Excavation

Mar 25, 2012 I, Curmudgeon rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: action-adventure, good-read, historical-mystery-meets-modern-sci, kindle-book

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Excavation

What about the action? Well, there was more going on than at a three ringed flea circus at the Westminster Dog show! And of course I can’t talk about them because it would spoil the fun. Yes, I heave a heavy sigh because there’s so much to talk about.

In truth, as much as I liked this, and I liked it a lot, I found the action less exciting than some of the other Rollin’s reads. Don’t misunderstand me, I liked what was in the book, but compared Ice hunt, or Amazonia, it seemed more susp...more

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Nov 14, 2011 Parvathy rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Indiana Jones fans, ancient mysteries

Recommended to Parvathy by: Yona

Shelves: conspiracy-theories, glued-till-the-last-page, informative, living-vicariously, movie-material

This is the first James Rollins book I have read and I can safely say that after this venture there are going to be more James Rollins books in my future. Never before had I experimented with a book like this which felt like watching a full length Indiana Jones movie. Kingdom of skulls was the first Indiana Jones movie I have watched and this book does go around a similar setting. The book opens with a Dominican priest almost 500 years in the past on the run form a group of Inca warriors and his...more This is the first James Rollins book I have read and I can safely say that after this venture there are going to be more James Rollins books in my future. Never before had I experimented with a book like this which felt like watching a full length Indiana Jones movie. Kingdom of skulls was the first Indiana Jones movie I have watched and this book does go around a similar setting. The book opens with a Dominican priest almost 500 years in the past on the run form a group of Inca warriors and his attempt to sent a message to the world about an unknown evil. Fast forward to the present where a group of archaeologists stumble upon a lost city of the Incas along with the mummified remains of what they believe to be an Inca warrior. From there on the story takes place in two continents where the pieces of the same puzzle are trying to be solved by two groups. One includes the veteran archeologist Prof Henry who is baffled by the discovery of an unknown gold like substance preserved within the uncovered mummy and it strange properties. The second group is headed by Henry's nephew Sam and deals with their startling discovery of a yet unexplored room with in the folds of the lost mountain city and the secrets beyond it. But in stories like this things seldom go as planned and certain unforeseen circumstances take Sam and his team through a race for survival which in turn takes them through the heart of the lost city and the mystery surrounding these ancient people. Meanwhile Henry has his own run in with a Dominican priest sect whose existence and the secret they guard could prove deadly. Extremely imaginative and immensely exhilarating this book is an action packed fun package that will leave you wanting more. Added to that this book is highly informative. This book is one of those rare books that manage to thrill you and teach you at the same time. It provides valuable insights into the Inca's and there customs while taking us through life threatening situations and there where quite a few such situations in this book. Altogether this is a good read and should be given a chance.(less)

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Nov 22, 2008 Brooke rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2008, thriller

James Rollins has really been filling that archaeological-action-adventure-thriller niche in my library. Although it could be ridiculously melodramatic in places, Excavation was even better than his first book, Subterranean. It spent less time setting things up and practically plunged right into the action and mystery right away. It also rolled along at a brisker pace - I didn't have the need to skim like I did with Subterranean.

Rollins is a fun author; his books aren't high literature, but the...more

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Jun 01, 2013 Neha rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-lit

Excavation was a fun book. It dives right into the action very quickly, which I love in a book. I'm an action fan. The enviornments were very easy to picture in my mind. I enjoyed that it took place in a jungle type of setting. I haven't read very many books that have such an atmosphere.

I blew threw this book in just a couple of days because it really was a page-turner. The suspense was nice without being overly hyped up. The pace was quick but also quite smooth. It didn't seem to get ahead of...more

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Sep 19, 2012 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars

James Rollins- Excavation 3.75 Stars

Excavating an archaeological site in the Andes, Dr. Henry Conklin and his group of students unearth an old mummy who was an old friar. The students are exploring the site and come across an underground passage filled with deadly traps. This site is filled with a vast richness, far beyond the important historical knowledge. All of this may appear wonderful on the outside, but inside, they may be unearthing something far more dangerous than they ever thought pos...more

