Diablo Mesa (Nora Kelly & Corrie Swanson Series #3)

by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child

Overview

Two bodies. A dangerous secret. A terrifying force. The latest "excellent" novel in wildly popular series featuring archaeologist Nora Kelly and FBI Agent Corrie Swanson (Publishers Weekly). 

Lucas Tappan, a wealthy and eccentric billionaire and founder of Icarus Space Systems, approaches the Santa Fe Archaeological Institute with an outlandish proposal—to finance a careful, scientific excavation of the Roswell Incident site, where a UFO is alleged to have crashed in 1947. A skeptical Nora Kelly, to her great annoyance, is tasked with the job. 

Nora's excavation immediately uncovers two murder victims buried at the site, faces and hands obliterated with acid to erase their identities. Special Agent Corrie Swanson is assigned to the case. As Nora’s excavation proceeds, uncovering things both bizarre and seemingly inexplicable, Corrie’s homicide investigation throws open a Pandora's box of espionage and violence, uncovering bloody traces of a powerful force that will stop at nothing to protect its secrets—and that threatens to engulf them all in an unimaginable fate.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538736753
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	02/15/2022
Series:	Nora Kelly & Corrie Swanson Series , #3
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	10,619
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

The thrillers of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child "stand head and shoulders above their rivals" (Publishers Weekly). Preston and Child's Relic and The Cabinet of Curiosities were chosen by readers in a National Public Radio poll as being among the one hundred greatest thrillers ever written, and Relic was made into a number‑one box office hit movie. They are coauthors of the famed Pendergast series, and their recent novels include Bloodless, The Scorpion’s Tail, Crooked River, Old Bones, and Verses for the Dead. In addition to his novels, Preston writes about archaeology for the New Yorker and Smithsonian magazines. Child is a Florida resident and former book editor who has published seven novels of his own, including such bestsellers as Full Wolf Moon and Deep Storm. Readers can sign up for The Pendergast File, a monthly "strangely entertaining note" from the authors, at their website, www.PrestonChild.com. The authors welcome visitors to their Facebook page, where they post regularly.

Place of Birth:

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Education:

B.A., Pomona College, 1978

Website:

http://www.prestonchild.com

Editorial Reviews

★ 01/10/2022

Bestsellers Preston and Child go full X-Files in their excellent third thriller featuring archaeologist Nora Kelly and FBI agent Corrie Swanson (after 2021’s The Scorpion’s Tail). When Nora’s boss at the Santa Fe Archaeological Institute asks her to direct excavations at Roswell, N.Mex., the site of a supposed UFO crash in 1947, she quits, refusing to be part of a project that would make the institute a laughingstock and harm her career. The billionaire funding the project later persuades Nora to work for him directly, though she insists on first checking the accuracy of a recent aerial survey that detected evidence of human remains at the site. The subsequent discovery of two decades-old corpses, with bullet wounds in their skulls and burned-off features, involves Corrie, a skilled forensic anthropologist with a talent for facial reconstruction, and proves the precursor to more puzzles, including a baffling 1999 locked-room murder of a nuclear scientist and possible proof that what crashed at Roswell was not from Earth. The taut suspense and tight plotting that marked the authors’ earliest Pendergast novels are very much in evidence. Fans of kick-ass female leads will be delighted. Agent: Eric Simonoff, WME. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

09/01/2021

The indefatigable Preston/Child team brings back archaeologist Nora Kelly and FBI Agent Corrie Swanson in a timely tale featuring the slightly off-the-wall billionaire founder of Icarus Space Systems, who hopes to bring his project publicity (that is, glory) by persuading the Santa Fe Archaeological Institute to excavate the 1947 Roswell Incident site. As Nora's turn of spade uncovers two murder victims, she needs to call on Corrie for help. With a 250,000-copy first printing.

Library Journal

★ 2021-12-15
Two desiccated corpses aren’t the strangest discoveries made by archaeologists in this third entry of Preston and Child’s unusual crime series.

Nora Kelly is summoned to her boss’s office at the Santa Fe Archaeological Institute and assigned to investigate the site where an unidentified aircraft, perhaps a UFO, supposedly crashed in 1947. She believes that claims of an alien space landing near Roswell are “wacko.” But billionaire Lucas Tappan has provided a generous grant to the institute, and he specifically wants Nora to lead the expedition because of her reputation. She declines and is fired. So Tappan comes to her directly. But “I can’t put digging up UFOs on my resume,” she tells Skip, her less-skeptical brother. “It’s too weird.” Tappan wears her down and hires them both. Reluctantly she takes a team to the area, where they uncover a pair of corpses buried in New Mexico’s high desert. They notify the police, and FBI agent Corrie Swanson takes on the case because they’re on federal land. But the depression in the sand suggests that the vehicle—a flying saucer, maybe?—had struck the ground at a low angle and skipped repeatedly, like a flat rock across a pond. When they come to a possible final resting place, the archaeologists start digging. Just as they are about to make a shocking discovery, armed men stop them. Whatever is under a couple of meters of earth is a secret the government has closely guarded since the ’40s, and these dudes demonstrate that they will kill intruders on the spot. Kelly and Swanson aren’t friends, but they’ve worked well together ever since they debuted in Old Bones (2019), and they are smart, strong, and appealing protagonists. The story has tension, mystery, murder, and enough romance to give Kelly “a powerful glow, a whole-body tingle.”

