I received this book from the publisher.

An Elon Musk type of multimillionaire named Lucas Tappan has found an area in the desert near Area 51 that has unusual features on Lidar. Since he has more money than he knows what to do with it, why not have some fun? He wants to have an archeological dig occur in the area to see what can be found. Will there be evidence of an alien spacecraft? To reach his goal, he puts together a team of the best professionals he can find. One of the people he has set his sights on is archeologist Nora Kelly. Will she bring her expertise to the dig or is it beneath her? At the site he sets up a temporary village. All the equipment necessary to analyze findings is in place. He brings Nora Kelly to see the site and convince her to help. Nora’s brother is hired on the project and finally, Nora acquiesces. Nora hits the ground and begins the dig.

Will the government intervene? With the proximity to a closed military base and the Area 51 hangar, you would think they would be under intense scrutiny. The recent resurgence in interest of Area 51 is addressed in the book. Not having travelled to that area, I have no idea how much “oversight” there is in the surrounding desert.

Can throwing enough money at something truly get you what you want? This team has a definitive goal, how they will handle anything outside scope isn’t clear. Will they achieve success or will they come up empty? As the project proceeds the complications come from the government, a top-secret special ops branch of government, and even the assembled team. In true thriller fashion, you find yourself surprised at each of the twists and turns.

The characters are well crafted and developed. Setting this story in such a well-known area is interesting because so many books, movies, and tv shows have represented this area in various forms. They certainly do the desert justice as they describe the breathtaking vistas.

Preston and Child are a well-known, respected, award-winning team. They collaborate seamlessly and the story flows beautifully. In collaborative work, sometimes the transitions are apparent. These guys have it down to a fine art. The beauty of their storytelling is that you lose yourself in the story and resist stopping for anything. Any time spent with a book from Preston and Child is time very well spent.

My Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻/5

Additional Thoughts: This is a very interesting book. There are several ideas in it that are interesting and made me stop and think. A good book for me is like that. I haven’t read many books by these authors but I know now that when their next book is written I want to take a look.