DEANNE STILLMAN. Desert Reckoning: A Town Sheriff, a Mojave Hermit, and the Biggest Manhunt in Modern California History. Nation Books. Hardcover, $28, www.nationbooks.org.
When nonfiction reads like a fiction thriller, you know you’ve got the right book. And the right author. With Desert Reckoning, award-winning writer Deanne Stillman adds the Spur Award for contemporary nonfiction to her accolades. She delivers the captivating tale of Donald Kueck’s murder of Sheriff Stephen Sorensen in 2003 and a day-by-day account of the massive manhunt that followed in California’s Mojave desert.