He’s a cop who climbs

Antonio Burns, a.k.a. “Quick-Draw,” is back, along with his sheepish wolf dog Mungo, and that will make climbers and mystery-adventure lovers happy. Burns is the roguish Wyoming drug cop who climbs into all sorts of trouble and somehow out again. His fourth novel is set near Wyoming’s Wind River Range, where a ruthless Mexican drug czar has set up shop with maddening immunity from federal and state authorities. Enter Antonio’s renegade brother Roberto, an even better and compulsive climber, seeking release from a prison escape charge. Where Roberto goes, trouble follows, putting Antonio in another tight spot.

Previous Burns novels by McKinzie, a wide-ranging climber and former Colorado deputy district attorney, include “The Edge of Justice,” “Point of Law” and “Trial by Ice and Fire.” His work contains what may be the most authentic climbing scenes and descriptions found in the fiction world.

-- Bill Stall