Is it destiny or chance that brings Cuchillo Oro into the desert to interrupt a gruesome scene of blood and death?The proud Apache of the famous golden knife is drawn into a deadly conflict surrounding a mystical Oriental woman, Water Lily, who possesses a disquieting blend of irresistible physical attraction and awesome spiritual power.Her story is a strange one, threaded with brutality and teeming with bizarre ritual, and once again Cuchillo is fighting in a world where fear and terror are a way of life, where death will strike whoever moves last ... William M. James was the pseudonym of John Harvey, Terry Harknett and Laurence James. Most people call him Cuchillo, the Apache word for knife. That's short for Cuchillo Oro, the golden knife.He gave himself the name in 1861-the year he swore vengeance upon the white man, the year an Indian-hating army officer cut off his index finger for "stealing" an ornate golden knife, the year his wife and infant son were murdered by an army lieutenant.He's six feet three inches tall, but he's a big man in more ways than one. He's the grandson of the great chief Mangas Colorado. He's seen his people mistreated, lied to, falsely accused, and cruelly punished-and he can't forget. Not while the white man walks on his land.An expert with the knife, rifle, gun, and bow, Cuchillo rides alone and moves everywhere, everywhere there are white men, unafraid to kill or be killed. There's no turning back now, not for Cuchillo and not for the white men who have persecuted his innocent people.There is only revenge.
