See all titles by Tony Hillerman.

This departure from Hillerman's extraordinarily popular Chee/Leaphorn duo has resulted in what is undoubtedly one of Hillerman's most affecting, strongest, best-told tales yet. Set in 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War, the story follows Colorado newspaper editor Malcolm "Moon" Mathias, who labors under the misapprehension that he's "third-rate" --unsuccessful in his career, unlucky in love, and unwise about life.

As the story begins, Moon gets a call from an "L.A." hospital reporting that his mother has collapsed at the airport after suffering a serious heart attack. She was headed for the Philippines, so Moon figures her trip must have had something to do with his younger brother, Ricky, a former air force pilot who had set up his own transport business in Vietnam, then died in a plane crash. When Moon reaches "L.A.", he finds papers in his mother's purse that reveal Ricky was the father of a Vietnamese daughter--whom Moon's mother was obviously on her way to rescue. Of course, responsibility for finding the baby falls on Moon's capable shoulders.

And it's on his heartrending, dangerous, surprising journey into his brother's past on the Mekong Delta that Moon eventually finds not only the child, but his own destiny. A tragic tale of war, a suspenseful adventure story, a gripping journey into man's deepest fears, and an engrossing love story.