Gold Dust

Texas Red River Mysteries, Book 7

By: Reavis Z. Wortham

Narrated by: James D. Sasser

As the 1960s draw to a close, the rural northeast Texas community of Center Springs is visited by two nondescript government men in dark suits and shades. They say their assignment is to test weather currents and patterns, but that's a lie. Their delivery of a mysterious microscopic payload called Gold Dust from a hired crop duster coincides with fourteen-year-old Pepper Parker's discovery of an ancient gold coin in her dad's possession. Her adolescent trick played on a greedy adult results in the only gold rush in north Texas history.

The biological agent deemed benign by the CIA has unexpected repercussions, putting Pepper's near-twin cousin, Top, at death's door. The boy's crisis sends their grandfather, Constable Ned Parker, to Washington D. C. to exact personal justice, joined by a man Ned left behind in Mexico and had presumed dead. The CIA agents who operate on the dark side of the U. S. government find they're no match for men who know they're right and won't stop. Especially two old country boys raised on shotguns. Traitors, cattle-rustlers, murderers, rural crime families, grave robbers, CIA turncoats, and gold-hungry prospectors pursue agendas that all, in a sense, revolve around the center of this small vortex called Center Springs.

Gold Dust seems to be fiction, but the truth is, it has already happened.

©2018 Reavis Z. Wortham (P)2018 Tantor Media

You are missed, Traber Burns.

This is a wonderful series, and I will continue to listen to every book that is released, but Mr. Sasser is just not the right fit for it. RIP Traber Burns. You were absolutely phenomenal at capturing the personalities of Ned, Top, Pepper, Ms Becky, Judge OC, Cody, Big John, and etc! You spoiled me in making ALL of the Red River Mystery characters come to life! I love these books, but had a hard time getting into this one because most characters were read the same way and narration style just didn’t fit for the story’s era & locale. I found myself having to hit the back arrow a lot or re-listening to the previous chapter over again. I really wish a more suitable narrator fit could have been found for the many beloved characters of this 1960s Texas series. 😢
And for those of you who started with this book, listen to book 1 and keep going; the character development will keep you hooked! 😉