Howard Lewis

The Coronado Connection Howard Lewis

When Jerry Bannister visits hisfather, G. B. Bannister, in the small town of Duslow, Arizona, he learns theelder is away on an archaeological project in the desert and takes a job at afilling station to await his return. During a check of G. B.'s motel room hefinds a book with the mysterious notation 'The Coronado Connection'written in conjunction with the phrase 'The Seven Cities of Cibola.'He is shocked to think that his father is seeking something the famous explorerCoronado had proved a myth four centuries earlier. However, before he has a chanceto pursue the matter of G. B.'s sanity, Jerry experiences a horror that severelytests his own. That night, awaken from sleep by strange sounds beyond his moteldoorway, he discovers the station owner and his wife brutally murdered. He isultimately accused of the crimes by an inept sheriff and escapes on hismotorcycle to the vast wilderness called the Concho Rim. There, he encounters ablack motorcycle rider, Milton Jefferson, who is also on the lam from the law. With Milton's help, he finds the missing G. B., and through the persistence ofthe elder Bannister continues the quest for the lost cities of ' Awakonya, People of the Mesa' -- with disastrous results.