Vegas Coyote

"Vegas Coyote" is Book No.7 in the Quaid Hudson series. Each book in the series stands as a separate story. There is no need to read the prequel stories to enjoy "Vegas Coyote". Quaid "borrows" a pickup truck and sets off on a road trip, during which he picks up a young hitch hiker, Bernice. The two are from very different backgrounds, but more alike than either cares to admit. Quaid discovers that Bernice is a runaway and a fugitive from her home town, Las Vegas, where she has a lengthy juvenile rap sheet and is suspected to have gunned down her father. The road trip takes them into Texas hill country where Bernice pulls one of her hustles, putting both Quaid and herself in mortal danger. Quaid should have ditched her right there and then. His decision to stick with his feisty fellow traveller puts them both on the run. For Bernice this is just one more small-time crime. For Quaid, all he needs run from are the demons in his head. The relationship between these two would not survive logical scrutiny; being complicated, tumultuous, not built on trust and potentially destructive. However, Quaid has developed a certain cynical pragmatism that enables him to come to terms with Bernice's past and her proclivity for small-time crime. He eventually finds some redemption and moral purpose from an unlikely source and in an unlikely place.