The Russian

The Russian continues Thomas Nichols’ fact-based novels of the border wars along the southern boundary of the United States. Beginning with Color of the Prism, continuing with We Were Young Once..., and concluding with the third of these spellbinding stories, Nichols’ listeners experience an insider’s view of the cartel-controlled human and drug trafficking.

In The Russian, New Mexico State Trooper Enrique (Ricky) Basurto joins other local, state, and federal agents in the Multi-Agency Human and Controlled Substance Interdiction Task Force. Focused along the desolate NM Hwy. 9 from Columbus to Animas, Ricky and his colleagues face the dangers of the powerful cartels, their heavily armed militias, the Russian Mafia, and the innocent men, women, and children who are their victims.

The near-ghost town of Hachita, New Mexico, is the bull’s eye in the war. It is here in the remote Chihuahua desert where life and death intersect, bringing about unexpected challenges to Ricky and his colleagues’ professionalism, ethics, and personal goals and fears.

©2021 Thomas Nichols (P)2022 Thomas Nichols