Desperate Warrior, first volume of W. Michael Farmer's epic duology, is a gripping narrative steeped in the rich tapestry of the Apache wars, chronicling Chato's journey from a relentless warrior to a beacon of peace among the Chiricahua.
W. Michael Farmer combines fifteen-plus years of research into nineteenth-century Apache history and culture with Southwest-living experience to fill his stories with a genuine sense of time and place. A retired PhD physicist, his scientific research has included measurement of atmospheric aerosols with laser-based instruments. He has published a two-volume reference book on atmospheric effects on remote sensing as well as fiction in anthologies and award-winning essays. His novels have won numerous awards, including three Will Rogers Gold and five Silver Medallions, New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards for Literary, Adventure, Historical Fiction, a Non-Fiction New Mexico Book of the Year, and a Spur Finalist Award for Best First Novel. His book series includes The Life and Times of Yellow Boy, Mescalero Apache and Legends of the Desert. His nonfiction books include Apacheria, True Stories of Apache Culture 1860-1920 and Geronimo, Prisoner of Lies. His most recent novels are the award-winning The Odyssey of Geronimo, Twenty-Three years a Prisoner of War, The Iliad of Geronimo, A Song of Blood and Fire, and Trini! Come! Geronimo's Captivity of Trinidad Verdin.