 |
Main character Brad Davis, a writer, sets off in the 1990s to New Mexico to research the Anasazi Indians from Arizona and Colorado who are thought to have migrated to New Mexico. He is also interested in the conundrum of how the Mayans and other far-spread early civilizations made the advances they did too precociously to explain. He does not, however, set out to solve the mysteries of the Roswell incident of 1947 or to search for UFOs. That comes later. To summarize the plot completely would give away critical pieces of the puzzle, so suffice it to say that the author has a great imagination and excellent writing skills to spin his story into quite a complex novel.
Thematically, the novel reminds readers that human communities, at least on this planet, are sometimes self-destructive. Left to our own devices, we are eventually overtaken by plotting, greedy men, power struggles, and the lure of ultimate conquest. "America is changing, being manipulated by power hungry men," explains Big Bird, as he gives Davis a tour of his peoples' Daconian compound. But equally true (and noted by the author), there is a driving good in many humans, and they sometimes win the day. And just in case you missed the message earlier on, near the end of the novel, Davis's girlfriend Susan says, "We so-called civilized people have a lot to learn from the first inhabitants of this beautiful country." The story is unpredictable until the very end, and those who think they are good mystery novel masters will have a delightful challenge ahead.