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Jul 20, 2012 Christopher Fulbright rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love a good adventure novel, and James Rollins is on the cutting edge of the modern action thriller that pits man/woman against some strange discovery and throws them into seemingly unwinnable situations, only to see them (most of them at least) come out the other side on the basis of wit and skill alone. "Excavation" is the type of novel I can't turn down -- jungle adventure, ruins exploration, and intrigue. Yes, I know a million-and-one people think "Indiana Jones" any time you mention such...more

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Jun 13, 2012 Jeremy marked it as to-read

High in the Andes, Dr. Henry Conklin discovers a 500-year-old mummy that should not be there. While deep in the South American jungle, Conklin's nephew, Sam, stumbles upon a remarkable site nestled between two towering peaks, a place hidden from human eyes for thousands of years.

Ingenious traps have been laid to ensnare the careless and unsuspecting, and wealth beyond imagining could be the reward for those with the courage to face the terrible unknown. But where the perilous journey inward en

...more

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Nov 15, 2011 Derek Dowell rated it 3 of 5 stars

If you like glue-your-eyes-to-the-page adventure stories, Excavation, a James Rollins rip-roaring tale of Incas, archaeologists, and modern Spanish Inquisitors, should be right up your alley. Unfortunately, this Cussleresque steamroller of a plot suffers from an also Cussleresque gallery of characters with all the depth of cardboard cutouts, speaking a universal brand of bland dialogue perhaps best described as television news anchorese. Yes, we do get a bit of diversity when Irish student Maggi...more If you like glue-your-eyes-to-the-page adventure stories, Excavation, a James Rollins rip-roaring tale of Incas, archaeologists, and modern Spanish Inquisitors, should be right up your alley. Unfortunately, this Cussleresque steamroller of a plot suffers from an also Cussleresque gallery of characters with all the depth of cardboard cutouts, speaking a universal brand of bland dialogue perhaps best described as television news anchorese. Yes, we do get a bit of diversity when Irish student Maggie tosses a few colloquialisms our way, like "fecking" instead of...you get the idea.

Maybe the problem was all in my head but Rollins characters seemed to be more quick outlines whipped up for the sole purpose of running them through Adventure Plot #8. Let's see, I'll give this one a cowboy hat and a Winchester, make this one gay, this one a homophobic football player, and toss in a wee Irish lass who will be sure to lose her clothes at least once during the proceedings, though managing to remain chaste and virginal as the day is long.

Story:
The plot is a doozy and kept me turning pages long past the point my wife had gone to sleep on the other side of the bed. Of course, I'm easily entertained, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. Professor Harry Conklin discovers the mummified remains of a Spanish monk at an Inca temple excavation site in the high jungle of the Andes Mountains in some damn south American country - I forget which. Exhibiting a startling lack of common sense, he leaves the archeology dig under the control of his graduate students, including nephew, Sam (of Stetson hat and Winchester fame), and runs back to the United States to find out his mummy's brain is packed with an explosive new form of gold that comes to be designated Substance Z.

While a cult of secret monks descended from the Spanish Inquisition chase Harry and his romantic foil, Joan, around for a bit, eventually stealing their sample of Substance Z, kidnapping them, and taking them back to some damn country in South America - I forget which - Sam's group of wandering grad students are trapped by a cave-in at the excavation and forced to find a back door which includes a voyage through traps, snares, and machinations worthy of Indiana Jones. Low on flashlight batteries and running from an army of tarantulas, the kids end up in an ancient necropolis battling albino monkey freaks who might have been Morlocks escaped from H.G. Wells story, The Time Machine.

Luckily, a knife the kids found in a pile of Incan trinkets was made from Substance Z and can morph into any sort of key or weapon they needed. Whew! I was worried there for a minute. At some point in the necropolis battle scene, we lose the services of stock character #3, also known as Ralph, the homophobic ex-football player, apparently included on the adventure for the express purpose of providing one half of the most clumsily handled homesexual/heterosexual moralizing our planet has ever seen. Good lord, this part of the story seems to have been completed as a third grade writing assignment. "Excellent work, Jimmy," says the teacher, patting our little tyke Rollins on the head. "I especially like how the mean old football player was killed and eaten by nightmarish subterranean beasts as punishment for his sins against the gallant gay guy."

I must stop here and say that Rollins less-than-dextrous handling of the growing love between two middle-aged scientists was a tragicomic model of clumsy writing equaled only by his characterization of the growing love between twenty-somethings Sam and Maggie.

