Old Bones

by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
369 pgs  (Nora Kelly series #1)

In Old Bones, Preston and Child bring back an old familiar character from the early Pendergast books, Nora Kelly, to launch a new series. Nora, now working as a curator at the Santa Fe Institute of Archaeology, is approached by a man named Clive Benton, who possesses the journal of Tamzene Donner, a member of the infamous Donner Party. Benton wants to recruit Nora to lead an expedition to find a lost camp used by the ill-fated group of pioneers, a camp which he believes is not only historically significant, but he has good reason to believe there is a large cache of gold coins buried somewhere near it.

Benton, Nora, and a small group sets out to find the camp, which they're quickly able to do, but shortly after they begin excavating the old bones it contains, they discover much more than they were anticipating.

Around the same time Nora is approached by Benton, FBI agent Corrie Swanson, a supporting character from the more recent Pendergast books, is assigned to investigate a series of grave robberies and killings, all involving a family with ties to a member of the Donner Party who survived.

These two story arcs eventually meet and combine to form a story that is both entertaining and interesting. I haven't been the biggest fan of several of the more recent books by Preston and Child, and I'm hoping this new series will infuse some new life into their books, including the ones featuring Aloysius Pendergast.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