From Publishers Weekly
In the upper Sonoran desert of present-day New Mexico, a charismatic yet troubled archeologist named Dusty Stewart is unearthing a mystery that began about A.D. 1200. While excavating a site of the Chaco Anasazi Indians, Stewart and his team discover mass graves containing the bodies of young women, all with their skulls smashed. Using flashbacks to merge past and present into a relatively seamless tapestry, the Gears depict an ancient, waning Anasazi people plagued with drought, declining resources and rampant tuberculosis. Ash Girl, the wife of the tribal war chief, Browser, has been found deadAher head crushed and a wolf mask at her side. Young girls continue to disappear from surrounding villages, and Browser, with the aid of his shrewdly eccentric uncle, searches for a serial killer. Meanwhile, in the present, a team of archeologists and anthropologists, most notably Dr. Maureen Cole, who's the heroine of this series launch, are also trying to solve the puzzle of the graves, using not only 20th-century technology, but, in addition, extrasensory perception that links them to the spirits of the past. Breathtaking descriptions evoke the harsh beauty of the desert in both winter and summer, while the lucid, erudite historical perspectives are informed by the authors' own extensive archeological experience. Yet the mystery is needlessly complex, and the enormous cast is unwieldy. For all its considerable strengths, this first book in the Anasazi mystery series falls a notch below the level attained by the Gears in their First North American historicals. $125,000 ad/promo; author tour. (Aug.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Things begin to get eerie as an archaeological team starts excavating an ancient civilization in the sweltering New Mexico heat of 1999. First, the team begins to uncover an alarming array of shattered Anasazi skulls alongside the usual shards of old pottery; soon mysterious, impossible things start happening around the dig. In this, the latest installment in the popular "First North American" series, the authors weave together two suspenseful, haunting stories. Along the way, they ask meaningful questions about the relationship between science and religion, history and time, as the anthropologists grapple with their own beliefs and emotions. Readers will enjoy the wide range of characters and thick suspense. Highly recommended for all public libraries.ASusan A. Zappia, Maricopa Cty. Lib. Dist., Phoenix Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Archaeologists as well as novelists, the Gears have committed at least nine voluminous fictions about the First North Americans (People of the Mist, 1998, etc.), moving from pre-Columbian cultures up to the a.d. 14th-century. Their latest begins a fresh series and shifts focus to the North American Southwest and the mysterious Anasazi tribe of New Mexico. When a group led by Dr. Maureen Cole, a renowned physical anthropologist (she digs for people, not theories), begins uncovering a new dig, they find the graves of women and children whose skulls were bashed in with rocks. How do these dead connect with the Age of Emergencea time when the First People, possessing secret knowledge, came up through the underworld and were given the Made People by their Creator, who breathed upon certain animals and created human tribes from buffalo, bear, ants, and coyotes? Chapters alternate between the present and a.d. 1256, when the graves were first made. Does the Shadow, who has no eyes and wears wolf fur and kills women, live in the giant cave first discovered by Ash Girl? Is the Shadow from the Land of the Dead? Is it responsible for all the murdered women and children? Or are the answers less supernatural? At heart a murder mystery. All questions are answered, but the evil remains. After 26 novels, the Gears know how to leave themselves enough rope for another volume. ($125,000 ad/promo) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
"A fun, fascinating tale."--The Colorado Springs Gazette
"Breathtaking descriptions evoke the harsh beauty of the desert, while the lucid, erudite historical perspectives are informed by the authors' own extensive archaeological experience."--Publishers Weekly
Review
"A fun, fascinating tale."--The Colorado Springs Gazette
"Breathtaking descriptions evoke the harsh beauty of the desert, while the lucid, erudite historical perspectives are informed by the authors' own extensive archaeological experience."--Publishers Weekly
Book Description
At the Dawn of the Age of the Katsinas...
A woman runs away in search of a Spirit Helper and never returns...
An ancient village is swept into a shattering crime beyond reason, beyond belief...
An old man must learn to walk the dark labyrinth of a murderer's mind to find him before he can strike again...
A young war chief must enter the mesmerizing word of the insane if he to save everything and everyone he loves...
And, a scant moment ahead in geologic time, world-renowned Canadian physical anthropologist Dr. Maureen Coles finds herself excavating a mass grave in New Mexico filled with the brutalized bodies of women and children.
From the internationally bestselling authors of People of the Masks comes a novel of terrifying power about madness and murder eight hundred years ago.
From the Publisher
10 1.5-hour cassettes
About the Author
Kathleen O'Neal Gear is a former state historian and archaeologist for Wyoming, Kansas, and Nebraska for the U.S. Department of the Interior. She has twice received the federal government's Special Advancement Award for "outstanding management" of our nation's cultural heritage.
W. Michael Gear, who holds a master's degree in archaeology, has worked as a professional archaeologist since 1978. He is currently principal investigator for Wind River Archaeological Consultants.
The Gears, whose First North American Series and Anasazi Mystery Series, are both international as well as USA Today bestsellers live in Thermopolis, Wyoming.
Visitant FROM THE PUBLISHER
At the Dawn of the Age of the Katsinas...
A woman runs away in search of a Spirit Helper and never returns...
An ancient village is swept into a shattering crime beyond reason, beyond belief...
