For a second or two, I considered giving this book - the start of a new series by the authors of one of my other favorite series - four stars with the expectation that the next one will be better. But then I remembered when, as a student, how much I hated teachers who refused to give papers an A because that "doesn't leave room for improvement" (fortunately, those nitwits were few and far between). So here's my take: No matter what comes next, I thoroughly enjoyed this one and give it top marks.
Featured here is Nora Kelly, an archeologist curator who works for a nonprofit institute and is working amid the remains of a former Pueblo Indian site. She's approached by Dr. Clive Benton (interestingly, in the official book description, the visit is by historian Guy Porter, so now I'm curious about the reason for the name change in the finished product). At any rate, he shares a story relating to the 1847 Donner Party, almost all of whom were lost to bad weather, murder and even cannibalism (and of which he claims to be a descendant). To entice the institute to fund an expedition, he dangles the real possibility of finding gold coins valued at about $20 million in today's market - a third of which would go to the institute.
The lure of much-needed funding sways Nora's boss in Benton's favor, and off they go to the Sierra Nevadas - aided by a journal Benton found that supposedly was documented by another relative. Led to the wilderness by a team of local guides, it doesn't take long to unearth two of the Donner camps, but it is in the third - not yet found - that the gold is likely to be.
As all this is taking place, newly minted FBI agent Corrine Swanson is earning her bones, so to speak, mostly with boring desk work. Corrie, some readers may recall, is a protoge of Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast - the main character in that favorite series of mine mentioned above. Then, she gets a case in which a very old grave is robbed of half its contents, after which the robber is unceremoniously murdered execution style. Because that happened on federal land, the feds are in charge - and the investigation puts Corrie in the general vicinity of Nora's excavations.
Needless to say, the two professionals end up meeting - and bumping heads - as the two storylines begin to merge and Corrie begins to suspect a connection between her case and Nora's work. Also needless to say, danger follows close behind; more suspicious deaths (and near deaths) happen before the book ends with a flurry of excitement and an appearance by a very special person.
All in all, very well done - and certainly an enticement to read about Nora's next adventure. I shall be eagerly waiting!
Old Bones by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Grand Central Publishing, August 2019); 385 pp.
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