A Step Back (Paperback)

The life of the inhabitants of the Yucatan Peninsula has always been one lived on the edge of survival. Unknown forces once drove the ancient people from their lands, and the reasons for that mass exodus remain the topic of debate to this day. Now, their once-peaceful existence is threatened again, this time by a thoroughly modern menace: the violent and unpredictable predators of the drug cartels that exert ruthless control over the region. These powerful drug lords have enslaved the Maya in a new war, and they are forced to submit to the will of these new, violent masters. They are given a choice: work for the cartel or face brutal consequences. A proud people who honor their heritage above all, they choose to endure the temporary indignities as the cost that must be paid for their very survival. The Mexican government is frustrated at every turn in their attempts to quell the violence and stop the flow of drugs through their country. They enlist the aid of special agents from America, whose efforts produce mixed results. The lone survivor of an American task force is given a veracruz, a "gift" from the Maya. It has strange capabilities-and many believe that the veracruz is of extraterrestrial origin. The agent returns home and takes a job as a homicide investigator in Polk County, Florida-where he begins to use his mysterious gift to fight crime.