From Publishers Weekly
In the upper Sonoran desert of present-day New Mexico, a charismatic yet troubled archeologist named Dusty Stewart is unearthing a mystery that began about A.D. 1200. While excavating a site of the Chaco Anasazi Indians, Stewart and his team discover mass graves containing the bodies of young women, all with their skulls smashed. Using flashbacks to merge past and present into a relatively seamless tapestry, the Gears depict an ancient, waning Anasazi people plagued with drought, declining resources and rampant tuberculosis. Ash Girl, the wife of the tribal war chief, Browser, has been found deadAher head crushed and a wolf mask at her side. Young girls continue to disappear from surrounding villages, and Browser, with the aid of his shrewdly eccentric uncle, searches for a serial killer. Meanwhile, in the present, a team of archeologists and anthropologists, most notably Dr. Maureen Cole, who's the heroine of this series launch, are also trying to solve the puzzle of the graves, using not only 20th-century technology, but, in addition, extrasensory perception that links them to the spirits of the past. Breathtaking descriptions evoke the harsh beauty of the desert in both winter and summer, while the lucid, erudite historical perspectives are informed by the authors' own extensive archeological experience. Yet the mystery is needlessly complex, and the enormous cast is unwieldy. For all its considerable strengths, this first book in the Anasazi mystery series falls a notch below the level attained by the Gears in their First North American historicals. $125,000 ad/promo; author tour. (Aug.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Library Journal
Things begin to get eerie as an archaeological team starts excavating an ancient civilization in the sweltering New Mexico heat of 1999. First, the team begins to uncover an alarming array of shattered Anasazi skulls alongside the usual shards of old pottery; soon mysterious, impossible things start happening around the dig. In this, the latest installment in the popular "First North American" series, the authors weave together two suspenseful, haunting stories. Along the way, they ask meaningful questions about the relationship between science and religion, history and time, as the anthropologists grapple with their own beliefs and emotions. Readers will enjoy the wide range of characters and thick suspense. Highly recommended for all public libraries.ASusan A. Zappia, Maricopa Cty. Lib. Dist., Phoenix
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
de Kathleen O'Neal Gear
de W. Michael Gear
