The First Light of Dawn: A Conor Armenta Western Mystery

MURDER, WESTERN ACTION, AND AN ENDING YOU WON'T SEE COMING. In the spring of 1930, Sheriff Conor Armenta's quiet desert town of Las Vegas erupts in turmoil when an Auburn Speedster tears through the night, setting off a chain of events that changes lives forever. Born and raised in the small community, Conor finds himself responsible for policing eight thousand square miles of unforgiving desert. By day, the town appears as a speck of green amidst endless sands, its railroad tracks a lifeline to the outside world. By night, it transforms into an oasis of lights, its legality a tenuous balance between sanctioned vices and forbidden temptations. With prohibition at its peak and the Great Depression tightening its grip, the arrival of thousands of laborers for the ambitious Hoover Dam project brings new challenges. Unemployment soars, crime flourishes, and Conor must navigate a landscape where moonshiners, bootleggers, and opportunistic racketeers thrive alongside honest folk seeking a better life. Battling to maintain order, he uncovers a web of corruption stretching from the desert's edge to the heart of nearby Block 16, a notorious district teeming with its own brand of prosperity and danger. And as the first light of dawn approaches, Conor stands at a crossroads where the choices he makes will define not just his future, but the fate of all who call this unforgiving land home.