Helpful Score: 2
Kudos to these veteran authors for history-based, science-based fiction about the infamous Donner Party that got stranded all winter in the High Sierras on their way to California. The book was well done in every respect: engaging characters, suspenseful plot, decent writing that didn't call attention to itself and overall a very enjoyable read. Looking forward to the next novel in this series.
Helpful Score: 2
Nora Kelly, archaeologist, and new rookie FBI Special Agent Corinne Swanson, both introduced in previous Pendergast books have a series of their own. Of course our old friend Aloysius Pendergast makes his presence known near the end and I always get a thrill when he's around. If you haven't read the Pendergast books, I'm sorry for you! You're missing out!
The plot is the factual tragic story of The Donner Party in 1846-1847 when wagon trains set off to California and some of them decide to take a short cut through the Sierra Nevada mountains and have to wait out the severe winter.
The book was great and hard to put down. I was so obsessed by The Donners I read up on them and then streamed a documentary on The Weather Channel . Needless to say, I had some bad dreams after watching the gruesome film.
5-plus stars for this one!
The plot is the factual tragic story of The Donner Party in 1846-1847 when wagon trains set off to California and some of them decide to take a short cut through the Sierra Nevada mountains and have to wait out the severe winter.
The book was great and hard to put down. I was so obsessed by The Donners I read up on them and then streamed a documentary on The Weather Channel . Needless to say, I had some bad dreams after watching the gruesome film.
5-plus stars for this one!
Another page-turner from Preston & Child. I have read many of their prior novels and I always enjoy them including several in the Pendergast series. I was drawn to this novel primarily because it is about the ill-fated Donner Party who were stranded in the Sierra Mountains in 1846 and resorted to cannibalism to survive. This piece of history has always piqued my interest ever since I first learned about it as part of Utah history when I was in 7th grade. The Donner Party crossed the Utah salt desert prior to the settlement of the Salt Lake Valley by the Mormons. The novel also features Nora Kelly, the archaeologist who was first introduced in Thunderhead, one of my favorite Preston/Child novels. In Old Bones, Nora and the archaeological institute she works for, are enticed to look for a lost camp of the Donner Party based on a journal written by Mrs. Donner that a historian, Clive Benton, has located that includes a description of the location of the lost camp. But then there is another mystery surrounding this; the remains of some of the ancestors of one of the Donner Party have been stolen from their graves from various locations around the world. Corrie Swanson, a young FBI agent is investigating this and is trying to find a connection to the Donner excavation led by Nora. Corrie is a protege of Pendergast and has helped him on other cases in the past.
I really enjoyed this one and it kept me turning the pages up until the end. There was also some good twists that I didn't see coming. I understand that this is the first in a series that will feature Nora and Corrie and I will be looking forward to reading more of these. I also need to finish reading the Pendergast series. I think I have read the first seven books but some of what happened in the later books relate to what happened in Old Bones so I'm looking forward to continuing the series.
I really enjoyed this one and it kept me turning the pages up until the end. There was also some good twists that I didn't see coming. I understand that this is the first in a series that will feature Nora and Corrie and I will be looking forward to reading more of these. I also need to finish reading the Pendergast series. I think I have read the first seven books but some of what happened in the later books relate to what happened in Old Bones so I'm looking forward to continuing the series.
I've always been an easy mark for a mystery steeped in history, and Old Bones is an excellent example. I grew up close to where the Donner Party started out in 1847, and that tale of being trapped by brutal winter weather in an unforgiving land and being forced to resort to cannibalism to stay alive has always held a strange fascination for me. Preston and Child flesh out (pun guiltily intended) their story with the history of the Donner Party, a bit of genetics, a marvelous wilderness setting, some archaeology, and-- why not?-- a bit of treasure.
The story is fast-paced, and I really enjoyed getting to know both archaeologist Nora Kelly and rookie FBI agent Corrie Swanson. Prendergast fans will be happy to know that he does make an appearance in this book, but it's really all Nora and Corrie-- and I am definitely looking forward to more.
The story is fast-paced, and I really enjoyed getting to know both archaeologist Nora Kelly and rookie FBI agent Corrie Swanson. Prendergast fans will be happy to know that he does make an appearance in this book, but it's really all Nora and Corrie-- and I am definitely looking forward to more.
great read
