Evoking Krakauer's Into the Wild, Dan Schultz tells the extraordinary true story of desperado survivalists, a brutal murder, and vigilante justice set against the harsh backdrop of the Colorado wilderness
On a sunny May morning in 1998 in Cortez, Colorado, three desperados in a stolen truck opened fire on the town cop, shooting him twenty times; then they blasted their way past dozens of police cars and disappeared into 10,000 square miles of the harshest wilderness terrain on the North American continent. Self-trained survivalists, the outlaws eluded the most sophisticated law enforcement technology on the planet and a pursuit force that represented more than seventy-five local, state, and federal police agencies with dozens of swat teams, U.S. Army Special Forces, and more than five hundred officers from across the country.
Dead Run is the first in-depth account of this sensational case, replete with overbearing local sheriffs, Native American trackers, posses on horseback, suspicion of vigilante justice and police cover-ups, and the blunders of the nation's most exalted crime-fighters pursuing outlaws into territory in which only they could survive.
"This well-drawn story about three contemporary desperadoes who might have been time-sprung from a previous century will have readers amazed by how close the actions and mores are to those of the Old West. . . . The three desperadoes are dead, their motives dead with them, but this manhunt story will keep the legend alive."
Booklist
"A wonderful crime thriller about an amazing manhunt, survivalist culture and the militia mindset that simmers below the surface in much of America. The result is both great social history and a riveting crime tale."
Walter Isaacson, NYT bestselling author of Steve Jobs
"Magnificent! Not only a thrilling page-turner, but a true crime story that evolves into a fascinating sociological exploration. I am hooked."
Martin Sherwin, Pulitzer Prize winning author of American Prometheus
