A DRAMATIC FICTIONAL ACCOUNT OF A HISTORIC FIGURE

1800’s California, still a Mexican Territory, saw the Gold Rush bring in immigrants from all over the world who spoke hundreds of different languages. The Mexicans referred to them as Anglos. Tiburcio Vasquez was just a boy when he witnessed the legacy of violence and crime that this change would bring, shaping his destiny. He grew up in the dusty streets of Monterey, California, watching as foreigners encroached on his homeland, bringing with them greed and destruction.

As he honed his skills as a horseman and a marksman, he saw firsthand the injustices suffered by his people. He witnessed families torn apart, land stolen, and women abused, and he knew that he could not stand idly by. So, he took up arms by becoming a bandit against those who sought to oppress his people, becoming a legend among the Mexican community. But with each robbery and each murder, Tiburcio could feel the darkness creeping into his soul. He was caught multiple times and escaped multiple times from San Quentin Prison.

Vasquez was and educated poet and dancer loved by the ladies, but feared by all men. This novel is a dramatic fictional account of his life from birth to his hanging at the young age of thirty-nine. At the time, the Mexican community saw him as a Robin Hood character. To this day, there are monuments that bear his name.

Vasquez is Rick’s sixth book. His first was an autobiography co-authored with Tom Bleecker, A Life at Risk. This was followed by a photography book about the homeless in Los Angeles, Sidewalks. Next was a historical adventure about two pilots flying from Sydney to London in the 1963 air race, The Challenge, of the Spirit of Sydney. His career as one of the top stuntmen in Hollywood was published as Too Old to Tell Lies. Hardened Warriors was a book about the Master Boxers who compete into their seventies.

Rick has a Bachelor of Arts degree, Summa Cum Laude from Southern New Hampshire University. He lives in Southern California with his wife and family