Product Description

Once known as Raven, a thief of legend, mystery, and great cunning, Rheada Samuels grew up orphaned in the canyons of New Mexico, stealing valuable artifacts to support her sister.But Rheada is determined to leave that life behind.Now a tour guide in the canyons, she captivates listeners with stories of the land she knows and loves.But Rheada's past will reach out to snare her in a struggle with a man obsessed with unmasking and capturing the daring thief, even as it opens her heart to a desperate passion.An undercover cop haunted by his own past, Kee Blackburn finds himself trapped in the dark world Rheada is desperate to leave behind.His own younger sister, seduced by rumors of Raven, left to join the deadly world of artifact thieves--and lost her life.Fueled by a mad desire for revenge, Kee has spent three years in the canyons becoming like the criminals he hunts.Now, suspecting Rheada is Raven, he joins her tour group as a driver.But as he loses his heart to the woman he has sworn to destroy, he will be forced into a harrowing choice: redemption or sorrow.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2267448 in Books
• Published on: 2001-02-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 320 pages

Customer Reviews

Laura Baker knows how to write a fantastic work
In Grand Rincons, Utah, sisters Rheada and Tilly Samuels helped their father find Anasazi artifacts. Their father convinced Rheada that they were just protecting the treasures, but in fact, he was selling them. When he is murdered, Rheada takes charge of the family pottery business so she can raise Tilly.

Eleven years later, Rheada wants to go legit. She begins a tour business guiding customers into the canyons that were once home for the Anasazi and Aztecs. On the other hand, Tilly, who always was the more adventuresome, continues in the old family line of work over Rheada's objections.

Bureau of Land Management agent Kee Blackburn goes undercover trying to capture the legendary thief RAVEN. Although he has official sanction, this case is personal as he blames RAVEN for the disappearance and probable death of his younger sister. He thinks Rheada is the elusive thief. Attaining a job as Rheada's tour driver, Kee never expected to fall in love with his prime suspect, nor she with her new employee. However, the past and the present leave little room for a future together.

The picaresque tour of the Native American ruins make for a wonderful tale. Paired with stirring characters, readers gain a fantastic blending of Native American mythos with a contemporary romantic suspense. The story line compels the audience to read it in one sitting. Kee and Rheada share more then just love. They are a caring, courageous, and capable couple, but seemingly star-crossed. The secondary cast adds depth to a breathless panorama that will send fans seeking more novels by Laura Baker.

Harriet Klausner

Another Winner by Laura Baker
Laura Baker has done it again--created a masterpiece with her new novel, Raven. I'm amazed at how she is able to come up with such intriguing, complex, and totally believable plots and characters. Each chapter drew me right into the next-ruthless. As with Baker's previous works, also set in the Native American Southwest, I found the book difficult to put down. I finished it at 4:15 AM on my third sitting. And woke up dreaming about it later that morning.

I loved the way the book started off, eleven years prior to the setting of the rest of the novel with two young girls struggling to survive alone after the death of their father, relying on the only means they know--the stealing of valuable artifacts. The story picks up again with the older sister out on her own, attempting to make a new life for herself. The overlapping and intertwining circles of love and hate and convictions built on fallacies and glimmers of truth and denials of reality are simply mind-boggling. Baker's ability to weave all of the pieces back together by the conclusion of the novel is equally mind-boggling. And thoroughly engaging.

I loved Raven. This latest release is one more indication that Baker is an artist of supreme talent. Those who have read her previous works will not be disappointed. Those who have not, what are you waiting for?

In the Hillerman mode with romance!
If you love the late Tony Hillerman's tales, Native American atmosphere and a heck of a good love story all rolled into one, this one is for you. Ms. Baker lives in New Mexico and deftly weaves authentic color from the Native tribes into a tense mystery and a powerful love story. Both current and timeless, Raven pulls a reader into the scene with vivid detail and two powerful characters seeking a future after troubled pasts.