After finding their way out of the necropolis, Sam's group stumbles into a throwback hidden Incan city existing as it had for 500 years. Then we get into more monkeyshines with Substance Z. Norman's knee is healed and he suddenly speaks Incan perfectly. Sam is killed and brought back to life. A centuries old Incan chief who was beheaded back in the day is in the process of growing a new body. Finally the whole thing explodes and we find out the mysterious substance is actually comprised of nanorobots from a distant world sent to colonize earth.

Recommendation
If spit-in-your-hands-and-reach-for-the-bullwhip adventure stories are your thing, and you aren't driven batty by the prospect of four hundred or so pages of stilted characters and dialogue, grab your Kindle and download it now. I did and I'd do it again. For the aforementioned shortcomings, but taking into account those damn effective cliffhanger section endings, I grant this book a solid 3.5 out of 5 stars.

~ reviewed by CD(less)

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Sep 29, 2011 Novità Narrativa Biblioteca di Concesio rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: enigmi-e-misteri, avventura

Il professor Henry Conklin ha atteso questo momento per tutta la vita. Nel corso di alcuni scavi archeologici sulle Ande peruviane, ha portato alla luce una mummia perfettamente conservata, che potrebbe finalmente confermare la sua rivoluzionaria teoria: l'esistenza di un'avanzata civiltà indigena precedente agli inca. Dopo aver lasciato la direzione dei lavori al nipote Sam, Conklin torna subito negli Stati Uniti per effettuare le analisi di laboratorio, che tuttavia danno risultati sorprendent...more

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Jul 23, 2011 David rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: thriller

I normally quite like James Rollins' novels, but this one? Not so much.

Although it is in his usual pseudo sci-fi style of writing which I have no problem with, I don't know whether the reason I wasn't really that sold on this one is due to the rather ridiculous (even for him) plot devices used, that fact that it's not one of his Sigma Force novels (best described as scientists with guns) and so lacks that over-reaching plot strands that connects all those novels, or (more likely) that he seems t...more

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Feb 28, 2011 Ernie Jr. rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book was recommened by one of my students (I teach high school Physics) along with "Fragment" by Warren Fahy. I approached it with the same open mind, but was not nearly as entertained or impressed by the writing. Excavation did have a mildly interesting premise (gold-like silicon-based nanobiotech), but after that, the whole book was a large cliche'. The token black guy died. The requisite homosexual survived impossible odds, managed to stumble into 'miraculous' discoveries, and was one of...more

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Jan 30, 2008 Rubina rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: all readers who are into puzzles from long past!!

Recommended to Rubina by: Sheer luck!! Browsing in the book shop

After "The De Vinci Code" - this was one book that I really could not put down - I was actually running with the characters!!! By the last chapter I "was feeling" a little let down - for it was sounding so unreal - BUT by the time I was reading the last three pages - I was completely floored for it really made sense to me - one of the best reads in a long long time!!!

I love James Rollins and I am going to make sure I have all his books!!! :D

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Aug 05, 2011 Neeke rated it 2 of 5 stars

Exotic Location: Check
Incan tomb: Check
Boobytraps: check
Huge treasure + golden idol: check
Creapy crawlers: check
Hat always on main character's head: check
workers turning against archaeologists: check
evil organisation: check
Short Round (cleverly disguised as Denal): check
Mystical powers: check
Objects get destroyed/lost: check
Indiana Jones: chec... ...wait... Indiana isn't involved?!?

This book obviously shares *some* similarities with the Indiana Jones stories. Not necessarily a bad thing, because...more Exotic Location: Check
Incan tomb: Check
Boobytraps: check
Huge treasure + golden idol: check
Creapy crawlers: check
Hat always on main character's head: check
workers turning against archaeologists: check
evil organisation: check
Short Round (cleverly disguised as Denal): check
Mystical powers: check
Objects get destroyed/lost: check
Indiana Jones: chec... ...wait... Indiana isn't involved?!?

