Michael Max Darrow

From Carol Potenza, Tony Hillerman award winning author of Hearts of the Missing 5.0 out of 5 stars Bridges two worlds effortlessly Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2023. I didn't know much about the Lakota culture and learned a lot from this story. I really enjoyed the cop from the city coming in to work in a rural place where interaction between law enforcement is told like it is (especially the FBI!). The story centers on a police officer from Southern California who takes a job just outside the Lakota reservation. He's well versed in some of the religious and spiritual traditions of the Lakota People, and those scenes--at the sweat lodge and the dances--are excellent. You really feel like you are there. I hope this will be a series. Fed up with big city life as a copper in a Southern California town, Officer Mike Taylor hands in his notice and moves to rural South Dakota to be a County Sheriff's Deputy. As a blonde haired, blue eyed Caucasian practicing Native American spirituality from a young age, he just never quite fit in. Hoping for a fresh start, Mike soon learns that changing location doesn't change others' perception of you. When a murder occurs, Mike is thrust into the middle of local prejudices that go back hundreds of years. Speaking the language and being on the Red Road are little help. Unlikely allies surface and friendships are formed bridging divides previously closed. Loyalties pitting races against departments are tested. When a second murder occurs, matters are only more complicated. Then a mysterious Native American spiritual leader approaches Mike out of the blue, inviting him to build a lodge and sweat with him. Will Mike Taylor get back on his spiritual path? And more importantly, will he and his new friends on the Tribal Police department and his own department solve the murders before more happen? And of course, there's a girl... In a shocking culmination of events that can only be described as noir, Mike and his friends must sort through the fallout. Indian Country: Incident at Big Pine is book 1 of this powerful new series called the Sergeant Taylor Mysteries. Cover art by MiblArt.

In the sequel to the Amazon Best Selling Novel, Indian Country: Incident at Big Pine, Deputy Sergeant Mike Taylor tackles the mystery of the disproportionate number of Missing & Murdered Native American Women and Children in America. In Indian Country: Missing, two young Lakota women, Anya Fast Runner and Veronica Likes Pretty Dresses, have gone missing, one reported missing on the reservation and the other in the county, Mike taking the report himself. Both cases are obviously related and both ladies were last seen with his old nemesis Raymond Angry Boy Whitecloud. Once again, Mike works with his friends at the Lakota Tribal Police to solve the mystery while his fiancee educates him on the phenomenon of missing girls and the Missing & Murdered Indigenous Woman (MMIW) movement. Mike gains a new ally in Missing Persons Investigator Carol McBride, who takes one of the cases while Mike himself is swept deeper into the Lakota culture, spirituality and the traditionalist wing of tribal politics. Author Michael Max Darrow uses current events in Native America and his experiences in both Law Enforcement and Lakota spirituality to weave an intricate tale of tribal politics, apathy, and death. Cover art my Miblart.

In the sequel to the Amazon Best Selling Novel, Indian Country: Missing, Deputy Sergeant Mike Taylor is led to assist his Native American neighbors when a vision at sweat lodge intrigues him. The outside mining company brought in to open up the old Copper Twin Mine causes ripples across the pond of daily reservation life, pitting modern Native American politics against Traditionalist values. Newly assigned non-sworn Missing Persons Investigator Veronica Likes Pretty Dresses has her hands full just learning her new job when a massive cold case involving not only several missing and murdered girls, but one hitting very close to home for the Pine County Sheriff himself, lands in her lap. Sworn to secrecy, Carol McBride assists her in attempting to resolve the cases. Sergeant Taylor is pushed to his limit when a Tribal Police Officer goes missing, leading to a powerful showdown between opposing parties. Author Michael Max Darrow uses current events in Native America and his experiences in both Law Enforcement and Lakota spirituality to weave an intricate tale of tribal politics, apathy, and death. Cover art by Miblart.

