num_pages: 336
description: A madcap caper across the RV-strewn vacation lands of southern Utah meets a meditation on mythology authenticity the ethics of preservation and one nagging question: who owns the past? Anthropologist Sophia Shepard is researching the impact of tourism on cultural sites in a remote national monument on the Utah-Arizona border when she unexpectedly crosses paths with two small-time criminals. The Ashdown brothers were hired to steal maps from a collector of Native American artifacts but instead of delivering as promised the brothers are out to strike it rich.But their ineptitude has alerted the local sheriff to their presence--and forced their employer a former lobbyist seeking lucrative monument land that may soon be open to energy exploration to send a fixer to clean up their mess before it upsets her machinations. Sheriff Dalton following the Ashdowns' trail soon discovers he's not dealing with a simple burglary--and any hope the sheriff had for peace and quiet is long gone.
language: English
title: Picnic in the Ruins
publisher: Counterpoint Press