This book obviously shares *some* similarities with the Indiana Jones stories. Not necessarily a bad thing, because Indy totally rocks, but it just didn't work for me in this one.
So, we have our excavation in the Andes, looking for a huge Temple with a mysterious treasury. This of course doesn't come without any deadly boobytraps... Thus far: ok, some similarities with Indy, but ok. Then it goes from bad to worse... dialogues don't work, characters are a bit too one-dimensional, cliché building on cliché, and don't forget to mention the sudden appearance of zombie-like humanoid things, dwelling in subterranean locations.
The story unfolds in a series of storylines; The students that are trapped in the pyramid and bash their way through noxious bat caves (dude, since when do bats release noxious fumes? And do you really have to overreact to it? - the bats of course are also evil and attack our main characters), filled with albino actacking spiders... and the zombie-filled subterranean city to the Incan world, Philip the student left at the camp (keeps being self-centered), The evil Spanish Inquisition monks, and Henry, Sam's uncle, and H's love interest Joan.
What's more in this story? The presence of a mysterious gold-like subsistence, influenced by the human mind... Centuries old Incas with a horrifying truth lying hidden and more little bit over the top actions.

What got me most, apart from the zombie-like creatures (that are always 'drooling foam from their mouths'), were the 'love stories'. Too obvious, and sooo bad, especially the dialogues between the characters in question; "Keep walking ahead of me and I'll be plenty warm" Seriously?!
Further more, don't get me started on the ending.. both of the story, and the epilogue.

This was not a good start with James Rollins. I'll try some other novels, but this one definitely didn't make it for me.

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Dec 27, 2012 Kimberly rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-bookshelf, thriller, library-books-read-2012, around-the-world

I'm a bit late to the whole James Rollins party it seems but it's better to be late than never! Before I borrowed Excavation from the library I had been wanting to give his books a try for ages but I didn't know where to start. Then I found this one when I did a library search and it looked like a good place to start.

As you probably already know I am a huge history buff so the fact that this book dealt with the history and myths surround the Incan people I was all for it. Especially since this b...more I'm a bit late to the whole James Rollins party it seems but it's better to be late than never! Before I borrowed Excavation from the library I had been wanting to give his books a try for ages but I didn't know where to start. Then I found this one when I did a library search and it looked like a good place to start.

As you probably already know I am a huge history buff so the fact that this book dealt with the history and myths surround the Incan people I was all for it. Especially since this book was coveted by fans of one of my favourite authors Clive Cussler.

The book started off with a bang. We're taken 500 years into the past while a young Dominican priest is on the run from a gang of Incan warriors through the jungle as he tries to escape from them and leave a message for people in the future before he dies. Then we're fast forwarded to the present when an archaeological dig is taking place in the area where the Dominican Priest was found but this is no normal archaeological dig and the jungles of Peru hold more secrets than you or I can imagine.

I loved the setting of this book. I haven't read a lot of books set in South America but when it comes to this genre its one of my favourite locations. There's so much mystery, history and danger associated with that part of the world it makes it a perfect locale for this type of book and James Rollin's created an great story that took place in Peru.

Right away I was hooked on the story line I love how the book opened in the past and then fast forwarded to present day. I was thinking that maybe the book would be told in two different times one in the past and one in the present day so I was really pleased to see that 99% of the book was written in the present day.

I thought that while the characters of Henry, his nephew Sam, Maggie, Denal and Norman were good characters on the surface they lacked a lot of depth. I for one wish that I could have gotten to know them on a deeper level because they were the main characters so I felt the that the story could have used a bit more of the personal touch in that aspect. I also wish that the bad guys in the novel had a little more depth to them as well because they seemed like they were really transparent.

The plot was a good one, albeit one that I have seen various derivations of in the past when it comes to this novel but the whole idea of the book being about a lost tribe of immortal Incans was interesting. I wish there was more detail involved in the creation of the tribe and when the tribe was talked about as well as the creatures that inhabited the areas around the tribe. I liked that part of the book a lot but I think it could have used more detail.

While the book had a lot of adrenaline rushing moments the spaces in between got rather slow at times and I couldn't wait for things to get going again. There were parts of the book that I think the story could have been left out because they didn't really add anything of substance to the novel.

The book did have it's fair share of high and low points like any novel does and perhaps I'm just being picky because this is the first book I've read by the author and I'm just getting used to his writing style but overall in terms of the plot and characters I felt that the novel lacked a lot of critical detail and things were rushed over and sometimes the book felt more like an abridged version of a novel rather than the full length novel. Plus there were a couple of plot holes that I cannot for the life of me figure out where as well as having some unnecessary plot fillers in the book that slowed down the pace of the novel.

