Burial Ground: A Novel

By: Michael McBride

Narrated by: Gary Tiedemann

When the body of Hunter Gearhardt washes up on the banks of a seasonal river outside of Pomacochas, Peru, with only samples of vegetation, a handful of feathers, two black- and gray-streaked rocks, and a golden headdress of indeterminate origin in his possession, his grieving father launches an expedition to determine how his son died. The party uses these clues to divine Hunter’s route into the jungle, where they find a surviving offshoot of a primitive tribe, long thought to be extinct, and something far more sinister, something that’s been able to avoid discovery for eons for one simple reason: No one leaves the rainforest alive.©2012 Michael McBride (P)2014 Michael McBride

Dinosaurs?

Dinosaurs? Again? Can’t we be a bit inventive here. Dinosaurs in the Andes, how many times has this been done to death. I had hoped at first that we may be talking about Phorusrhacids. Terror Birds. They were all over South America during the Cenozoic. Their fossils were even found in North America. Big flightless birds that were 8 to 10 feet tall. That would be a change. Ugh. Dinosaurs.

A bit long & difficult to track (many plot lines)

This story starts & continues with 4 plot lines and 8 (yes, EIGHT!) main characters (paired character and protagonist). very difficult in an audio story to track that much stuff. Author FINALLY pares it down to the necessary main & then - around chapter 7 (of 17!!), do you get into it.

Mow the lawn, weed, do chores, & drive to mindlessly listen to the early stuff lol

Rumble in the jungle

Jurassic Park without the rides, this jungle thriller was exciting and entertaining. Just ignore the narrator's frequent mispronounciations.

Better Run Through the Jungle

What's worse than trudging through a jungle? How 'bout trudging uphill through a jungle? Set in the Peruvian rainforest nestled along the mountains, a dead body is discovered and prompts and expedition to find out who--or what--killed him, and where he found that snazzy gold artifact tucked in his bag.

After a wealthy industrialist learns his galavanting son has died under mysterious circumstances in South America, he leads a recon team of scientists and mercenaries into the jungle for answers, guided by the bush pilot that found his son's corpse and the golden crown in his possession. Suspicion on all sides over who knows how much weighs heavy as they venture into the wild, but their own little quabbles are quickly outweighed as it becomes all too apparent that there is a tribe in the jungle, one that has until now gone undiscovered, and the team finds themselves in a race for answers as well for their lives.

If you like those globe-trotting thrillers and encounters with the unknown, you're likely to really get a kick out of this book. What could just be a paint-by-numbers horror/thriller fare is quite capably handled by McBride, who turns this into something just a little bit more riveting than what you might find late at night on SyFy. The characters are fleshed out much more than the run-of-the-mill stories you might be used to, and while the broad premise of the book doesn't feel all that original, its execution helps it stand out from the pack.

The ending isn't quite so revelatory, but a minor complaint for an audiobook helmed by Gary Tiedemann who does a great job in keeping the tone and pace of the story just right, and the characters engaging the whole way through.

If you're a fan of those Preston/Child novels, I'd wager you would be a fan of this one.

Decent lost treasure story

Met all my expectations. I only wish it wasn't as predictable. If your an adventure novel fan, it's a worthy addition.