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Summary: Preston & Child Have Done It Again!
Review: I have read everything that Preston & Child have written, and like the rest of their books, this one is excellent! It is a fast-paced page turner and they keep you guessing till the very end. I am always amazed how they come up with such terrific endings. Here the question is: what is wrong with the City of Quivira? Why are all those bones piled up in that one room? What is exactly going on here? And the answers to these questions is typical Preston/Child...in all their books, people try to retrieve something that you KNOW is just too good to be true..and of course it is. "Thunderhead" was a terrific read. I don't even need to read the back of the book when I pick up a Preston/Child novel...I already know that it will be fantastic.
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Summary: Not that great discovery
Review: "Relic" and "Reliquiary" worked very well and "Mount Dragon" lost because of its weak ending. "Riptide" I missed till now. "Thunderhead" still ranks below the first three because of a lot of things.The story is fast told. An expedition searchs for an old Indian city, which is legendary in archeological circles. Strange events seem to make the expedition fail. People die, etc. The characters include the enthusiastic female leader, the arrogant specialist, the cool cowboy, the joking journalist and a shy scientist. There are some more, but, hey aren't it enough already? I surely don't mind a book with many characters. But it's obvious here that Preston and Child had too much do with all of them. Most of them stay so straight in their roles, you're never surprised about them. Other change their habits so often, you don't have a clue who they really are. The perfect example for this is Sloane, the daughter of the institute's boss, who also join the expedition. She is good and evil equally somehow. Some pseudo-psychological explanations don't help a lot. The story itself doesn't deliver much to tell about. Searching the city, finding the city, exploring the city. That's about it. If you thought the previous books were scientific wait for this one. There is so much talk about archology you have to be a bit interested, or otherwise you fall asleep. I am interested in the topic and it was another reason why I disliked it. The explanations are sometimes laughable and the message it delivers about science is nearly dangerous. Besides that there are so many things that make you go "What?" it's too much really. Can anyone tell me how you can hear "the sound of a ladder being put on a wall"? Despite all this the book somehow is suspenseful. The quality doesn't vary that much through it. It's really average, exciting and suspenseful, but average all through it.
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Summary: in the tradition of Indiana Jones
Review: This book is an outright archaelogical adventure novel. From the time the main Character Nora gets attacked in the opening chapters it rolls on and never stops till the bloody end. This book concerns the search for the lost "golden" Anasazi indian city of Quivira. It's an enjoyable, though somewhat unbelivable story set in the American Southwest. I picked up some odds and ends about indian culture I didn't know while reading this, so that in itself made it worth reading. However, what lets the book down is it's ending. The "bad guys" are way too strong to be really believable and Nora way too good. Despite this, the book delivers the goods. It's a great book to read on holidays for total escapism - especially if you are into lost cities in deserts (a la Indiana Jones:)
Rating:
Summary: Too long
Review: I liked the story but it took way too long to pick up. I had to put this book down 3 times and read others in-between. The only reason I carried on was the fact that I had enjoyed 'Riptide' and 'Mount Dragon' so thought it would have to get better. It did but not until 300 or so pages into it. I like anything Preston-Child read though. I like the imaging they create. I feel like I've been there.
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Summary: Great Read while hiking in the area.
Review: I read this book aloud to a group of six people including 4 adults, and 2 kids aged 12 & 14. We were backpacking in the Paria Canyon area which is only a hop skip and a jump below the Kaiparowits Plateau, which is where the book takes place. We all found the book interesting and exciting since there were many parrallels between finding archeological sites in the area and the discussion of such in the book. We had all been in many areas around the southwest and the region in which this book takes place so it was fun to imagine being there. There were some inconsistencies in the book as far as when certain flowers bloom, types of rock art found together, and other items, but it was no big deal. Each of the adults was well read but we must comment that it seems as though the authors got a new thesaurus prior to wirting the book. There were even the occasional words that were new to our planet....but that was no big deal either. Overall we all enjoyed the book. Sitting down to read at night after camp was set up or while having luch on the trail was one of the daily highlights that everyone looked forward to. The kids did not like what happened to the horses.....but I will not spoil it for the rest of you. Some of the adults wish the end would have related more back to the beginning of the book but hey...if we had wrote it then it would have been different. ~R
Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good
Review: I like the Relic and Reliquary, so I had to check this one out as well. The premise of the story is a mysterious letter from a dead father arrives to his daughter. The letter decribes how he has discoverd the lost Anasazi city of Quivera and she sets out to find it. The trip is full of danger and to make things worse the are being attacked by skinwalkers. I was entertained not as much as the Relic but still pretty good.