The writing was the one main thing I liked. While the story lacked detail I could tell that the author did a fair amount of research to give the book an authentic Peruvian setting and the book was able to keep me reading late into the night despite my issues. I think that maybe the author needed to balance out the characters as well as the storyline with more. The bones of a great novel was there but for me as much as I did enjoy this one I think it held a lot more promise than was achieved.

I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to read an adrenaline filled novel that loves history, cults and lost civilizations this book might just be your next great read. While this book didn't turn out the way I wanted it to I still enjoyed it and I'm glad this was the first book I've read by the author. I hope I like his other books as well and I can't wait for my holds of Amazonia and Subterranean to come in at the library so I can read more of his writing soon! Hopefully I have better luck with them.(less)

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Aug 23, 2011 Debra Chapoton rated it 3 of 5 stars

Excavation is another great, fast-paced adventure by James Rollins. I only gave it three stars because throughout the story there is subtle and sometimes not so subtle jabbing at belief in God. He also uses the precious name of my savior repeatedly as a curse word. He's going to regret that forever.
The story is full of Inca history and modern research, wrapping together a theme of fantastic archeological discovery in an Indiana Jones setting with danger, escape and nanotechnology. Whew! What an...more

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Feb 19, 2011 Brian Steele rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adventure, scifi, thriller

I'm beginning to love James Rollins. He merges the Adventure antics of Clive Cussler (minus the bromance) and the contemporary Sci-Fi Horror found in the best novels by Michael Crichton. I loved his book Subterranean and I enjoyed this book even more. Don't get me wrong - you have to suspend belief a good deal and roll with the popcorn, but it's just a fun and exciting tale. I've been eying Deep Fathom and after this, I'm definitely going to check it out.

While a bit more epic in scope, I believe...more

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Sep 25, 2011 Riju Ganguly rated it 4 of 5 stars

James Rollins is one author whose laundry list might also become a best-seller (if he pursues it), and the reasons were pretty obvious to readers like us who had read him when he were only marking his presence. This novel was a "winner" right from the first page, and when it finally concluded (with sufficient hints that may be elongated into a sequel at a later phase) like many other readers I had also realised that I had been holding my breath for some time. It is a very good read (Rollins' usu...more

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Mar 31, 2011 Ashish rated it 4 of 5 stars

"Excavation" was my very first James Rollins read. The way he describes the merger of archeology and religious faith really got me interested in his style of writing. I must say that his treatment of the sensitivities of merging scientific thought with religious faith is excellent. His plots and sub-plots are extremely well woven together and he paces the book well. His characters are well thought out and rarely contradict their established behavioral patterns. All of this is based on some excel...more

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Nov 18, 2012 Rick rated it 2 of 5 stars

I was a bit disappointed with this. The plot and characters were largely unbelievable and even suspending belief proved extremely difficult at times. The references to knowing how to handle a gun because you are from Belfast were, I'm sure, offensive to pretty much anyone from Northern Ireland and the discovery of a specific property of the mysterious substance at the end of the book just did not ring true, surely it would have been one of the first things to have been discovered with all the at...more

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Jan 27, 2013 A.R. Voss rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: signed-books

Fastest reading of a five hundred page book I had the pleasure of enjoying for a long time. Great subject matter, story telling and twist and turns with interesting plot and sub-plots. There are certain books at times that you love to read and because they are so enjoyable you tend to read them fast, however, you hate for them to finish. This books was one of those for me. Of course every book will have flaws but the bulk of it was brilliant. I definitely recommend this book, especially to thos...more

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May 17, 2012 Victoria rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-thriller

This book was simply tons of fun to read! It was an exciting, fast-paced thriller with an absolutely fascinating plot and filled with not only unpredictable plot twists, but also some very sympathetic characters. It would make a perfect addition to a trip to the beach, or any sort of vacation at all - even a stay-cation could be made more thrilling while curled up with this tough-to-put-down novel!

