aspygirlsmom_1995's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
scorpstar77's review against another edition
4.0
Faye and Joe are off on another archaeological adventure in the Deep South, this time as assistants on one of Faye's grad school professor's summer digs in Mississippi. They are supposed to be excavating on the property of their Choctaw co-worker's family, but all of the archaeologists on the team are more interested in what appears to be an old Indian mound on the property of the farm across the road. They give up on it after a run-in with the property owner, but when a local farmer turns up murdered near the mound, and the sovereign nation of the Choctaws expresses their concern about what might happen to it, and an aging former Senator comes back to his hometown and announces a terrible thing that happened to him 40 years ago, and everything seems tied together...Faye can't seem to help but get herself and Joe in deep trying to put all the pieces together.
I didn't enjoy this one as much as the two previous books, but it was still a lot of fun. The negatives for me were: too much of Faye observing how attractive Joe is (this has been mentioned in previous books, but it was mentioned A LOT in this one, seemingly at least once per chapter); too many weirdly inconsistent details changed between scenes (At one point, Joe and Faye make plans to meet someone the next day at their dig site, and then in the next section, they are meeting him back at their hotel instead. There's a throwaway sentence explaining it, but it bugged me - either go back and rewrite so they plan to meet at the hotel if it's important for them to be there, or just have them meet at the dig site. Stuff like that happened a few other times.); and I knew who the murderer was halfway through the book, long before Faye did. Even so, I still love the history and archaeological details in the book - and it had a bonus guide at the end with some more information about the history and the author's research, which was fun to hear. I still enjoy Faye's company and personality, and I never wanted to stop listening to the book. I'm going to take a little break just to make the Faye books last a little longer, but I'll be back on book 4 before too long!
I didn't enjoy this one as much as the two previous books, but it was still a lot of fun. The negatives for me were: too much of Faye observing how attractive Joe is (this has been mentioned in previous books, but it was mentioned A LOT in this one, seemingly at least once per chapter); too many weirdly inconsistent details changed between scenes (At one point, Joe and Faye make plans to meet someone the next day at their dig site, and then in the next section, they are meeting him back at their hotel instead. There's a throwaway sentence explaining it, but it bugged me - either go back and rewrite so they plan to meet at the hotel if it's important for them to be there, or just have them meet at the dig site. Stuff like that happened a few other times.); and I knew who the murderer was halfway through the book, long before Faye did. Even so, I still love the history and archaeological details in the book - and it had a bonus guide at the end with some more information about the history and the author's research, which was fun to hear. I still enjoy Faye's company and personality, and I never wanted to stop listening to the book. I'm going to take a little break just to make the Faye books last a little longer, but I'll be back on book 4 before too long!
amylee218's review against another edition
3.0
This continues to be an interesting series. I really liked the Q & A at the end of this one. The author explains more about her research and which facts included are true and which are embellished.
devrose's review
3.0
For some reason I couldn't get into the Native American tales in this one. I did love that Faye saved not only her own butt but her friends', all on her own. Just what I had asked for when reviewing the previous book!
eveningstar_reader's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
scherzo's review
3.0
3 stars because of Mrs. Nail's folk tales (mostly Choctaw).
Quote:
Quote:
p. 73
"Historically, there's been a lot of racism sort of built into archaeology. Take the wheel. None of America's indigenous peoples invented the wheel. For a long time, that meant they were considered to be less technologically sophisticated than the rest of the world. Then somebody said: 'Hey! They didn't have horses, or any other animal big enough to haul a cart. And a lot of those civilizations were built in muddy or hilly places where wheels just wouldn't roll. The didn't invent the wheel because it didn't work for them.'"
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