Rating:
Summary: Not a bad thriller
Review: Nora Kelly is an anthropologist specializing in Southwest Indian ruins. Her life is normal until one day she receives a letter from her father. A letter written 16 years ago but just recently mailed. From a father who disappeared while searching for the lost Anasazi city of Quivera. She convinces her employer that with the letter she too can find the lost city. An expedition is mounted with Nora in the lead but she doesn't reckon with the unrestrained ambition of her boss's daughter who is along on the expedtion and wants all the glory for herself. And to make matters worse the expedition is being stalked by two skinwalkers, Anasazi witches, who will stop at nothing to prevent Quivera from being found. This is another good entry from Preston and Child who specialize in the cliffhanger type of thriller. There are always more and more obstacles thrown in the heroes path, who just manage to overcome them before the next crisis is hurled on their heads. In one way it is formulaic, but Preston and Child carry it off quite well. At times the dialogue seemed a little stilted and the boss's ambitious daughter may have been a little over the top but on the whole the book was enjoyable. If you like cliffhanger thrillers you could do worse than this book.
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Summary: Smart, fast, well worth your time
Review: Preston and Child seem to be incapable of turning out a bad book. Thunderhead is merely the latest in a string of well-written, well thought out novels that blend history, science and action with fleshed out characters that you can care about. Their latest takes place in the canyon country of the American Southwest with a team of archeologists searching for a lost city of gold. Naturally, it's never quite as easy as that and between the environment and some shadowy adversaries, things get interesting. The story moves along rapidly and conveys a huge amount of the history of the American Southwest without sounding like a lecture to the reader. A good, fun, book perfect for those long plane flights or lazy weekends.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: "Thunderhead" is perhaps my favorite Preston/Child novel to date, as it is definitely head and shoulders above the competition in the "techno-thriller" genre. Where Preston and Child have separated themselves from the pack is in their writing and characterizations. Any writer can string together high tech jargon and cool gadgets and produce a story. However, it takes writers of rare talent to combine that science with tight plotting, characters with real depth and beautifully written settings. In "Thunderhead" the reader follows an expedition in pursuit of Quivera, the lost city of gold. Of course, nothing is ever easy, and there are mysterious forces at work trying to block the expedition. While that may sound somewhat hokey, I can assure you that the authors have done their research well. They bring a tremendous amount of historical fact, as well as cutting edge speculation into their story. In fact, I was so intrigued by the history they injected into the story, I went out and bought several books on the ancient cultures of the American Southwest. In the end, "Thunderhead" is a great read; it has enough of a foundation in reality that you don't find yourself grimacing at the clichés of a typical thriller. At the same time, the writing is superb, and the reader is inevitably sucked in as the authors ratchet up the tension to the point where one literally can't put the book down. Once again, these authors have proven that a book doesn't have to be mindless to be entertaining. Enjoy!
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Summary: Indiana Jane and the Aztecs of Doom!
Review: God, these guys are great. From their debut with the splatter filled Relic to the high adventure Riptide, they have taken B-grade story, infused them with character and scienetific knowhow, and transformed pulp fiction into A-grade thrillers. And Thunderhead is no execption. After discovering her father's lost journal, young explorer Nora Kelly goes looking for the fabled City of Gold. Tagging along for the ride and possible scoop, Bill Smithback, intrepid reporter from Relic! But upon reaching their destination, Nora discovers that curses can be quite real, as mysterious accidents plague the crew, and more danger comes from the daughter of her boss, who wishes credit for the find, and will even stupe to murder to get what she wants... Thrilling read has everything Child and Preston's regular readers would expect, and has the added bonus of Smithback cast as the loveinterest! A great read.
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