Fellowship of Fear

Rating:
Summary: Fun, entertaining introduction to Gideon Oliver
Review: I like Gideon Oliver, professor of Anthropology, a great deal after reading this book. He's a little bit of a nerd -- but his ability to distinguish the bone structure of a Scandanavian vs. a Russian proves to be an handy skill.

The book is set in early 1980's Europe in the NATO military community (Heidleberg, Sicily and Madrid) and is full of cold war skulldugery -- but with a sense of humor and even a little romance.

The writing is better than average for a first book and I'll be keeping my eyes open for a copy of the next book in the series.

Rating:
Summary: No bones about it, a great mystery!
Review: This is Mr. Elkins first mystery novel with the investigative "bone detective" Gideon Oliver. Gideon becomes bait as ruthless people try to obtain valuable information. Watch as Gideon narrowly escapes death several times at the hands of ruthless yet bungling terrorist types. As a physical anthropologist, Gideon uses his powers of detection using bones and bone fragments to literally save his life.

This book is very entertaining and I think you will enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: Spy vs. Spy vs. Spy
Review: This is the first in a series of books featuring Professor Gideon Oliver, a physical anthropologist who gets involved in solving crimes by piecing together evidence from bone fragments. The author's background in the field of anthropology certainly gives his character and the many scientific "factoids" the ring of authenticity. (Makes me wonder why I found the subject so boring in college!)

In this story, Oliver sets out to teach some anthropology courses at a series of military bases in Europe--a nice break from his normal teaching routine, as well as an opportunity to travel around some interesting places.
However, as soon as he arrives in Germany, his hotel room is searched and he is physically attacked. This is just the start of his troubles, as various arms of NATO security (who don't tell each other what they are doing) get him enmeshed in an attempt to discover a traitor among the faculty who is somehow getting secret information from military bases to the Russian KGB. (This story takes place more than 20 years ago.) The KGB is just as misinformed as the NATO guys, and the plot starts to take on a Keystone Cops affect--except there is a lot of mayhem and murder involved here. It's a good read--not great literature, but an absorbing and competently written book.