The Lost Goddess

When an archaeologist unearths Neolithic skulls in France with multiple holes drilled into their foreheads and arrowheads still lodged in their bones, the discovery causes the brutal murder of her mentor. It's a great premise; however, this anthropological thriller disappoints even though Christopher Evan Welch's narration does not. He realistically portrays archaeologist Julia Kerrigan, photographer Jake Thurby, and a strange demonic woman who links the three. Welch's capable reading takes listeners from the prehistoric caves of Western Europe to the jungles of Southeast Asia in a mystery that includes the mysterious Hands of Gargas and the Plain of Jars. It's too bad that the story becomes bogged down with extraneous details on the likes of Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge, and more. G.D.W. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

November 14, 2011
This quirky novel from the pseudonymous Knox (British journalist Sean Thomas) combines elements of the best of several genres, shakes them up, then lays them out in surprisingly original patterns. In an isolated cave in southern France, archeologist Julia Kerrigan discovers neolithic skeletons, the skulls of which show evidence of trepanation, holes deliberately bored in the middle of the foreheads. Meanwhile in Laos, photographer Jake Thurby and a beautiful Cambodian woman from Phnom Penh, Chemda Tek, are chasing a story with origins in the mysterious Plain of Jars. Subplots involve human and chimpanzee interbreeding, the horrific depredations of the Khmer Rouge, the Ice Age cave paintings of Lascaux, Khmer voodoo, mummified fetuses, and a plan by the Chinese to develop a super soldier. Along the way, Knox (The Genesis Secret) doles out enough tantalizing scientific, social, and spiritual lore to sate even the hungriest anthropological thriller reader. Agent: Jay Mandel.