I've enjoyed David Cole's Laura Winslow series for its edgy main character, its depiction of the desert, and for some of the hard-hitting issues the author brings into his stories.

"Laura Winslow" is a false identity for this woman hiding from a dangerous and painful past on the reservation. She constantly fights her addiction to Ritalin, which makes her thoughts jump all over the place until she can't concentrate. Since Scorpion Rain is written from Laura's point of view, I sometimes felt as though I couldn't concentrate and that my own thoughts were skittering around inside my skull. That's the best way for a writer to get readers inside his character's head.

Because of her past and because of her addiction, Laura has trust issues-- especially concerning the government. She should believe in herself more, but it's difficult. Her past is always going to haunt her; her past is always going to be her weak link.

Scorpion Rain is a twofold mystery. One concerns the kidnapping of Laura's friend Meg. That mystery is solved, and we are given our answers. However, the second mystery (which I won't give away) is not answered, which bothered me a bit.

Laura also bothered me, and I wasn't rooting for her success to the same degree as I have in the past. It has me wondering if I've outgrown this character in the time since I read the previous book (Stalking Moon). I hope not because this has always been one of my "go to" series. I'll just let Laura percolate away in the back of my brain for a while before I pick up the next book. It's waiting patiently for me on my to-be-read shelves. ( )

The first book that I read by David Cole was Dragonfly Bones and I really enjoyed it so I've kept my eyes open for them ever since. This book is set before Dragonfly Bones and doesn't have as many native American references.

Laura Winslow is a computer hacker/cracker and doesn't like violence. And yet she often seems to be in violent situations. Her friend Meg Arizana is involved with abused women and sometimes she needs to transport them to safe houses. Laura goes along as driver. This time she is driving a witness against a big Mexican crime syndicate and at the Mexican border the car is ambushed. The witness is executed and Meg is kidnapped. Meg screams to Laura to find her and Laura promises. So, the book is mainly about how Laura goes about doing that. The twist is that the Mexican crime syndicate only kidnapped Meg for someone else who also wants to get Laura. It's something personal but Laura can't figure out who would hate her and Meg that much. Even though she knows she is a target she goes after the kidnapper.

Not as good a story as Dragonfly Bones but still enjoyable. ( )