DAUGHTER OF THE JAGUAR is an action-adventure/romance involving a former Marine troubled by his uncanny ability to recall events long past and a Mexican girl whom, though she opposes his opinions, he learns to treasure as no other. Laced with life-altering experience, twists of fate and humor, it is rich in revelations about Cortez's conquest of the Aztecs and the magnificent stone heads of the ancient Olmecs.When a Cessna bound for Oaxaca bearing Peter Stedman and two colleagues from THE DENVER POST is forced to land at ancient site in a remote region of the Southern Sierra Madres, its occupants elude would-be bandits to arrive at the idyllic town of Las Minas. Here, Peter meets Leonor, a beautiful woman considered to be a bruja or witch by locals. They share an intense romance, including a remarkable discovery Leonor has made of the ancient Olmecs who claimed descent from the mating of a woman and a jaguar. Uncertain about his ability to sustain Leonor's affection and the gulf between his abiding faith and her lack, Peter Ponders the feasibility of their relationship when he and his companions are forced to flee from a hurricane. Later, returning to Denver, Peter undergoes a painful realization that compels him to find Leonor again--resulting in a death-defying climb up a canyon wall, capture by the same bandits he eluded earlier, a jarring encounter with junkyard jaguars and the discovery of a treasure he is fleetingly allowed to witness dating back to the Spanish conquest.