Old Bones

This was my re-introduction to the works of Preston & Child, having read The Relic and perhaps two others many years ago. Old Bones is the first in a series revolving around archaeologist Nora Kelly, based out of New Mexico.

In the early 90's, I had participated in an archaeological dig in southeastern Kansas which eventually led to my taking formal classes at UNM in Albuquerque. While there, I met a few FBI agents who worked out if the Field Office there. I have also had a long-standing interest in the history of the American West.

Thus, this novel piqued my curiosity on a number of different levels. It was merely a bonus that it's a great story with enough suspense to make it difficult to put down when one needs to sleep, etc.

I had never read much about the tragedy of the Donner party but now I am intrigued enough to – as suggested at the end of the book – to read one of the non-fiction accounts as well.

This novel was as much about FBI agent Corrie Swanson as it was about Nora Kelly. The historian who sets everything into motion – Clive Benton – is also prominent and fully characterized.

The novel's conclusion is satisfying and also leaves a bit of mystery for the reader to wonder about.

Well done!

I will definitely read the next installment in the Nora Kelly series when it appears. In the meantime, I want to seek out and read as many of the previous Preston & Child novel's as I can....

A nice little romp (if a tad slow) for a spin-off from the Agent Pendergast series.

Ever since Lincoln and Child introduced Corrie Swanson into the realms of Pendergast, I was waiting for them to expand her role. I figured she would have been great for a YA series with Pendergastian overtones, but now she's an adult, a grown woman who followed in her mentor's footsteps and joined the FBI. At first, I was looking forward to this, but she does not come off too well in the first book. She's a little uptight, a little by-the-book. She's lost some of the goth edge that she possessed when she was first introduced.

Nora Kelly, the widow of the last William Smithback, is an old friend from the Pendergast realms. It's nice to see her getting a larger role in this world. She's intelligent and strong, and a good protagonist.

OLD BONES starts off promising, with a hunt for Donner party campsites, but the book really only simmers and never boils. It does not really live up to the expectations I have for typical Lincoln & Child work, but I'm going to chalk that up to the fact that it's a first book and they're still finding footing for both of the characters. Both women, formerly secondary characters in Pendergast's world, are now front and center and the writers seem to be figuring them out.

The first book in this spin-off series is solid, but doesn't really hum. However, I anticipate a second book will not suffer a sophomore slump.

Old Bones is a very well-researched and structured procedural mystery/thriller novel. I enjoyed listening to the book, though there were times when I felt it sort of dragged and maybe did too much setup with characters, but as it was the first of the Nora Kelly books I guess that can make sense.

I did enjoy that the Donner Party was the vessel for the storyline, it is a fascinating story in and of itself. Where I felt a little slighted was with the ending. It felt rushed and easily wrapped up with stuff off the page. I didn't feel I got the closure I wanted. There was a twist I guess, but one that had no basis from what was read. I'm not a huge fan when books do that.

Also, I probably would have been better serve to at least have read the first in the Pendergast books as there does seem to be a connection to two of the characters in this story.

It's a fun book though, and does what it is supposed to do.