Desert Guardian: 1 (Relic Series Novel)

You make me homesick for The Canyon! This whole series recaptures the awesome feeling that is indescribable when it’s just you and the enormity of the desert in all it’s magnificence and resplendent glory! A wonderful break from the usual cityscape stories from other masters of the written tale…

Andrew W. Baldwin’s novel Desert Guardian is an adventure story with twists and turns, like the whitewater rapids of a river, winding its way through Horse Canyon in the Valley of Mexico. In the prologue, we learn that in 1224 AD, “the Mexica had been raiding the homes of the Ahote’s people for years….” The Ahote people fled the invaders, leaving behind them “strange headgear, necklaces, and metal-studded chin straps.” And, these ancient artifacts, are still in demand today by unscrupulous treasure hunters, collectors, and museum curators. The most dangerous among them is the treasure hunter, who will stop at nothing to take possession of buried, priceless artifacts. Driven by greed and wealth, they will even commit murder to get what they want.When Ethan, a college student with a degree in sociology, celebrating his recent graduation, inadvertently rides his rented bicycle over the edge of a canyon cliff nearly killing himself, Relic, a moonshining hermit, helps the young man to survive. Although Relic is satisfied that Ethan would keep his secret - no one knows of his existence, his living in the canyon, along the ledges of the red-rock cliffs, and in the caves, guarding the desert artifacts - he wasn’t so sure that Anya and Tim, tour guides, and a whitewater rafting group would do the same. Mirroring the invaders of 1224 AD, Boss sends into the canyon a group of treasure hunters to locate and dig up artifacts.The confrontation between the desert guardians and the treasure hunters is quite thrilling, especially, as Baldwin takes us, step-by-step, through the steep-walled canyons, along red-rock cliffs, and narrow ledges, into dark crevasses and caves, and takes us on an exciting and harrowing whitewater-rapid ride down a winding river. As Relic, Ethan, and Anya run for their lives, to evade capture and death, at the hands of the invaders, you might wonder if a recluse, with a sling shot, could out-maneuver a man with a gun. The continued peace and tranquility of Relic’s canyon world will rest upon it.Desert Guardian by Andrew W. Baldwin is a thrilling adventure, a thrilling ride, one that you will remember for a long time. Therefore, I highly recommend this book to all readers.

A fun read....Characters are interesting and had me to the end. A. W. has a good first effort. I hope he keeps it up

I chose this book because it sounded interesting, though I’ve never read anything like it before. It turned out to be a good decisions. It is a really great book! Easy read with characters I loved, and disliked. There was action, some violence, but all in all, a great read. Now I’m on to the next book in the series.

Fast reading in a different setting for a nice change. Obviously written by a man following the advise of writing about what you know. The characters were well drawn and the plot flowed nicely. Left me wanting to engage in the next chapter. Not Hemingway but a nice read.