Secrets of the Lynx by Aimee Thurlo 

By Austin Camacho

Romantic suspense isn’t enough to describe Aimee Thurlo’s latest novel.  This award-winning author serves up a tale of mystery, thrills and a hint of the mystical in SECRET OF THE LYNX.

The story revolves around Paul Greyhorse, a man whose past as a U.S. Marshall is catching up to him because he is now a target of the man who killed his secret service partner.  Greyhorse is a fascinating protagonist, the kind of guy who doesn’t go to parties much but would be the one all the women would gravitate to at a barbecue, according to the author.

“He’s a good ole boy at heart, comfortable in boots and having a few cold ones from time to time,” Thurlo says.  “He’s always there for his brothers. Though not bound by blood, they’re a family in all the ways that count.  He’s a cowboy with a battered heart.”

Greyhorse is also highly dedicated, and driven to find his partner’s killer, the same man who wounded him and ended his career in the Marshals Service.  He welcomes a confrontation with the killer, and his spiritual connection to Lynx, a discerner of secrets, assures him the long awaited face off is close at hand.  The lynx brings in the aforementioned mystical element.

“A Navajo medicine man fostered Paul Greyhorse,” Thurlo says.  “It was there that Paul learned about things that can’t always be explained through logic. Paul and each of his brothers received a very special gift when they turned sixteen – the fetish of an animal.

According to tradition, a fetish is more than just a carving. It’s a symbol that is said to capture the essence of the animal and impart those qualities to its owner.  Lynx gives Paul the power to discern secrets particularly during a hunt.”

And the hunt is on!  Greyhorse is searching for the man who killed his partner, and trying to uncover the secrets the woman he loves is protecting.  That woman, US Marshal Kendra Armstrong, is hot on the fugitive’s trail. While she and Greyhorse join forces in pursuit of the killer, apprehend the killer she finds herself falling in love.  In a romantic suspense story such as this, a thriller fan may wonder which rises to the top: the romance or the thriller.”

“If I’ve done my job right, neither can exist without the other,” Thurlo says.  “They’re linked in such a way that the story requires both.  Both elements must exist side by side and help move the story forward.”

She doesn’t maintain that balance alone.  Although “Aimee Thurlo” is the name they write under, her husband David is a full collaborator.  Raised on the Navajo Nation he lends an air of realism to the characters and settings, and a good deal more.

“David and I are very left brain/right brain,” Thurlo explains.  “The emotions of falling in love – the yearning, the longing, dialog, those are my department. The action, plotting details, and descriptions of the setting, those are his. He also helps me make my heroes sound more like men.”

They’ve received a lot of positive feedback for honoring the Navajo culture and Tess Gerritsen has stated that “Aimee and David Thurlo surely deserve to be called successors to Tony Hillerman.”  High praise indeed, especially since Hillerman was a good friend and neighbor to them.  So, do they seem themselves as his successor?

“Nobody could write like Tony,” Thurlo says.  “What we do is write about the same neck of the woods as he did, a place where David grew up.”

Thurlo writes on a broad canvas so even if this is Paul Greyhorse’s only novel, we will see him again.  He’ll appear in the last two books of the Copper Canyon mini series, each featuring one of the brothers.

And you’ll want to see more of him after you’ve read this novel and seen for yourself that SECRET OF THE LYNX is much more than just a romantic suspense novel.

*****

Aimee Thurlo is an internationally known bestselling author. She’s the winner of RT Book Reviews Career Achievement Award, the New Mexico Book Award, and was a Willa finalist. Over two million copies of her books have been sold worldwide. Her husband, David, was raised on the Navajo Nation.

To learn more about Aimee and David, please visit their website.