Crystal Skull

A failed insurance investigator turned private eye41,54 , Nicholas Pierce1 steps into the adventure of his life in this taut mystery. His assignment--to guard an ancient crystal skull during an exhibition of Mayan art--is cut short when someone murders the museum director and absconds with the artifact.7 Then Pierce's ex-college roommate, who has become a celebrated movie producer and a contributor to the museum, hires him to track down the skull.36 In the process, Pierce discovers that legend credits the crystal with the ability to bestow immortality on its possessor and to usher in an enlightened era. But as he follows the trail of the murderer from Miami's seedy bars24 to its sybaritic mansions,42 he also realizes that a clever double-cross is afoot. Is his true enemy his egocentric, visionary employer or is it his lover, an expert on Mayan culture53 who has her own interest in the totem91 ? As the plot spins along to its action-filled conclusion, the only snag is whether the reader can believe that the skull's fey promises are seductive enough to provoke obsession and murder. That leap of faith made, though, the sympathetic characters, vivid settings and nonstop pace provide ample compensation. MacGregor is the coauthor of The Rainbow Oracle . (Feb.)