A Missing Man. A Desert of Secrets. A Force Beneath the Earth Waiting to be Uncovered. When geoscientist Sid Emerson vanishes deep within Death Valley desert wilderness, rumors of ancient forces, alien conspiracies, and mysterious hidden civilizations begin to surface. Determined to find him, his niece turns to Paddy Darwin , a rugged desert guide haunted by his past. As their search leads into Death Valley National Park’s blistering, unforgiving wilderness , they uncover something far more terrifying than either imagined, a network of shapeshifting “Lizard People” and a secret that could rewrite human history. Blending real-world lore, gritty suspense, and supernatural mystery —set in the otherworldly Death Valley landscape, Lizard People: Death Valley Underground will keep you page-turning long into the night. Perfect for fans of The X-Files, Dean Koontz, Stephen King, and Blake Crouch, this novel delivers an atmospheric thriller where myth, conspiracy madness, and science collide . Step into this colliding desert vortex and discover what hides below. Grab your copy today and uncover the hidden truth. Lizard People: Death Valley Underground is a fascinating look into the lost souls that make up the populations of our most remote and harsh climates. In the novel, author David A. Ek takes us all the way down several rabbit holes as he explores the paranoia that consumes people in these parts of the world at a much higher rate than among the population as a whole. While the story revolves around Lizard People and their dealings with the government, it expands to contain a wide variety of eccentrics with wild ideas about the world in which we live. The action gets going as a woman from Boston arrives in Death Valley and enlists the services of a reluctant loner running away from his past to help her find her missing uncle. During their investigation, the two slowly begin to develop a close bond as their search takes them to every corner of Death Valley and the surrounding region. Ek does great character work, building a large cast of fascinating folk drawn to Death Valley and the (often unfulfilled) promises it holds. What begins as a simple missing person case evolves rapidly and draws in more and more elements from the mountains and valleys that make up the region. With every turn of the page, you are flipping over a new rock to find what creepy crawlers lie beneath. As the book progresses, the reader begins to question which elements within the story are real and which are simply the mad ideas of these characters who have spent far too much time in the oppressive desert heat. The story of Lizard People: Death Valley Underground never gets boring or feels as if it is dragging on, as the mysteries just continue to pile up throughout the book. With plenty of twists and turns, it will keep you guessing right until the very end. And even then, you will find yourself wondering if the person sitting across from you on the bus, or working in the cubicle next to yours, or lying beside you in bed, just might be one of the Lizard People. - Daniel Ryan [a 5-star (out of 5) rating, from GoodReads] David Ek held a successful and award-winning career with the National Park Service, where he led science and natural resources teams throughout the country-including Death Valley National Park (the setting for much of Lizard People: Death Valley Underground). His resource management work often tackled complex issues of regional and national scope. David's extensive natural resource-related writings have appeared in dozens of science and management publications-and in countless forms intended for general audiences of all ages.On the literary side, David writes both fiction and nonfiction. Editors for literary journals have found his writing "strong" with "much to admire." His short stories and essays have appeared in Canary, Weber: The Contemporary West, and elsewhere. Pedro's Pickles and the American Dream was his debut novel. He is a member of the Virginia Writers Club and the Pacific Northwest Writers Association. When not sciencing or writing, David has been an active rock and mountain climber, caver, and explorer of the American wilds. A native of Seattle, Washington, he currently lives with his wife, children, cat, and dogs in rural northern Virginia.