Book Reviews

Packard, as he is referred to during most of the story, is an archaeologist whose "dig of a lifetime" has eluded him. Bored and discouraged, he goes for a dangerous joyride on his new Suzuki and, of course, takes a big dive. In the process he stumbles upon an old cave filled with bones and skeletons that look to be the find of the century. But there is something else there...a skeleton with modern day fillings which sets it off from the rest:

"He'd been staring at nothing in particular. But then he saw it. Another skull- somehow different from the first one. Packard reached down, brought it up to eye-level, dusted the rear surface. 'Okay, I'm examining another cranium. This one doesn't appear to be as-wait a minute...' He had turned it so that he was looking into its face. 'This one, there are a few hairs attached. And the teeth-Christ, they got SILVER fillings.'"

And that's just the beginning. Mr. Sawyer skillfully juxtaposes the modern day story of Packard investigating the Kennedy-era story of who the skeleton is to come up with a gripping and thoroughly plausible tale, replete with larger-than-life characters, a plot that transports the reader to the scene, and a denouement that makes the reader squirm with pleasure. There is romance galore, a touching family story, and general page-turning scenes.

Several words come to mind which easily apply to this novel: blockbuster; a story that absolutely must be made into a film (with Viggo Mortensen as Dr. Packard); a tragedy that fits in with the assassination of JFK; a historical mystery; the list goes on and on. Mr. Sawyer is a master who has graced us with a thriller/mystery that is eminently entertaining. I didn't want it to end, and can only hope he continues with this genre.

Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer

In alternating chapters, Thomas B. Sawyer tells two stories separated by more than 30 years in time.

First story, set in 1963: Tracking an errant wife whose husband wants evidence for divorce, a private eye accidentally photographs a small group of men with rifles, one of whom is a dead ringer for Lee Harvey Oswald.

Second story, set in present time: A dirt bike accident dumps an archaeologist near a rock fissure that leads him to a pile of skulls and bones. Fifteen sets of bones appear to be thousands of years old. The sixteenth skull still has some hair attached, and there are silver fillings in the teeth.

Sawyer weaves these stories together so smoothly that hair on the back of my neck stands up when the story threads cross. The ending is a knockout.

Sawyer writes: "Random events. Causes. Effects. Paths crossing, tangents briefly met, then curving away. All of it so incredibly random, and yet -- what -- fated?"

I think: It's fiction. That didn't happen. But what if? What if?

Pat Browning, author of FULL CIRCLE, A Penny Mackenzie Mystery

A dirt bike accident by Dr. Matthew Packard an archaeologist results in a discovery of human bones in a shaft that is partially covered by a huge boulder. Fifteen of the male human remains were almost one hundred thousand years old. The sixteenth male skeleton, however, is much more recent, less forty years old and embedded in his scapula is a 30 calibre steel jacketed bullet. Who is he? Why was he in the shaft with the ancient remains?

While Packard searches for the identity of the sixteenth man, his archaeological team is murdered and he finds himself embroiled in the most profound true crime mystery of the past century. As the tension continues to mount and the body count increases, Packard find his own life in danger.

Thomas Sawyer has written a fine thriller complete with a complex plot and a stunning ending. His story is a hard-boiled private eye exploit, a suspenseful thriller and a chase that leaves you gasping. It is fast paced, and excellently structured,. The only reason that I gave the book a 4 instead of a 5 was the changes in the type font that I found distracting and hard to get used to. This is a promising debut novel by a talented author