The Scorpions Tail, Douglas Preston
The Scorpions Tail, Douglas Preston
52 Rating(s)
List: $31.99 | Sale: $22.40
Club: $15.99

The Scorpion's Tail

Bestseller

Author: Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child

Narrator: Cynthia Farrell

Unabridged: 11 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/12/2021

Synopsis

From #1 bestselling authors Preston & Child comes a thrilling novel following archaeologist Nora Kelly and FBI Agent Corrie Swanson as they work together to solve a twisted crime that reaches far beyond any of their worst fears.
Following the acclaimed debut of Old Bones, this second "happily anticipated" new thriller in Preston & Child's series features Nora Kelly, archaeologist at the Santa Fe Archeological Institute, and rookie FBI Agent Corrie Swanson, as they team up to solve a mystery that quickly escalates into nightmare (Booklist).

A mummified corpse, over half a century old, is found in the cellar of an abandoned building in a remote New Mexico ghost town. Corrie is assigned what seems to her a throwaway case: to ID the body and determine cause of death. She brings archaeologist Nora Kelly to excavate the body and lend her expertise to the investigation, and together they uncover something unexpected and shocking: the deceased apparently died in agony, in a fetal position, skin coming off in sheets, with a rictus of horror frozen on his face.

Hidden on the corpse lies a 16th century Spanish gold cross of immense value.

When they at last identify the body -- and the bizarre cause of death -- Corrie and Nora open a door into a terrifying, secret world of ancient treasure and modern obsession: a world centered on arguably the most defining, frightening, and transformative moment in American history.

About Douglas Preston

Douglas Preston is the author of more than thirty books, both fiction and nonfiction, more than twenty of which have been New York Times bestsellers. He has worked as an editor at the American Museum of Natural History in New York and taught nonfiction writing at Princeton University. His first novel, Relic, coauthored with Lincoln Child, was made into a movie, and launched the famed Pendergast series of novels. His recent nonfiction book, The Monster of Florence, is also being made into a film. In addition to books, Preston writes about archaeology and paleontology for the New Yorker, National Geographic, and Smithsonian.

Reviews

AudiobooksNow review by Blue Dragonfly on 2021-01-27 17:58:31

I love all of Preston and Child's Pendergast books, (well most of them except the "Helen" series) but these two latest books featuring Corrie Swanson and Nora Kelly are awful! The narration is extremely poor and hard to listen to. The story is juvenile and the characters are thoroughly unlikeable. I could not finish it and hope they will get back to the Pendergast series.

Goodreads review by Matthew on February 25, 2021

Preston & Child are back with another Pendergast-adjacent adventure featuring Corrie Swanson and Nora Kelly. If you enjoy these authors and the characters from their main series, you really cannot go wrong here. It is worth reading Old Bones first as that is when these two characters first get toget......more

Goodreads review by Paul on October 11, 2022

Turns out this “cold” case was anything but!! As a near rookie (and a female in the bargain), Junior FBI Agent Corrie Swanson knows she’s undoubtedly going to get tossed the dregs and the bones when it comes to investigation. There’s a case of a mummified corpse and a dead donkey that have been found......more

Goodreads review by OutlawPoet on October 28, 2020

I love the authors. I love the characters. I was…unfortunately kind of bored with the book. This one was a bit of a miss for me. I just didn’t find our crime or our mystery all that interesting. I also (can’t believe I’m saying this) think they need to leave the Pendergast plays Hercule Poirot cameo ou......more

Goodreads review by CYIReadBooks on November 25, 2020

Special Agent Corrie Swanson is teamed up with archeologist Dr. Nora Kelly to solve the mystery behind a mummified corpse found in a remote New Mexico ghost town. Added to that mystery is also the finding of a seemingly priceless artifact -- a gold cross that was found in a pouch from the corpse. No......more

Goodreads review by Heidi on April 14, 2021

I loudly proclaimed to the 20-25 people who read my review of the first book in this series that I dearly hoped the next Nora Kelly book would be better. Thank you gentlemen, it was just what I’d hoped. Archeological mysteries, legends and the lure of buried treasure!! Wonderful pacing combined with......more

Quotes

PRAISE FOR THE SCORPION’S TAIL

“Expect nice twists, hairy danger, and good old-fashioned gunplay. This one’s an attention grabber. Get a copy.”

—Kirkus

“[An] enjoyable sequel [. . .] The authors do their usual solid job of maintaining suspense throughout. Their two capable female leads are well-suited to sustain a long series.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Preston and Child have designed an intricate thriller that takes several twists and turns, but never totally diverts from the crux of the story. This is a series that demands attention.”

—New York Journal of Books

“The authors bring the same rigorous plotting and deft characterizations to this novel as they do with their Special Agent Pendergast books (happily, Pendergast makes an appearance here), and the Kelly and Swanson pairing is certainly engaging. It seems the duo might be settling in for a good, long run.”

—Booklist

“The future looks promising for Nora and Corrie.”

—The Big Thrill

PRAISE FOR OLD BONES

"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

"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. An intriguing series launch."

—Publishers Weekly

"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

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