Picture the perfect sleepy little mountain community nestled in the lower mountains of Southern California between Riverside and Palm Springs. The town of Idyllwild Falls, too low for snow skiing, too high to escape a little snowfall. It is the perfect weekend hideaway for the rich and famous. The locals are an eclectic group of folks ranging from the outdoorsy type hikers and nature buffs to the spiritually motivated. From fortune tellers to spiritual healers and everything in between, Idyllwild Falls offers something for everyone. What they don't tell you in the nature brochures is what else calls this town home... Cover by Miblart.

23rd Century Federation Marshal Max Pappus is in trouble - and he knows it. Shot down and injured on the hostile planet of Xango-3, he would have to save himself. With the help of his trusted ship's AI computer and a small tribe of friendly Xangreeos - and driven by the lust for revenge, he repairs his ship and leaves, but not before falling in love. Will Max Pappus get his revenge? Will he return for the girl? Max Pappus sets out on a trek that takes him to other worlds - putting him and his comrades at odds with several races until what end may come... (Cover designed by MIBLART)

23rd Century Petty Officer Third Class Mara Pappus is in trouble - and she knows it. After locking herself in a tool room when the Science Vessel Vitus is attacked suddenly by an unknown vessel with advanced weaponry, she hears knocking SOS signals coming from somewhere on the ship and knows she will have to don an EVA suit and go look for other survivors. She learns she is in a race for time on a dying ship with limited power. She will have to save not only herself but her crew, those that survived the attack. When Mara's husband, famed Federation Marshal Max Pappus learns of the attack, he teams up with his old reptilian pal Tee Dek Tahn, now Supreme Commander of his military planet, and together they race to the rescue. But what of the attacking ship? Where did it come from? Did it come from beyond the edge of known and patrolled Federation Space? Then Space Station Delta is attacked, while all ships are near the edge investigating the attack and looking for another missing ship. The untimely return of the race known as The Rocks only serves to complicate matters as several Tahn and Federation Ships rush back to help Delta Station. Will the Federation survive this new enemy? Will old foes become new allies? This adventure picks up six months after the conclusion of The Federation Trilogy. Cover art by Miblart.

Maxwell Tart has returned to the land after 10 years at war. But the land is not the same as it was. Towns are bigger, people are different and the belief in the new god pushes out the old ways. Magic is now frowned upon. When he left he was just a boy. He is returning not only as a man but as the most reputable swordsman in the land. He even has a reputation and a nickname - The Forever Soldier. He remained in the fray for the entire war where others cycled home after a few years. Why did he stay? And what was he most afraid of upon returning to his hometown? He needed to find his mother, missing for the last two years, and what of the Red Lady, the Witch of the Black Oak? She was the only image in his head that he could never shake. She was the only woman he had ever wanted to be with, but he had not seen her since he was a boy of sixteen, heading off to war... Maxwell Tart was a soldier now, adept at killing. But some things never change...

After the many adventures Maxwell and his new friends faced in the first book, Maxwell Tart & The Witch of the Black Oaks, this book picks up right where he left off, at the entrance of The Tall Pine Forest and the magical realm of his mother Helena, The White Lady. Since returning to the land after ten years at war, much has changed. Men have become desperate, turning to highway robbery. The new religion waxes while the old ways have moved into the shadows, becoming more dangerous. Maxwell is about to learn just how many magical creatures there are and just how anxious they have become. Meanwhile, his squire Ronald Miller is done with his errands to the Capital. Together with his comrades, John John of River Run, Ollie and Big Mike of Black Town, they set out for home where they are beset on all sides by new dangers. It doesn't take long for Sir Maxwell to learn his men are in trouble, and that trouble is closing in on Black Town. Accompanied by his mother and his faithful wolf, he heads home hoping they can defend the town with the help of his wife, Lorinda the Red Witch of the Black Oaks. Maxwell will learn many things about the land and his wife that he did not want to know. A wizard long thought to be dead, a talkative pixie and a murderous water sprite, crows and wolf men, along with other things even more sinister held at bay by only his wife, a necromancer witch. What else could possibly go wrong?