Riverbend, Arizona sits across the Colorado River across from Sagebrush, a Nevada town with a casino and not much else. The side-by-side towns were founded and grew from a rivalry between two families that grows deadly. It's up to reporters Alfredo "Fred" Walker and Richard Walker to sort through the bodies. Walker is a hard-drinking Tex-Mex with four ex-wives and a lot of baggage, and the Tennessee-bred Lawrence brings tons of talent and a lot of attitude to the investigation. Blackjack dealer Diana Cook and her cocktail waitress friend Beth Rodgers join the investigation just as it's getting good. DESERT STORIES is currently in first draft, so the final version will probably look nothing like this. Author Eric Pulsifer may deny ever writing these pages. Oh, well. Life's tough.