Book excerpt: Things are not always as they seem… In the novel White Hats…Dark Hearts, Kurt is a God-fearing South Dakota farmer. The young man is shocked out of his complacency by an encounter with a UFO in his wheat field. Visiting with his friend and neighbour, Roy, Kurt meets Kerry, a beautiful New York massage therapist on the rebound from a womanizing stockbroker. There is instant chemistry. Kerry goes with Kurt to retrieve a strange device he picked up but left behind in his horse's saddlebag after the UFO encounter. When they stop for gas, Kerry realizes that the car with Florida plates in the adjoining body shop belongs to her Uncle Jim. They find him in a bar across the street, just as he faces off with three young men in a dispute over Bush/Cheney foreign policy. There follows a lengthy, animated, often humorous, and sometimes strained discussion about terrorism, imperialism, and the role of religion in "perpetual war." Jim and his niece are persuaded to spend the night at Kurt's house after Kurt gives an elderly relative, Standing Wolf, a ride home. On the way, they are waylaid by the trio from the bar. They learn that Standing Wolf's granddaughter was recently sexually assaulted by one of the trio. Leaving Standing Wolf's home, they are startled by a brilliant light that illuminates the nearby hill. Yet another mystery awaits at Kurt's house: The device is gone, along with Kurt's horse.