DAUGHTER OF THE JAGUAR is a love story that takes the reader down a precipitous path to more than one kind of treasure. When a Cessna bound for Oaxaca bearing Peter Stedman and colleagues from THE DENVER POST is forced to land at an ancient site in a remote region of the Southern Sierra Madres, they discover the mystic village of Las Minas. Here, Peter meets Leonor, a Mexican beauty regarded as a bruja or witch by locals, and one whom he comes to treasure even though many of their beliefs are opposed. 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, 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, safely back in Denver, Peter undergoes a painful realization that compels him to find Leonor again and unwittingly undertakes a death-defying journey that will include a confrontation with live jaguars and a glimpse of a treasure dating back to the conquest before he is permitted to see Leonor once again.