In the tradition of Michael Crichton's "Jurassic Park" and Douglas Preston & Lincoln Childs' "Relic", "Shadow of the Thunderbird" is the story of fledgling cryptozoologist Ian McQuade. A professional student well into his twenties, he alienates his Ph.D. advisor by attempting to submit a doctoral disseration on the reality of Thunderbirds. The symbolic totem of many Native American cultures, he finds no support for his theories and ends up taking a low paying job as the assistant curator of a lesser known museum of natural history.
When the opportunity presents itself, he takes his vacation time and life savings to conduct an expedition into the deforested Amazon Basin of western Brazil. Hoping to discover and classify a rare breed of giant crimson spider, he finds himself instead broke, lost and utterly stranded without a job in South America. Rescued by a beautiful Peruvian cartographer and archaeologist, Ian accompanies Alma Del Nephites to New York for a meeting with her employer, the enigmatic CEO of a secretive philanthropic organization.
Hired to search for the legendary birds in the Black Forest region of northern Pennsylvania, together they will embark on a mission that becomes a quest to follow the diary of a madman into the heart of an 800 year old mystery. Pursued by the agents of a sinister competitor, Ian is forced to confront his past to believe in a future that couldn't possibly exist.
Ultimately, the science and technology to reveal such creatures will be pitted against the ancient magic that has protected them for centuries. Carrying lightning in their eyes and thunder in their wings, who will control the fate and destiny of the thunderbirds, if in fact they ever lived at all?
