Published by Head Of
Zeus,
5 June 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-03591570-5 (HB)
A woman walks out into the New Mexico badlands, making sure she isn’t
seen. Her destination is one of the dark rock formations... and her skeleton is
found there by a film crew, two years later.
It’s a great opening and
moves straight from there to introducing FBI special agent Corrie Swanson,
given this strange death as her first solo case. She calls her friend
archaeologist Nora Kelly to investigate, and it’s Nora who spots the extremely
rare artefacts by the skeleton’s hands: lightning stones used by the ancient
Chaco people to summon their gods. Now the hunt is on to find out who the woman
was, and why she died in this bizarre way: suicide or sacrifice?
The fast pace continues
through the book. Swanson and Kelly make a great team, and the forensic and
archaeology strands were fascinating, particularly the legends and lives of the
First Nation people of New Mexico. The book was full of interesting characters:
Kelly’s irresponsible but engaging brother, Skip; Agent Sharp, Swanson’s
supportive boss, and the other agents in her team; and all the people they meet
as part of the investigation, a number of them First Nation. As Swanson digs
deeper into the woman’s death, she begins to see a pattern, and part of the
book’s tension is in how far she ‘ll be allowed to ride this hunch. The tale
has a number of unexpected twists and ends with a real nail-biter of a finish.
The Badlands themselves are vividly described in their terrible beauty and
harshness.
A gripping, atmospheric
page-turner which mixes modern-day police work with ancient legends in a very
special place. Excellent as a stand-alone, but for those who like to read a
series in order, this is the fifth Swanson/Kelly
novel. The series begins with Old
Bones.
-----
Reviewer: Marsali Taylor
Douglas Preston was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1956, and
grew up in the suburb of Wellesley. Preston attended Pomona College in
Claremont, California, where he studied mathematics, biology, physics,
anthropology, chemistry, geology, and astronomy before settling down to English
literature. His first job was as an editor at the American Museum of Natural
History in New York City. His stint at the museum resulted in his first
nonfiction book, Dinosaurs in the Attic, as well as his first novel, Relic,
co-authored with Lincoln Child which was
made into a movie by Paramount Pictures. Relic was followed by a string
of other thrillers co-written with Child, many featuring eccentric FBI agent
Aloysius Pendergast. Preston spends his free time riding horses in New Mexico
and gunkholing around the Maine coast in an old lobster boat. He counts in his
ancestry the poet Emily Dickinson, the newspaperman Horace Greeley, and the
infamous murderer and opium addict Amasa Greenough.
Lincoln Child was born in Westport, Connecticut, in 1957.
Lincoln graduated from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, majoring in
English. He secured a position with St. Martin's, Press where he was associated
with the work of many authors, including that of James Herriot and M. M. Kaye.
He edited well over a hundred books. Henow writes full-time and is the
co-author, with Douglas Preston, of a number of bestselling thrillers
including Relic, Riptide and The Ice Limit.
He lives with his wife and daughter in Morristown, New Jersey.www.prestonchild.com
Marsali
Taylor grew up near Edinburgh and
came to Shetland as a newly qualified teacher. Marsali is a qualified STGA
tourist-guide who is fascinated by history, and has published plays in
Shetland's distinctive dialect, as well as a history of women's suffrage in
Shetland. She's also a keen sailor who enjoys exploring in her own 8m yacht,
and an active member of her local drama group.
She lives with her husband and two Shetland ponies.
www.marsalitaylor.co.uk
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