While crossing the Texas border with other illegal immigrants, Hope Alijondro's brother is kidnapped. Hope, a nurse and part Tarahumara Indian, enlists the aid of Hispanic reporter Juanita Costillos in her search efforts. Checking cryptic ads in a San Antonio newspaper, they follow a lead of tiny fossils found on victims of a serial murderer dubbed the 'Puta Killer." In love with Hope ever since she treated severe injuries he suffered in a Colorado mountain Ultra-Sports race, Temple Carruthers, quits theBorder Patrol to help find Hope's brother. Though his injuries had made him a paraplegic, Temple pursues the kidnapper in a kayak race through deep canyons and treacherous rapids while Hope runs cross-country to head them off-only to encounter the 'Puta Killer."
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"'I haven't read a novel since grade school, but I read Running on the Edge in four days William Barnes has created an excellent adventure tale and my only question is, 'Have you begun working on a sequel?'"" -Mike Campbell, National Aeronautics And Space Administration Washington, DC "Participant in eleven 100-mile Ultra-Sport races."