New Liberty

Praise for NEW LIBERTY A Hector Miguel Navarro Novel § § From the first sentence, I was intrigued. After the first chapter, I was hooked. Hector Miguel Navarro—the Anti-Gang Enforcement Unit’s new hire—took me on a tumultuous ride through New Liberty, Arizona’s drug and crime-ridden streets. George Cramer is well-versed in law enforcement and gives us an insider’s view that doesn’t sugarcoat the violence and danger. ~Julie A. Royce, author of Pilz and Traveling Michigan’s Thumb New Liberty tells the nail-biting story of Police Officer Hector Miguel Navarro. Navarro must learn to navigate the dangerous, gang-riddled streets of suburban Phoenix and work effectively within the complex bureaucracy and relation-ships of the New Liberty Police Department. He makes mistakes, and he must learn from them or get out. He has doubts, and he must conquer them to stay strong. He wants to protect the vulnerable, and that’s a tall order given the violent gang-bangers his unit goes up against. You’ll find Navarro’s journey captivating in this deeply authentic police procedural. ~Victoria Weisfeld, author of award-winning short stories and the crime novel, Architect of Courage. George Cramer’s police procedural novel, New Liberty, is the first in a new series and introduces young police officer Hector Miguel Navarro as he learns the ropes in a new gang task force unit. Along the way, he finds a dash of romance, struggles with duplicitous department brass, a questionable, PTSD-affected partner, and encounters a lot of really bad dudes. The prose is crisp, and the plot unfolds at an unrelenting pace with immediacy and a movie-like quality. This one has it all: a good mix of intriguing characters that leap off the page, plenty of complexities, and great action scenes. They all coalesce to make this one hard to put down. ~Michael A. Black, author of the Trackdown series, most recently Devil’s Vendetta, Devil’s Breed, and Devil’s Reckoning. The town of New Liberty, Arizona, is a dangerous place. In his latest novel New Liberty, author George Cramer has created a world where drugs and gangs have infiltrated a once-peaceful and orderly community, leaving behind a scarred landscape riddled with damaged lives. Cramer’s protagonist, Hector Miguel Navarro, is a likable, multi-layered cop who manages to maintain both decency and hope amidst a cruel and unforgiving microverse, a world that takes an often devastating toll on its inhabitants. Navarro is on a mission to not only change the trajectory of crime that’s become lodged here but to eradicate the evil that saturates the desert sands. With a solid cast of characters of good guys, bad guys, and those who fall somewhere in the middle, New Liberty is a riveting glimpse into a world that may seem beyond redemption. Still, it carries an unquenchable thread of hope that goodness will always be powerful enough to prevail. A good, well-researched read that will leave you eagerly anticipating the next book in the series. ~Debra Bokur, award-winning author of The Dark Paradise Mystery series. In his new fiction book, New Liberty, George Cramer has written a gritty story that takes the reader to the seedier side of criminal gangs that prey on the citizens of the city and the New Liberty Anti-Gang Enforcement officers dedicated and determined to end their criminal empire. Once you start this book, don't plan on putting it down until the last page has been read. The tension is high, the pace is fast, and the characters are well-developed and believable. The author has managed to place the reader inside the story with his skillful writing style. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I promise you will too. ~John Schembra, award-winning author of the Vince Torelli San Francisco Homicide Detective series. NEW LIBERTY A Hector Miguel Navarro Novel GEORGE CRAMER A Russian Hill Press Book United States • United Kingdom • Australia Russian Hill Press The publisher is not responsible for websites or their content that are not owned by the publisher. Copyright © 2023 George Cramer No part of this book may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author. This is a work of fiction the names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. ISBN: 978-1-7378246-8-8 (softcover) ISBN: 978-1-7378246-9-5 (eBook) Library of Congress Control Number: 2023904376 Cover Design: Tatiana Villa, Villa Design For the Officers of the San Leandro, California Police Department Past—Present—Future Contents 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 NEW LIBERTY - Unfinished Busines About the Author “And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority . . . to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.” Rev. 6:89 1 They were alive moments ago. “I told you to use the GPS. Why’d you buy a Lexus if you aren’t going to use the gadgets?” The old woman chides her even older husband. “The map program takes too long. Besides, the boy’s graduation isn’t until tomorrow.” “I know, but we’re not even in Phoenix. We should have been there an hour ago. Admit it. We’re lost.” “Okay. I’ll pull over and set the GPS. Will that make you happy?” The man was tired from the long drive. Even breaking the drive into two days from Oakland, California to the Arizona city was more than he should have under-taken at seventy. His wife had suggested they spend a few days in Los Angeles, maybe even visit Disneyland, but the old man had insisted. I should have skipped poker with the boys this time. “Now we’re