The Vagabond Virgins

By Ken Kuhlken

“The Vagabond Virgins delivers a story in the tradition of Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory and B. Traven’s Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Kuhlken knows the brutal reality of border Mexico, and makes you believe that amidst the violence and corruption, a miraculous woman can still make a difference.” ​ Gene Riehl, author of Quantico Rules and Sleeper

A Holy Virgin, or a convincing fraud, appears in Mexico, dedicating herself to the overthrow of the corrupt and tyrannical Partido Revolucionario Institutional. And a woman who claims to be the Virgin’s sister brings San Diego law student and private investigator Alvaro Hickey a chance to help reform the country of his birth.

Alvaro’s got personal reasons for helping exquisite, cultured, and other-worldly Lourdes Shuler find her “sister.” And his motives for helping defeat the PRI go so deep, they override the danger of challenging a power that, if he includes all the cops and bureaucrats on their payroll, must be at least a million strong. And that number doesn’t count the foreigners, whoever invests in Mexico and depends upon deals made with the PRI. Vast corporations, half the world’s governments, drug cartels, and maybe the Catholic church.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publisher Hickey & McGee
• Release date: Feb 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005818302

Ken Kuhlken

Ken Kuhlken's stories have appeared in ESQUIRE and numerous other magazines, been honorably mentioned in BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES, and earned a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship.His novels include MIDHEAVEN, finalist for the Ernest Hemingway Award for best first fiction book, and the Hickey family mysteries: THE BIGGEST LIAR IN LOS ANGELES; THE GOOD KNOW NOTHING; THE VENUS DEAL; THE LOUD ADIOS, Private Eye Writers of America Press Best First PI Novel; THE ANGEL GANG; THE DO-RE-MI, finalist for the Shamus Best Novel Award; THE VAGABOND VIRGINS; THE VERY LEAST; and THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING.His five-book saga FOR AMERICA, is together a long, long novel and an incantation, a work of magic created to postpone the end of the world for at least a thousand years.His work in progress is a YA mystery.His WRITING AND THE SPIRIT advises artists seeking inspiration. He guides readers on a trip to the Kingdom of Heaven in READING BROTHER LAWRENCE.Also, he reads a lot, plays golf, watches and coaches baseball and softball, teaches at Perelandra College, and hangs out with his daughter when she comes home from her excellent college back east.

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