Behind the scenes in Washington, DC, an international group of criminals called the Network--led by a cold-blooded man known as Code Alpha--is bent on acquiring the land and money they need to bring about their vision for a new world order. But when they set their sights on Farley and Thelma Brodines' ranch in Salt Flats, Texas, they have no idea what they're up against. The Brodines have powerful friends. Reid Matthews is protected by an ancestral Comanche spirit, the Keeper of the Great Raptors. And Matthews is joined by Cajun crack shot Roland Guidry and his spitfire of a wife, Adele; and lifetime cowboy Bill Calendar and his wife, Willie, her Winchester rifle always at her side. When the Network's bid to take over the ranch goes wrong, the Brodines' granddaughter and ranch manager are forced to flee into the wilderness to escape the killers sent to do Code Alpha's dirty work. Will Reid and his friends be able to uncover the Network's nefarious plot before time runs out? B Ray Mize is a former executive for a Fortune 500 company who has taken down criminals and probed into million dollar oil field frauds He has even worked with the FBI and the IRS to uncover scandal in the petroleum industry. Mize has brought his experiences to life in his new book, The Comancherìa: Shadow of the Great Owl. Shadow of the Great Owl is the second in a series of books following the story of Reid Matthews, a Comanche war hero and former oil field hand, as he attempts to take down Code Alpha, the most powerful man in the nation and the leader of the Network, a group of Congressmen, news reporters, and government bureaucrats and a force of unstoppable evil. In order to save the Network, Code Alpha instigates a series of murders that leave innocent people accused of the crime and Reid Matthews searching for the truth. Mize conducted extensive research while writing Shadow of the Great Owl. The book is partially set in the Texas Hill Country and Big Bend National Park, and Mize did research surrounding the landscape, vegetation, and wildlife of the park. Mize also researched Comanche traditions and culture to portray the main character, Reid Matthews, in an accurate light. "I wanted the book to have as much integrity as possible when it came to the underlying details of the characters, their culture, and any physical landscape descriptions," says Mize. Mize, the grandson of a tenant farmer and rancher, was born and raised in Texas. After serving in the U.S. Army as a non-commissioned officer during the Vietnam War, he used the GI Bill to attend college at the University of North Texas, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Mize worked for almost two decades for a major oil drilling company as its chief of audit and security and currently works as an oil field investigator, specializing in procurement fraud. He lives in New Orleans with his wife, Sharon, who is an attorney, and he is hard at work on the next book in the The Comancherìa series.