Hollow Bones, by CJ Lyons

Hollow Bones  by CJ Lyons is the third book featuring FBI Special Agent Caitlyn Tierney, but it reads fine as a stand-alone.  It is an exciting and entertaining read with a fresh plot and well-drawn, engaging characters.

Hollow Bones stretches from the United States to the jungles of Guatemala.  It involves luring an American college student into the Guatemalan jungle under the pretext of working on the discovery of a buried Mayan temple.  What is really unearthed is a conspiracy built on past war crimes that continue into the present in the form of a shadowy American biotechnology business with ties in both countries.

This is not a pulse-pounding thriller with gun fights and chase scenes every few pages, but it is an intense book with plenty of excitement and chilling scenarios.  One of the best things going for this story is the strong characters.  Maria is an intelligent student and while she might be a little naive, she doesn’t behave stupidly.  Likewise, FBI agents Tierney and Carver are not superhuman, but they are clever, resourceful and pursue their leads with hard work and research rather than have fortuitous information just drop into their laps.  The villains are multi-faceted and their actions, while evil and immoral, are realistically self-interested.   

The plot is well-researched and more than plausible enough.  It is all the more frightening because of this plausibility.   Hollow Bones is an intelligent mystery/thriller with engaging characters, a fascinating plot and vivid locales.  Recommended read.

I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of this book.