Surviving is only half the battle.A routine assignment for PI John Rader turns deadly in all the time it takes to fire a gun...When Rader accompanies his latest client, Joe Markham, to a business meeting with some men from Sage County, Arizona, the last thing he expects is an attack that leaves Markham dead, and his own name at the top of a syndicate hit list. For Rader, getting out alive is only half of it. The rest is finding out why somebody wanted him taking a dirt nap before the day got old.That somebody is mob boss Lou Scarano. Down in the desert wastes of Sage County, it's always a bad idea to annoy Scarano. Rader's client was just another irritation for him - a small-time business guy who wouldn't do what he was told. Rader, though, is a loose end Scarano can't afford - better not take the chance.If Rader decides that getting out of Arizona is the answer to his problems, then he's wrong. Dead wrong.The John Rader novels can be read in any order, but SCORCHED EARTH is numbered 5th in the series.(This novel contains violence and occasional strong language.)