Although Stallion Gate is a serious novel, there are certainly precedents for several aspects in popular fiction.

Espionage novels have, of course, a long history. The work of writers such as le Carre and Deighton is perhaps most relevant in the care with which they research the action and environments of their novels. Although they are written to a slightly different standard, the Matt Helm novels of Donald Hamilton may also be cited, especially as Hamilton and his hero are both avowed westerners, and several of the novels are set in Arizona and New Mexico. The Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee novels of Tony Hillerman are detective stories rather than spy stories, but they share Smith's fascination with the Indian cultures of the Southwest. Finally, Smith's vision of Native American experience can be compared with that of such Native American authors as N. Scott Momaday and...