By Paula Barness, Bluff Country Newspaper Group
Tuesday, April 03, 2018 5:02 PM
Spring Valley native Mark Reps is back with the eighth addition to his popular series Zeb Hanks: Small Town Sheriff; Big Time Trouble book series.
In the newest addition, “Native Destiny,” Hanks becomes entangled with elderly sheep and goat herder Olga Mae Hooper Feathers, who holds secrets on a local golden mystery, as well as Hanks' shadowy past.
Along with new deputy Clarissa Kerkhoff, Zeb and his team will have to outwit men in the depths of gold fever.
The intriguing tale of past, present and future involves a 100-year-old revenge and is replete with Native American legend, Indian lore, devious bad guys and people with the best of intentions.
With “Native Destiny,” Reps, once again, delves into the rich history of Native Americans. It is a topic Reps finds immensely intriguing.
“I do a lot of research on Native American history because I find it so interesting,” Reps explained. “The Natives once owned all the land in the U.S. and now own only 2 percent. Merely thinking of that brings shivers down my spine and it makes me want to educate people via a combination of fiction and fact about who Native Americans really are, who they were, where their history comes from and how they got to the situation they are in today. In addition the premise of the entire series is old west meets new west. So, I try to bring that into account in each of the stories.”
To research his books, Reps spends time in Graham County, particularly the town of Safford, Arizona and the San Carlos Apache Reservation.
“I am a story teller by nature and find it quite easy to get just about anyone on the reservation, in town and at the local sheriff's department to speak quite freely about the area,” Reps explained. “I also do a lot of reading as many good history, educational books and papers have been written on the area. Plus, people have all heard of Cochise and Geronimo, both of whom personally and their descendants are from the area.”
Though he has spent years learning the cultures, customs and history of the Graham County area, Reps is still is impressed with the lack of animosity between the various groups within the local communities.
“There is some separation of the two groups, but generally they work together while maintaining their independence. I am continually surprised by how much everyone in the area has a vested interest in seeing their communities looked at in a positive light and the amount of respect they have for each other.”
The mystery weaved throughout “Native Destiny” focuses on a legendary stash of gold and the gold fever sweeps through Graham County, creating a wave a crime. Reps got the idea while reading “1491” by Charles Mann.
“It talks about what the Indian Nations were like collectively and how many large population centers there were in the Americas before the arrival of Columbus. Hence the title, ‘1491.’ He gave a lengthy explanation of the Spaniard gold that was taken from the Incan people. The gold was transferred as far north as what is now Arizona and perhaps even further. I sort of took fictional license and blended together multiple stories of lost gold caches that involve the area, the Spaniards and the Apache. There are many tales of lore of treasures lost that surround the area. I combined a few of them to make the story work and make it possibly real,” Reps said.
Along with new mysteries, this book brings along new characters Olga Mae Hooper Feathers and new deputy Clarissa Kerkhoff.
“I loved Olga Mae Hooper Feathers and everything about her,” Reps expressed. “I will probably bring her back in retrospect through Echo. She is truly an example of the tough, smart and strong Apache woman. Her knowledge is what will interest the reader the most. She acts as a bridge connecting the eternal past with the eternal future. She is a representative of time that cannot be stopped from moving forward.”
Kerkhoff is described as a strong woman, who saw the world through her military background and chose to come home.
“My books need strong women characters as they helped build the west and continue to do so in many ways. Clarissa is the personification of the new western rural woman. Expect to see her as a regular,” Reps said.
With each new installment in the Zeb Hanks series, readers delve a little deeper into the character's past, which is shrouded in its own mystery as Hanks evolves.
“Zeb, as the main character, has to grow. He is currently becoming ever better at his job, mellowing a bit, perhaps, and falling in love with Echo. He is becoming more of a steadfast community figure and at the end of the book makes a surprise announcement. Zeb is the ultimate meeting of the old and new western ways. He is changing with the times but remains true to his character. More is revealed about his family's past in ‘Native Destiny’ and the reader can see more of how he became who he is,” Reps said.
When Reps began the series, he saw it ending after 10 books, now that he is nearing the end it seems Hanks may have a longer shelf life.
“I have three other completed books that are not in the Zeb Hanks series and would like to start a new series at some point. But the Zeb Hanks tales are still coming along the way I want them to and there is more to his story as he is currently only reaching his stride in life. I am open to expanding the series. It depends on the readers. If they want more Zeb, I will give it to them,” Reps said. “I am currently writing the final story so I have it in the bank, so to speak. The final story will concentrate on Zeb's true back story, going back to childhood and his original relationships with all of the series characters.”
For now Reps is working on a new book immersed in the history of baseball. He is is writing a book with his grandson tentatively called “The Greatest Baseball Game Ever Played,” which takes place on July 4, 1939, on top of Mount Rushmore.
“My grandfather's team, the Roscoe Rangers, plays the Mount Rushmore Drillers. It is a work of fiction but both teams actually existed and had championship caliber teams in 1939,” he said. “July 4, 1939 happens to coincide with the day Lou Gehrig gave his famous speech when he was sick with ALS and told the crowd at Yankee Stadium, ‘Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.' I am also working on a Zeb Hanks novella and book nine of the Zeb Hanks series. I've got enough novels inside of me to write as long as I can type.”
More information on Reps, along with his other books, can be found at www.markreps.com and all the books in the Zeb Hanks series are available now on Amazon.