🌋 "Disturbing the Bones": A Timely Tale of Politics, Power, and the Ghosts of America's Past
Book Review: 🏺 Archaeology Meets Suspense in This Riveting Page-Turner 🌄 From Tucson to Cairo: Jeff Biggers' Landscapes Come Alive
😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
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🕵️♂️ In "Disturbing the Bones," a detective named Randall goes back to his old hometown to solve a mystery about his missing mom. 🏚️ He teams up with an archaeologist named Molly, who is digging up old bones and secrets from the past. 🗳️ At the same time, a big election is happening, and the president is saying mean things about building a wall. 🌎 Meanwhile, a brave agent named Alison is trying to stop a big disaster from happening around the world. 📖 The story is exciting and scary, but it also makes you think about important things like being kind to people who are different from you and learning from the past. 💡 "Disturbing the Bones" is a grown-up book, but it has lessons that everyone can understand.
🗝️ Takeaways
🔑 "Disturbing the Bones" is a masterful blend of thriller, history, and social commentary.
📚 Jeff Biggers' deep knowledge of indigenous cultures and forgotten places shines through.
⏰ The novel's themes of racism, politics, and the power of the past feel both timely and timeless.
💥 Andrew Davis and Jeff Biggers make a formidable team, crafting a story that is impossible to put down.
🏆 "Disturbing the Bones" is a must-read for fans of intelligent, thought-provoking suspense.
💀 Unearthing Secrets and Sins in Andrew Davis and Jeff Biggers' Electrifying Debut
As a longtime admirer of Jeff Biggers' work, I've always been drawn to how he illuminates the complex histories and cultural richness of the places he writes about.
At a recent book signing at the Oro Valley Library, Biggers shared stories of his youth in Tucson, exploring the desert landscape and nurturing a deep fascination with the region's indigenous heritage. His anecdote about uncovering Hohokam artifacts near Romero Falls at Catalina State Park particularly resonated with me, speaking to the enduring power of the past to shape our understanding of ourselves and our world.
This reverence for ancient wisdom and the lessons of history suffuses every page of "Disturbing the Bones," Biggers' gripping new thriller co-authored with filmmaker Andrew Davis. The novel's driving mystery centers on an archaeological dig in southern Illinois, a region Biggers knows intimately and wrote about in his nonfiction book "Reckoning at Eagle Creek." Biggers’ deep connection to the area is evident in the vivid sense of place he brings to the novel's setting, immersing readers in a haunted landscape still grappling with the ghosts of its troubled past.
Through the character of Randall Jenkins, a Chicago detective forced to confront the dark history of his hometown, Biggers and Davis offer a searing examination of America's unresolved racial sins and how they continue to shape our present. This theme echoes throughout Biggers' work, from his exploration of the Sierra Madre mountains in "In the Sierra Madre" to his celebration of Tucson's multicultural tapestry in his early writings.
At the same time, "Disturbing the Bones" is a heart-pounding thriller that feels remarkably timely, unfolding against a contentious presidential election and rising global tensions. The parallels between the novel's fictional President Richard Waller’s border wall rhetoric and red-capped acolytes running against a female Senator Elaine Adams, a formidable candidate who represents hope and change, and our current political reality are unnervingly apt. But Biggers and Davis never let the story become a simple roman à clef, populating their novel with a cast of complex and memorable characters who linger long after the final page.
As a devoted Biggers reader, what I find most exhilarating about "Disturbing the Bones" is how it showcases his singular ability to weave together disparate strands - history, politics, culture, suspense - into a cohesive and utterly compelling narrative. The novel is a powerful testament to the importance of understanding and honoring indigenous wisdom and the perils of failing to reckon with the wounds of the past. It's a message that feels both urgently of the moment and timelessly relevant, and one that cements Biggers' place as one of our most essential storytellers.
"Disturbing the Bones" is that rare novel that thrills provokes, and enlightens in equal measure. It's a must-read for anyone who cares about the power of fiction to illuminate the human experience in all its messy complexity. I couldn't put it down, and I can't stop thinking about it. In a word: masterful.
P.S. Who wins? Will the old President Waller return to the White House, or will the United States elect its first female president? Read the book to find out, and what a perfect read as I write this review the weekend before Election Day 2024!
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