Outlaw Creek

Wildlife biologists, Whip Sawtell and Cat Bonner, enter an abandoned mine near Thermopolis, Wyoming to conduct a bat inventory. Along with bats, they find two dead men: one shot more than a hundred years ago, one killed very recently. An explosion at the mine entrance traps the two biologists underground. Before escaping they stumble upon a hidden cave and artifacts that point to the former owner of the mine, the famous outlaw, Butch Cassidy. Sawtell discovers his old foe, a Wyoming state senator who now owns the ranch and mine, may be involved. Is a modern-day band of brigands murdering people to protect a hundred year-old outlaw treasure? Or is this about something even more sinister? Sawtell identifies the killers then tracks them horseback over the Bighorn Mountains on the infamous 1880s-era Outlaw Trail that leads to the Wild Bunch hideout at Hole-in-the-Wall, Wyoming. Eventually the pursuit takes Sawtell to a ranch along the Mexican border near Bisbee, Arizona where he exposes a bizarre international smuggling operation.

R.J. Luce worked as a wildlife biologist in Wyoming for three decades surveying small mammals, deer, elk, pronghorn, and moose from a four-wheel drive pickup, snowmobile, small planes and helicopters. He also traversed hundreds of miles of caves and abandoned mines counting bats. He frequently backpacked in the mountains, often accompanied by his Labrador retriever. Luce had the good fortune to spend a lot of time in Hole-in-the-Wall Valley, Brown's Park, and the Copper Mountains in Wyoming. He has also traveled widely in Central America, Mexico, South America, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the western U.S. Luce has authored a number of technical wildlife publications and written wildlife-related articles for several outdoor magazines including Wyoming Wildlife Magazine, Bird Watchers Digest, and others. Arizona publisher, Treble Heart Books, published his first outdoor mystery book, Disappearance Creek, in 2009. MyPublisher published his photo essay book, River of Life, Four Seasons along Arizona's Upper Rio San Pedro, in 2012. Luce lives in the desert near Sierra Vista, Arizona; and visits Wyoming often.