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What threat could a dead horse in Alaska possibly pose to Enrique Torres (aka Richard St. John), a small-time gold miner dredging out a living in the steamy jungles of Costa Rica? He soon finds out when Jade, his former lover, forces him to abandon his fiancee and his peaceful life in paradise to face off with old foes in the frozen North, a land he fled years before, hoping never to see again.
When a band of hired man hunters picks up his trail in the untamed wilderness north of the Yukon River, Richard's quest to untangle the mystery quickly turns into a life-or-death footrace. With Jade at his side—for better or worse, or possibly both—Richard searches for dark and vital secrets in an abandoned gold mine and a nearby Athabascan village. But will this new knowledge be enough to save him as he prepares for the final confrontation with Jade's brutal father Sam Black? |
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The Genesis of Gold Dust Woman |
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"The settings for Gold Dust Woman derive from two colorful episodes in my life. The first occurred over the summer and fall of 1973 when I lived and worked with my brother on the cattle ranch he managed in Costa Rica. Consisting of isolated pastures interspersed between large patches of virgin jungle, the 4,000-hectare ranch was only accessible from the outside world by a breakdown-prone narrow-gauge train. There were two villages within the ranch's borders, populated by the most exceptionally interesting people I have ever met. Every Costa Rican character in Gold Dust Woman was inspired by the campesinos and vaqueros I knew and worked with during that time.
"The second experience unfolded in 1978, when I spent an extended season living in a tent while mining gold on a small tributary of the Yukon River. The people I met in that rugged country were right out of the Old West. Good or bad—there was really not much in between—most men packed guns and no one was to be trifled with. You will find many of these hardy souls, without too much need for alteration, in the pages of Gold Dust Woman.
"With such rich characters and untamed settings Gold Dust Woman was destined to be an adventure from the get-go; no moral lessons or cautionary tales here. I just wanted to spin a damn good yarn and have a shamefully fun time doing it. Did I succeed? Time will tell."
— Rex A. Ewing |
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