Among February’s thrillers, some titles reign supreme.
‘Diablo Mesa’
Grand Central / “Diablo Mesa”Leave it to Doug Preston and Lincoln Child to mine fresh, original material from a tired trope. In “Diablo Mesa” (Grand Central) the stellar duo take us to Area 51 where conspiratorial doings of an earthbound nature are afoot.
Convinced that terrible truths are buried there, a Jeff Bezos/Richard Branson-like billionaire, Lucas Tappan, commissions an exhaustive archaeological dig to find alien secrets long rumored to be hidden on the grounds. But archaeologist Nora Kelly finds human remains instead – murder victims, in fact, which leads to FBI special agent Corrie Swanson taking things from there. Swanson’s investigation reveals deadly secrets, all right, that turn out to be even more dangerous than invaders from Mars.
“Diablo Mesa” is thriller-adventure writing of the absolute highest order that takes Preston and Child back to their high-concept roots in books like “Mount Dragon” and “Thunderheart.” It reads like a hybrid of the best from Wilbur Smith and Alistair MacLean, making for flat-out great reading entertainment.