The Bone Hunters

Mrazek's exciting sequel to 2014's Valhalla, featuring archeologist Lexy Vaughan and retired Air Force pilot Steve Macauley, centers on the fossil remains of Peking Man, considered the earliest example of Homo erectus, which disappeared during WWII. In the present day, members of a fast-growing offshoot of Falun Gong, the moral philosophical movement, believe that Peking Man was "the original man, the anointed deity who started the human race." The Chinese government, fearing that the fossil's recovery could spark a rural peasant revolt from the new movement's adherents, has been taking ruthless measures to suppress it. Senior White House adviser Ira Dusenberry reaches out to Lexy's mentor, the larger-than-life Dr. Barnaby Finchem, who recruits Lexy and her significant other, Steve, to find the fossil. Mrazek doesn't build on the potential of his original premise as effectively as he might, and he resorts to some stock situations (e.g., a villain disposes of enemies in an aquarium straight out of a James Bond movie), but most thriller fans will be well satisfied. Agent: David Halpern, Robbins Office. (Dec.)