pair's lives are wrapped up in the fate of another border crosser, the sexy, enigmatic Carminda, who has an unexplained and possibly sinister link with the two corpses. The plot takes the reader from Arizona to Belize and then on to the Yucatan Peninsula, where Carminda and Noon's relationship reaches a crossroads. In fact Noon and Gayle's working relationship also implodes.

Once Noon realises that he has had a brush with some very dangerous and determined people, he has no choice but to make that crossing himself, from which there can be no return.

"Flash of Monochrome" has intrigue, sex, violence, romance, obsession, betrayal and a plot driven hot and gritty by the flutter of tiny feathered wings.

My recent book, "Wounded" is contemporary fiction. The 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee is revisited by a young South Dakota student after he retrieves the remains of a carrier pigeon and its 120 year old message from a US Army General, written at the battle scene as the bitter winter freezes the scattered corpses of Sioux men, women and children. That message resonates in the sacred Black Hills to this day. Old scars are again made raw by the reminder of this infamous chapter in the taming of the wilderness.

"After the Maya" is contemporary fiction. A storm chaser retrieves a rare iron meteorite from the sands of the New Mexico desert. He gets there moments before those who have waited months for this precious celestial object to traverse the heavens, bringing with it a message. A message that is linked to, but looks beyond the Mayan 2012 prediction. This valuable object is sought by a number of parties for a diversity of reasons, but the meteorite slips from all of their grasps like the sands of the desert. The final fate of this lump of space debris says more about the clash of civilisations than anything else.

"Vegas Coyote". Contemporary Fiction. The 7th and final book in the Quaid Hudson series. This can be read as a stand-alone novella. A road trip through rural Texas. Quaid picks up a young female hitch hiker, a fugitive, small-time criminal, suspect in a killing. From the opening scene in a sleazy motel room at dawn, to the closing chapter set inside the museum of Erotic Heritage in Vegas, it will keep the reader guessing.

"Iron Shod"- contemporary fiction. The 6th book in the Quaid Hudson series. This can be read as a stand-alone novella. A gritty crime saga set at the edge of the human wilderness, a place occupied by drug dealers, bikers and neo Nazi survivalists. The open desert is no place for the unprepared, particularly if the locals didn't invite them.

"Silverillion" is a contemporary romantic thriller set in rural Texas. The 5th book in the Quaid Hudson series. This can be read as a stand-alone novella. Young rancher Quaid stumbles across a treasure hunter digging for Spanish silver and thereby becomes romantically entangled with the exotic leader of the local Apache clan. Quaid does not realise that what he thinks is an exciting romantic interlude is a high stakes power struggle in which he is unwittingly embroiled.

"Love Triangle at Armorillion" is a contemporary adult themed thriller - contains explicit content. The 4th in the Quaid Hudson series. This can be read as a stand-alone novella. An unashamed physical encounter with the heat, dust, light and sexually aware characters of the tiny towns of Chloride and Armorillion, NM. Consistently the most popular in the series.

"Day of the Dead" is the 3rd in the Quaid Hudson series and is the finale in the trilogy of stories featuring the desert shaman, Achai. This can be read as a stand-alone novella, without reading the prequel stories. Set in contemporary Mexico and Texas, the border drug wars rage and spread their evil. Violent, fast-paced, with subtle mystical undertones. A brutal and surprising finale' awaits the cartel's patron as he pursues his quest for revenge.

"Vengeance of the Crossing" is a contemporary thriller, 2nd in the Quaid Hudson series. Reads as a stand-alone novella. The drug cartel makes a cross-border kidnapping, hoping to lure their target, Achai, into Mexico. He obliges, bringing with him a reminder of the mystic undertones that make Mexico what it is today. "Vengeance" is fast-paced, intriguing, violent and romantic all in one.

"Curandero" is book 1 in the Quaid Hudson series. A coming of age tale set in an idyllic rural setting, tipping into a spiral of intrigue, danger and violence as young Quaid ignores the advice of his mentor, Achai. The story revolves around a unique plot hook that employs modern technology to force a surprising outcome. Should satisfy the reader's need for intrigue, violence, romance and a riveting modern story, set in a place little changed by modern progress.

An apartheid era memoir. Authentic, uncompromising, critical and humorous, "iJuba" takes no prisoners and spares no potential embarrassment. Names have been changed. Newspaper headlines from the day give context to the narrative. Gives a rare insight into the state of society under the apartheid regime.