Rollins took some fantastic elements and incorporated them quite realistically into this thriller....more

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May 02, 2011 ✿ Deni rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-2011-50-books-challenge

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 01, 2013 Pam (E.P. Scott) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: action, mystery, thriller

James Rollins combines truth, fiction, technology and archeology and comes up with another exciting and engaging story of ancient Incan tribes, creepy creatures and a substance that is out of this world.

The Short: Henry and his nephew Sam are on an archeological dig site in Peru and they have made a discovery. Henry leaves Sam in charge and heads back to the States with an ancient mummy with the hopes he can prove a theory of his. An old flame, Joan, re-enters his life to help him with the myste...more James Rollins combines truth, fiction, technology and archeology and comes up with another exciting and engaging story of ancient Incan tribes, creepy creatures and a substance that is out of this world.

The Short: Henry and his nephew Sam are on an archeological dig site in Peru and they have made a discovery. Henry leaves Sam in charge and heads back to the States with an ancient mummy with the hopes he can prove a theory of his. An old flame, Joan, re-enters his life to help him with the mystery and together they discover a substance with unbelievable and extraordinary properties. Throw in some Spanish priests with an agenda, a hidden treasure and grotesque humanoid forms and we have a great story with a climactic conclusion and a twisty add-on at the very end which I absolutely loved and have not experienced in a Rollins novel ... yet.

The only thing I had a bit of a problem with were two of the characters; Maggie and Sam, and it’s not like I hated them, there was just something about them that irked the hell out of me. Maggie was a stereotypical Irish girl and her use of feckin’, sweet Jesus, and nit wanted to make me pull my hair out most of the time. Sam, the Texan, who I really wanted to be the strong, take charge guy drove me crazy with his wishy washy oh’s, um’s and uh’s… and… *stomps foot*… when a girl is ready to be kissed, for God’s sake have the guts to kiss her… *sighs*… oh well.

NOW, on the flip side, I loved Henry and Joan. It was refreshing to see a couple in their later years have the jitters and fears associated with those feelings that make all of us jittery and fearful when trying to figure out what’s going on inside. I really liked how Rollins wrote those characters along with the multitude of others, and there were a lot of characters that got billing in this novel, not unlike his other novels, but never-the-less he did a wonderful job of meshing them all together and making sense of their interactions as they unraveled the mystery.

So, wrapping up, Excavation was a great novel and any action/adventure lover would enjoy reading it. It definitely had more than its fair share of moments where it raised my eyebrows and my blood pressure, misted my eyes and made me gasp and say ‘no, that can’t happen’. Those moments made me turn the page when my eyes were drooping and I should have turned the bedside light out; that, in itself, is reason enough to recommend it. It doesn’t rank as high as the other Rollins’ novels I’ve read so far but it still gets 3 stars.
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Feb 03, 2012 K. Jackson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: related

Goodreads advises:

High in the Andes, Dr. Henry Conklin discovers a 500-year-old mummy that should not be there. While deep in the South American jungle, Conklin's nephew, Sam, stumbles upon a remarkable site nestled between two towering peaks, a place hidden from human eyes for thousands of years. Ingenious traps have been laid to ensnare the careless and unsuspecting, and wealth beyond imagining could be the reward for those with the courage to face the terrible unknown. But where the perilous...more Goodreads advises:

High in the Andes, Dr. Henry Conklin discovers a 500-year-old mummy that should not be there. While deep in the South American jungle, Conklin's nephew, Sam, stumbles upon a remarkable site nestled between two towering peaks, a place hidden from human eyes for thousands of years. Ingenious traps have been laid to ensnare the careless and unsuspecting, and wealth beyond imagining could be the reward for those with the courage to face the terrible unknown. But where the perilous journey inward ends--in the cold, shrouded heart of a breathtaking necropolis--something else is waiting for Sam Conklin and his exploratory party. A thing created by Man, yet not humanly possible. Something wondrous . . . something terrifying.

This book transports you back to the days of the Incas and the cities they built - some that last even through till today. Though the story is told in real time - the history of this long ago culture kept the story flowing as the group make their way from trap to trap - monster to monster. I like the bit of extraterrestrial that goes into the story though it would be hard to do the story without it for no other explanation could fit.

After an explosion traps Sam's team in the underground pyramid, they find that to live they must use everything they know about the Incas and neighboring tribes to solve the riddle and reach the surface. Once at the surface, things are still not as they seem as Henry rushes to save what they have found from the rest of the world. The story is pretty action packed and fast moving.

