The Vagabond Virgins

“The Vagabond Virgins delivers a story in the tradition of Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory and B. Traven’s Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Kuhlken knows the brutal reality of border Mexico, and makes you believe that amidst the violence and corruption, a miraculous woman can still make a difference.” ​ Gene Riehl, author of Quantico Rules and Sleeper

A Holy Virgin, or a convincing fraud, appears in Mexico, dedicating herself to the overthrow of the corrupt and tyrannical Partido Revolucionario Institutional. And a woman who claims to be the Virgin’s sister brings San Diego law student and private investigator Alvaro Hickey a chance to help reform the country of his birth.

Alvaro’s got personal reasons for helping exquisite, cultured, and other-worldly Lourdes Shuler find her “sister.” And his motives for helping defeat the PRI go so deep, they override the danger of challenging a power that, if he includes all the cops and bureaucrats on their payroll, must be at least a million strong. And that number doesn’t count the foreigners, whoever invests in Mexico and depends upon deals made with the PRI. Vast corporations, half the world’s governments, drug cartels, and maybe the Catholic church.