An old man must learn to walk the dark labyrinth of a murderer's mind to find him before he can strike again...
A young war chief must enter the mesmerizing word of the insane if he to save everything and everyone he loves...
And, a scant moment ahead in geologic time, world-renowned Canadian physical anthropologist Dr. Maureen Coles finds herself excavating a mass grave in New Mexico filled with the brutalized bodies of women and children.
From the internationally bestselling authors of People of the Masks comes a novel of terrifying power about madness and murder eight hundred years ago.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
In the upper Sonoran desert of present-day New Mexico, a charismatic yet troubled archeologist named Dusty Stewart is unearthing a mystery that began about A.D. 1200. While excavating a site of the Chaco Anasazi Indians, Stewart and his team discover mass graves containing the bodies of young women, all with their skulls smashed. Using flashbacks to merge past and present into a relatively seamless tapestry, the Gears depict an ancient, waning Anasazi people plagued with drought, declining resources and rampant tuberculosis. Ash Girl, the wife of the tribal war chief, Browser, has been found dead--her head crushed and a wolf mask at her side. Young girls continue to disappear from surrounding villages, and Browser, with the aid of his shrewdly eccentric uncle, searches for a serial killer. Meanwhile, in the present, a team of archeologists and anthropologists, most notably Dr. Maureen Cole, who's the heroine of this series launch, are also trying to solve the puzzle of the graves, using not only 20th-century technology, but, in addition, extrasensory perception that links them to the spirits of the past. Breathtaking descriptions evoke the harsh beauty of the desert in both winter and summer, while the lucid, erudite historical perspectives are informed by the authors' own extensive archeological experience. Yet the mystery is needlessly complex, and the enormous cast is unwieldy. For all its considerable strengths, this first book in the Anasazi mystery series falls a notch below the level attained by the Gears in their First North American historicals. $125,000 ad/promo; author tour. (Aug.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
VOYA
When archeologist Dusty Stewart obtains permission to excavate an Anasazi site in Chaco, New Mexico, he fulfills a lifelong dream. Stewart feels a kinship with the vanished people whose artifacts he uncovers. Particularly drawn to this special site, he finds ancient remains of women who appear to have been ceremonially and violently killed. Since human bones have been uncovered, Indian representative Hail Walking Hawk is called to monitor the dig. Maureen Cole, a physical anthropologist whom Stewart does not admire but respects, also joins the dig. The story flashes back and forth from the present to the Anasazi past where the reader learns about the Katsina's People. They rebuild sacred places believing that when they discover and restore the most holy place, the Kiva of the First People, an entry will be opened to the sacred underworlds, returning harmony to the Katsina's People's world. The present forms a psychic connection to the past as Stewart and his team try to penetrate the mystery of the remains, and the Katsina's People attempt to solve the killings in their time. Teen readers will enjoy the combination of Anasazi prehistory and modern archeology as presented by the Gears, authors of other historical fiction featuring Native American life. This entertaining and informative read will appeal to fans of Tony Hillerman and might have readers asking for books on the Anasazis as well. School libraries in Southwest will find this a perfect choice for curriculum support. VOYA CODES: 4Q 5P S A/YA (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Every YA (who reads) was dying to read it yesterday; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult and Young Adult). 1999,Forge,Ages 16 to Adult, 363p, $19.95. Reviewer: Joanna Morrison
Library Journal
Things begin to get eerie as an archaeological team starts excavating an ancient civilization in the sweltering New Mexico heat of 1999. First, the team begins to uncover an alarming array of shattered Anasazi skulls alongside the usual shards of old pottery; soon mysterious, impossible things start happening around the dig. In this, the latest installment in the popular "First North American" series, the authors weave together two suspenseful, haunting stories. Along the way, they ask meaningful questions about the relationship between science and religion, history and time, as the anthropologists grapple with their own beliefs and emotions. Readers will enjoy the wide range of characters and thick suspense. Highly recommended for all public libraries.--Susan A. Zappia, Maricopa Cty. Lib. Dist., Phoenix Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Archaeologists as well as novelists, the Gears have committed at least nine voluminous fictions about the First North Americans (People of the Mist, 1998, etc.), moving from pre-Columbian cultures up to the a.d. 14th-century. Their latest begins a fresh series and shifts focus to the North American Southwest and the mysterious Anasazi tribe of New Mexico. When a group led by Dr. Maureen Cole, a renowned physical anthropologist (she digs for people, not theories), begins uncovering a new dig, they find the graves of women and children whose skulls were bashed in with rocks. How do these dead connect with the Age of Emergenceﾽa time when the First People, possessing secret knowledge, came up through the underworld and were given the Made People by their Creator, who breathed upon certain animals and created human tribes from buffalo, bear, ants, and coyotes? Chapters alternate between the present and a.d. 1256, when the graves were first made. Does the Shadow, who has no eyes and wears wolf fur and kills women, live in the giant cave first discovered by Ash Girl? Is the Shadow from the Land of the Dead? Is it responsible for all the murdered women and children? Or are the answers less supernatural? At heart a murder mystery. All questions are answered, but the evil remains. After 26 novels, the Gears know how to leave themselves enough rope for another volume. ($125,000 ad/promo)
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