OK, what I liked about the story was the archeology aspects, the monsters, the bit of supernatural, and the characters all made the story fascinating - a history lesson interlaced with fiction. Though scientists, the group doesn't fit the mold of being the pompous, arrogant geeks that too often grace the halls of academia. I'm glad they don't all have some sort of combat training either because that is getting to be a tired, old storyline both in movies and books. I get so tired of there being a monstrous situation but oh, wait, the main character has somehow gained near superhuman status because they were military. Please! Instead the groups in the book use scientific analysis to find their way out of grim situations.

The imagery is magnificent - I could so see the entire route in my mind which, unfortunately, fed into my subconsciousness and infiltrated my dreams. It isn't much fun running through caves being chased by ugly monsters in one's dreams.

So what didn't I like? It did drag just a wee bit halfway through that made me feel like I would never get back to the good stuff but it does make it back before I lost interest. I found the ending a tad bit cliché so was disappointed that the author went there when the story was going along so well but I guess he felt it wrapped stuff up better and left a bit of wondering to the reader. If one stops before the Epilogue, the story ends better.

One of the better Rollins books I have read - I liked how it was a bit similar to "Deeper" but kept true to the storyline without wandering off down paths that were too stupid for words as "Deeper" did. I easily give the book an A and think it would make a great movie if done properly.
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Feb 12, 2008 Nancy Oakes rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: escape-reading

If you like adventure stories with a few supernatural/outer-spacey elements thrown in, you're really going to like this book. When I started the book, for some reason the theme to Indiana Jones started floating in my head.

A group of archaeologists are excavating a newly-found site in Peru under the guidance of their mentor, Dr. Henry Conklin. Conklin is not at the site, but back in the US where he is overseeing the delivery and analyses of a mummy from Peru which he hopes will bolster his claim...more

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Feb 26, 2012 Rik rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Rik by: Nicki M

Shelves: fiction, library-book, thriller, read-in-2012

A bit of an Indiana Jones type of adventure/ thriller, along with ancient booby traps and lots of spiders. Ignoring my scepticism regarding the likely hood of the traps still working after 400 years, and whether anyone really could make anything so complex, this was a fast paced enjoyable thriller. Just enough detail to make you either like or despise the characters, and, for me, a good plot. I'm not sure about the ending; I liked it initially, but the more I think about it the less happy with i...more

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Jun 18, 2011 David rated it 1 of 5 stars

This is my first James Rollins read, and if it is representative of his other stuff, it will be my last; I kept at it, thinking it couldn't get any worse...but it did. Imagine a rejected screenplay for an Indiana Jones wannabe movie, and you've got this dreadful book.

There are caves full of tarantulas, bats, and flesh-eating zombies, all marshalled against the most cliched cast of characters you'll ever encounter. Excavation should come with a "reader beware" disclaimer on the jacket.

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Aug 07, 2011 Ryan rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was my introduction to James Rollins. I wanted to read the Sigma Force novels I keep hearing so much about and picked this up at a used book store mistakenly thinking it was part of that series. But Rollins has captured my interest and I will continue reading his novels! Equal parts Cussler, Crichton, and Preston/Child, the action and plotting of this novel was good. Characters were a bit too one-dimensional and the ending did not quite reach the heights I was expecting from the fast-paced...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Sarah Walker rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is my husband' absolute favorite author. I had tried to read a different book by James Rollins and had to put it down, there were too many characters to keep up with. Apparently that is his writing style. I was able to get used to it in this book, and enjoyed the storyline. He paints very vivid pictures, I could see every scene happening in my head. If they turned this into a movie, it would be a blockbuster. Everyone loves an adventure story, and this one was a great one.

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Oct 06, 2011 Bandit rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I thought I'd give an adventure genre a go. I love adventure movies and throughout this whole book I kept thinking how much better and more entertaining it would have been as a movie. In fact it is written IMO. There is tons of action and enough cardboard characters for a prop store. Seriously, a Texan who never (we are reminded of this constantly ) parts with his Stetson hat, a homophobic jock, a smart alec gay guy, a professor so noble it borders on the absurd (view spoiler)...more

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