Michael Nelson Miller
AUTHOR & SPEAKER
BOOKS
An undercover Mexican cop.
A suspicious priest.
A corrupt sheriff.
Who’s on the wrong side of the law?
1969: After three decades of being a cop in Chihuahua, Javier Alves thought he’d seen it all. But never anything like the orders he receives after the vicious murder of a gay Mexican student in Dolores, Texas—being told to avenge the murder by killing the perpetrator is something else.
A good cop, he obeys, even knowing his own life could be in danger. He slips into Texas and goes undercover as a Mexican rancher and soon uncovers the worst possible truth: The prime suspects are the sadistic sheriff and his equally brutal deputy brother, who run Dolores with an iron fist, terrorizing the Mexican community and anyone who dares to question them.
With the help of Father Romero, who believes in Santa Muerte, a dark offshoot of Catholicism, Javier uncovers an earlier unsolved murder of another Mexican student and a big drug deal helmed by the sheriff. Then a troubled young woman is murdered.
Can Javier and the priest stop the sheriff and his brother before anyone else dies? And will they have to defy their own moral compass to do it?
The Two Deaths of Father Romero is a twist-filled Texas crime thriller, perfect for fans of James Patterson’s Texas Ranger thrillers, Joe R. Lansdale, Blake Banner, and J. Scott Todd.
Red, White, and Green
The Maturing of Mexicanidad 1940-1946
Avilacamachismo was an attempt on the part of the Mexican state to create a mass media-based cultural nationalism rooted in loyalty to Mexican personalities who embodied the experience of their history in the artifacts of their creativity. Miller (director, Center for Higher Education Ministry at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary) describes the era of avilacamachismo in 1940s Mexico, and looks at the dynamic relationship of culture and state that existed during this often overlooked and misunderstood period.
Images and Musings by Three Old Friend
Photographs and poems by three friends from years of traveling. Co-authored with Byron Baldwin and Tom Crofts.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Nelson Miller is a retired professor of Mexican cultural history at Texas State University. He holds a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. He has also taught at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and the University of Texas Permian Basin. He lives in Wimberley, Texas.
PRAISE FOR THE TWO DEATHS OF FATHER ROMERO
“Past and present collide in this stormy novel set in 1960s West Texas, where the rule of law was only as good as the man who stood behind the gun. A promising debut built upon a contested world that belongs to no one."
David Marion Wilkinson
Author ofNot Between Authors and One Ranger
“Don’t pass this one up! Consider The Two Deaths of Father Romero is the gold standard of historical fiction of the Big Bend border area. The story lives on long in the heart long after the last page is read. Unique characters, situations, and plot make this one of my all-time favorites.”
—<b>Anne Calaway, Front Street Books in Alpine, TX
Anne Calaway
Front Street Books in Alpine, TX
“Good read. A story that unfolds like a good PBS mystery. Grantchester in the desert.”
Byron A. Baldwin
Photographer and Author of 521 All Stars: A Championship Story of Baseball and Community
