SHADOW WOLVES

A team of American Indian trackers faces off against a Mexican cartel that’s trafficking drugs and humans in Kaminski’s debut thriller.

Lakota Sioux Ethan Crowe has kept a low profile since the murders of his wife and son at the hands of a drug lord. But the former member of the U.S. Army’s elite Delta Force agrees to head a special team of trackers—among them Will Price, a Navajo; Isaac Factor, a Seminole; and Nalin Chee, an Apache—to fight cartels at the Mexican border. His main incentive is seeking justice after cartel’s assassination of a tribal police officer, the younger brother of a friend and fellow soldier of Crowe’s. The team, dubbed the Shadow Wolves, ultimately focuses on the Zetas, a drug cartel led by enigmatic Yaotl and with notorious sniper Romero as his “personal trigger finger.” But team members Nalin Chee and Hannah Lone Hawk track the Zetas and verify what they already suspected: The cartel is kidnapping women and children to sell as sex slaves. In confrontations and pursuits unfolding on both sides of the border, the Shadow Wolves aim to save lives and take down the Zetas. But knowing that Romero is the assassin who killed his friend’s brother, Crowe must decide if he wants to seek retribution. Kaminski aptly details the cast, whose American Indian characters originate from different tribes, including Apache, Seminole, Navajo, and Lakota, and have worked in varying professions. Shadow Wolf Isaac Factor, for example, had tracked drug smugglers for the Miami-Dade County Police while Hannah had been an agent for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. While racism is an unfortunate, perhaps expected burden Crowe and other American Indians endure, it’s often blatant in this book, which has numerous obviously prejudiced characters. Cartel villains, however, are violent and malicious, making it easy for readers to cheer the heroes during concisely drawn and tight action sequences. Despite implying that sequels will come, the ending is fulfilling even if more than one standout character sadly doesn’t make it.

An action-driven tale of heroes worth rooting for at the U.S.–Mexico border.