Down-to-earth action tackles an otherworldly mystery in this devilishly plausible yarn.

Kirkus Reviews

Diablo Mesa is thriller-adventure writing of the absolute highest order that takes Preston and Child back to their high-concept roots... It reads like a hybrid of the best from Wilbur Smith and Alistair MacLean, making for flat-out great reading entertainment.”—Providence Sunday Journal

“The story has tension, mystery, murder… Down-to-earth action tackles an otherworldly mystery in this devilishly plausible yarn.”—Kirkus (Starred Review)

“Excellent… The taut suspense and tight plotting that marked the authors’ earliest Pendergast novels are very much in evidence. Fans of kick-ass female leads will be delighted.”—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

“Thoroughly entertaining.”—Booklist

“The last third of the novel is not to be missed and is impossible to put down. Everything from Cold War espionage to Soviet agents at Roswell and, of course, our top-secret group that is behind all of this will cause enough suspense and unpredictable thrills that you will not be able to see the next move coming before Preston & Child cast a literary checkmate. Diablo Mesa is just what thriller junkies require, and this always reliable author duo delivers at every turn.”—Bookreporter

“Diablo Mesa is thriller-adventure writing of the absolute highest order that takes Preston and Child back to their high-concept roots in books like Mount Dragon and Thunderheart. It reads like a hybrid of the best from Wilbur Smith and Alistair MacLean, making for flat-out great reading entertainment.”—BookTrib

“Diablo Mesa touches upon one of the most enduring and popular topics of the past 70 years… a great hook.”—The Big Thrill

“Diablo Mesa will keep you enthralled.”—The Florida Times-Union

“Preston & Child are back with a thrilling, excellent third novel…  Nobody writes like these two and this book keeps you the edge as you read along with the adventure.”
 —Red Carpet Crash

Praise for the Nora Kelly series——

"Mystery thriller writing of the highest order."—Providence Sunday Journal

"There's nothing else like them."—Washington Post

"Consistently exciting and never predictable."—Associated Press

"The two strong female protagonists [Nora Kelly and Corrie Swanson] share a dynamic reminiscent of that between Pendergast and his friend on the NYPD, Vincent D'Agosta."—Publishers Weekly

"Long-time readers of Preston and Child will love to see the beloved characters of Nora Kelly and Corrie Swanson take center stage in what is a terrific start to a new series. Their writing talent shines as this mix of history, exploration of nature and crime will without a doubt land on the top of the best-seller lists. Though some of the historical facts have been tweaked a bit for the story to work, a note to the reader from the authors at the end reveals what is true and what they made up, and is sure to lead to a surge in attention for non-fiction accounts of what really happened that horrible winter."—Associated Press

"Old Bones exceeds expectations at every juncture, a thriller extraordinaire that turns history upside down in forming the basis of a riveting and relentless tale."—Providence Sunday Journal

"A smart, satisfying read."—Kirkus

"This outing belongs to two dedicated women, whose future adventures will be happily anticipated."—Booklist

"From the thriller world's dynamic duo comes a new work of archeology, murder, and the Donner Party. This one should please longtime fans of Preston and Child, as well as new devotees drawn in by that ever-appealing set up of a past crime coming back to haunt the present."—CrimeReads

"Preston and Child have created a fine mix of fiction and historical fact. The story is peopled by complex and engaging characters with sometimes murky ambitions. . . The ending, which seems far-fetched, is definitely, disturbingly possible."—Booktrib

"Preston & Child is one of those "names" on a book that make you want to set everything else aside in order to read what amazing words they've written [...] From the best writing team out there, you do not want to miss this book."—Suspense Magazine

"Old Bones has it all: chills, thrills and a blend of history, along with archaeological expertise you can only get from a Preston & Child novel. I loved spending time with Nora Kelly and Corrie Swanson, and look forward to seeing them in future adventures. Longtime readers will be rewarded not only by this pairing but by some other surprises leading up to the conclusion of this exciting read."—Bookreporter

From the Publisher