A fifty-year-old conspiracy comes to life once again when Nickolette Scott, on an archaeological dig in New Mexico, uncovers a World War II bomber, strewed with bullets, with the mummified remains of its crew still on board, lying beneath the desert sand.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Archeologist Nicolette Scott faces scorching New Mexico desert heat and a 50-year-old mystery in this action-packed debut. While at a dig with her father, an eminent Anasazi scholar, Nick learns of an airplane buried in the sand. Nick, who has already found a WWII B-24 in a New Guinea jungle, investigates and discovers a B-17, also from WWII, with its body shot up. Inside are the skeletal remains of 11 people, one more than the required crew. Nick wonders who the passenger was and why an American plane was shot down over New Mexico and abandoned. The coverup occurs as she begins to voice her questions. The plane, with a painted scorpion on its nose, is carted away, and then newspaper stories about its discovery are retracted. Accused of perpetrating a hoax, she is put on medical leave by the archeological department at UC-Berkeley. Then people who know of the plane's existence begin to die in what look like accidental deaths. Unwilling to drop her search, Nick follows clues to a millionaire businessman with a connection to 1940s atom bomb testing that ties into the B-17's fatal flight. Through her fast-paced probing to the conclusion in the desert, Nick proves herself an intelligent, game heroine whom readers will want to meet again.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Kirkus Reviews
Gorgeous archaeologist in formula thriller peril--thanks to the discovery of a WW II bomber, buried for 50 years in the sands of New Mexico, and the unraveling of a heinous military-industrial conspiracy. Prof. Nickolette (``Nick'') Scott--Berkeley, untenured--is spending the summer in the brutally hot Badlands, helping her famous father excavate ancient Indian ruins. But Nick's own passion is digging up the recent past--so she can't resist the challenge when old prospector Gus Beckstead claims that he's uncovered the wing of an airplane. It's an incredible find: an American B-17, with 11 dead bodies aboard (the ten-man crew plus one mystery passenger), which was somehow shot down over the US circa 1945! Before Nick can begin the dig in earnest, however, the novel's cartoonish mega-villain--billionaire Leland Hatch, who ``owns'' numerous generals--sets a massive, often implausible coverup in motion. Beckstead is murdered; the B-17 disappears virtually overnight; Nick's academic career is sabotaged. Unfazed, as additional bodies drop around her, she sets out on a quest (guided by a diary found on the plane) to learn the how and why of the B- 17's downing. These opening chapters are fairly promising--with intriguing details of archaeological procedure, persuasive desert- town atmosphere, and that buried plane with its mummified crew (the WW II secret itself--involving Los Alamos and a foiled bit for peace--is serviceable enough). But Nick doesn't hold much character interest, despite some psychological wrangling about her dysfunctional mom and workaholic dad, so it's quite a wait for the conclusion--a painfully contrived death-duel in the desert between intrepid Nick and old Leland Hatch himself. Despite all the appeals, first-novelist Davis brings little conviction, and no originality, to conspiracy-suspense gambits limply reminiscent of Days of the Condor, Pelican Brief, and everything in between. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Very disappointing--Unrealistic situation--Stock characters.,
By
This review is from: Track of the Scorpion (Mass Market Paperback)
_Track of the Scorpion_ is a book I tried hard to like. I saved the book for a rainy day and came to it wanting to savor every word. Unfortunately, this is about as bad a book as I've read. The situations are very unrealistic, straight out of cliffhanger, pulp fiction. The characters never seem like real people, but more stock stereotypes. I kept wondering why I was reading it, but I determined to follow through to the very end. It never got any better. Definitely not recommended.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Promising Start...,
By A Customer
This review is from: Track of the Scorpion (Mass Market Paperback)
I bought this "first novel in a series" because of the intriguing "Clive Cussler-esque" plot-- dedicated lady archaeologist uncovers a fifty year old B-17 in the New Mexico desert, only to find the dead crew still aboard and the plane full of bullet holes..and because of its setting-- the American Southwest. What followed, though, was a tepid mystery at best. Author Davis tries to breath too much life into her (his?) characters, resulting in caricatures. The suggestion that the villian "owns" numerous generals in the Pentagon was a stretch-- I used to be a staff officer at the Pentagon and just don't buy the notion that one industrialist could have so much clout in that building. Actually, the opposite would be more true. The end scene was also a stretch, as the "smart" villian suddenly turned dumb allowing the heroine to outfox him. Often little things in a novel become distracting. In this one, there is a lot of emphasis on drinking water. Now I'm sure that's important while doing archaeological work in the desert, but I found the obssession with drinking water to be distracting. Let's assume the characters properly hydrate and get on with the story. This author shows promise (Block's first Scudder novel wasn't all that great), and I'll definitely pick up the next one in the series. Though I may pick it up at the library.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
script for a bad B-movie,
By A Customer
This review is from: Track of the Scorpion (Mass Market Paperback)
It starts promising ! A very, very hot desert, a plane full of bulletholes to be uncovered, a sharp lady archeologist. But within twenty pages things start to shift the wrong way. The crooks stay vague shadows, obtaining names but no lives. The father of the heroine is taking useless pages babbling about an ancient indian tribe which might have cannibalised on each other. The characters stay very dull and never come to live. Even the climax is disappointing. It is a pity about a nice idea !
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