Desert Heat

Victor Loshak, Book 4

By: L.T. Vargus, E.M. Smith, Tim McBain

Narrated by: Curt Bonnem

The desert holds its kill up to the sun. A human body draped over the limbs of a cactus. Sand scouring the naked flesh every time the wind blows.

A shocking death launches Special Agent Victor Loshak on a new investigation with an ominous message: They know everything. He heads to Tucson, Arizona, where a recent murder spree seems to be linked to the human trafficking conspiracy he's been working in secret for months.

Loshak still has dreams about the Kansas City case. Nightmares about the team of techs peeling up the floorboards in a suburban home. Finding the rotting bodies face down in the muddy earth of the crawlspace. A grisly discovery that ultimately led to more questions than answers.

Now he may be closer than ever to solving the puzzle.

If you follow the conspiracy rabbit hole all the way down, you eventually reach the bottom.

The task force working the desert murders seems oblivious to the conspiracy link, and Loshak must tread lightly. He doesn't know who to trust, what information to share.

The tendrils of the human trafficking ring lead in all directions outward from that Kansas City crawlspace. Their influence reaches the highest levels of government and law enforcement. They have eyes and ears everywhere.

Even with the complications, the Tucson case slowly unravels the web of connections behind the crimes, both the murders and the conspiracy.

Questions get answered. Names and faces are laid bare. Puzzle pieces snapping into place at long last.

But the revelations bring about the gravest danger yet.

The novels in the Victor Loshak series can be listened to as stand-alones. Scroll up and grab Desert Heat now.

©2022 L.T. Vargus, E.M. Smith, and Tim McBain (P)2024 Smarmy Press

Keep them coming

Simply great writing and great performance. As each story gets released I find myself having to lesson twice so I did not miss any details.

Starts with a bang and takes you on a wild ride!

Starts with a bang and takes you on a wild ride!

I originally read an advance reader copy of Desert Heat in January of 2022 and I loved it as I said in my original review – “This is the Loshak story I’ve been waiting for quite some time. Answers to a number of questions are revealed, not to mention a few new questions have arisen. Once again, the action gets pretty intense, and Loshak has to face a new reality/question regarding what he is willing to do to get answers. This is a must read for anyone who has been following this series.”

Now over two years later I got the opportunity to listen to a review copy of the audiobook expertly narrated by Curt Bonnem. I was transported back to January of 2022, and found myself just as mesmerized listening as I was when I read the story for the first time, only this time Curt provided voices to each of the characters and his delivery of the story made me close my eyes and “watch” the story as it unfolded.

If you enjoy stories that will cause you to face dark and gritty topics in today’s headlines you owe it to yourself to read this series. If you decide to listen to me, one more bit of advice – you must go back and read/listen to Beyond Good and Evil first and then follow the series. These are not standalone episodes and if you were to choose to try any of the books 2-5 without first reading or listening to book 1 first you aren’t going to understand why everything is going on or why Loshak and Spinks are so involved int this investigation.

Heart pounding

Desert Heat is in the Loshak/Spinks series that already had me as a fan. The story is compelling, the action is thrilling, and much of the plot is too close to real to be comfortable. Human trafficking is a very real horror in today's society. While this is fiction, the story could have been ripped from the headlines. It makes it even scarier to think about.

Great story and well written

Really enjoyed the story, no gratuitous violence, and it was well written and well performed.