R. Lawson Gamble returns with another case for FBI agent Zack Tolliver
Author R. Lawson Gamble’s newest action thriller titled “Hairy Man,” the 12th book in the Zack Tolliver FBI, southwestern crime mystery series will once again have readers on the edge of their seats.
In this book, FBI agent Tolliver and his trusted friend and expert tracker, Eagle Feather, are tasked to find a young girl who was abducted from a campground by what witnesses describe as a human-like hairy being. A young Yokut man, who has also been tracking a series of mysterious murders in the area leads Tolliver on a fast-paced hunt to find the girl and the killer before another murder takes place. The question: Is it Bigfoot, or someone pretending to be the elusive creature, or is it the indigenous Yokut tribe’s ancient folklore creature known as the Hairy Man?
As one Amazon reviewer put it, “Those who live between the Porterville CA, Santa Maria, Sisquoc and Cuyama Valleys’ backcountries will especially appreciate this current adventure from R. Lawson Gamble.”
Gamble described his inspiration for this story.
“I had read about Painted Rock in Carrizo Plain National Monument and I had the theory that it may have had meaning related to the summer solstice,” he said. “So, I camped overnight near it at the solstice with my tent oriented similarly. At dawn, the sun rose directly before me, blinding me in the face, proving my hunch. It was a mystical experience. Painted Rock was the only site where several pre-contact tribes regularly mingled, including the Chumash, Yokut, and Salinan. This spoke to a certain unification of the tribes and beliefs.”
“There is another Painted Rock site on the Tule River Indian Reservation across the Central Valley,” Gamble explained.“They are Yokuts. Their site displays pictographs of a family of Bigfoot-like creatures. The age of the paintings is estimated at A.D. 500, long before contact. In other words, Bigfoot sightings were happening long before the White Man came along. The idea of the existence of such creatures has always fascinated me. I decided to create a story around this possibility.”
The cover of the book is the actual pictograph from the Tule River Painted Rock. The microscope and DNA strand suggest the modern elements he brings to the story.
Hairy Man already has 174 ratings averaging 4.4 and eight excellent reviews on Amazon.
In addition to being an author, Gamble is a marathon runner and will once again participate in the Joshua Tree Half-Mile Marathon which takes place at night on Nov. 2. Two thousand five hundred people run it by only the light from the headlamps worn on their foreheads.
“It will be cold up there, I prefer to run in the heat, but it will be fun as always. At the end of the race, I usually come in first place because I am the only one in my age group to run the race,” said the 78-year-old author.
“Writing stories is something I love to do. I write every morning, rain or shine, 365 days a year. My hope is that I take my readers on an exciting journey into places and circumstances they have never been before.”
Gamble has authored 18 books so far, including “The History of Los Alamos” as well as the “Johnny Alias” series, all of which can be purchased through Amazon and at local bookstores.
For more information, visit rlawsongamble.com or rlawsongamble/author page on Amazon.
