Deep in the sun-baked California desert is the encampment of a group called Star Mother. A brainwashing cult, the members are taught to believe in and yearn for the soon-to-arrive spaceship which will spirit them away to Utopia on a far-flung planet. The only catch is one pesky requirement: death of the physical body. Cult intervention specialist Sam Reed and his trusty coyote sidekick Cody have plans to disrupt the spaceship reunion, freeing some of the captives before it’s too late.  Twenty years ago, young Sam and his mother were among those brainwashed by the tenets of the Star Mother cult.

Star Mother resembles the infamous Heaven’s Gate in some respects, but in others is much, much, more evil. The women are raped, the children separated from their families, and the men are physically beaten. All of this is conducted in the name of the Utopia in the stars. Sam has been contracted to rescue Kelly Beaumont and her younger brother before the cult pronounces their death sentence; and for Sam, this is a routine mission with a heart-wrenching twist, as his memories of two decades ago threaten to overtake him.

Desert Guardian is far and away one of the most compelling and thought-provoking novels I have had the privilege to read in quite some time. I give it a high thumbs-up for plot, characterization, setting, and the very vivid imaginative setting of Karen Duvall. Ms. Duvall has plucked a situation straight out of the headlines of a few years back, and then crafted it in her capable hands to create an entirely new and vividly terrifying concept. Few readers will be able to stop reading this one before the end, because Desert Guardian is a non-stop, no-holds-barred ride of rollercoaster-paced excitement. The tension between rescuer Sam and abductee Kelly mirrors the tension between both and the insanity of the Star Mother cult. Reader, do not walk away from this one: Desert Guardian is a must-read.