The Scorpion's Tail - Douglas Preston

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Résumé :
A mummified corpse, over half a century old, is found in the cellar of an abandoned building in a remote New Mexico ghost town. Junior FBI Agent Corrie Swanson is assigned what seems to her a throwaway case: to ID the body and determine cause of death. She brings in archaeologist Nora Kelly to excavate the body and lend her expertise to the investigation, and together they uncover something unexpected and shocking: the deceased apparently died in agony, in a fetal position, skin coming off in sheets, a rictus of horror frozen on his face. Hidden on the corpse lies a sixteenth century Spanish gold cross of immense value. When they at last identify the body--and the bizarre cause of death--Corrie and Nora open a door into a terrifying, secret world of ancient treasure and modern obsession: a world centered on one of the most defining, frightening, and transformative moments in American history.--Adapted from page [4] of cover.

Biographie:
The thrillers of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child stand head and shoulders above their rivals (Publishers Weekly). Preston and Child's Relic and The Cabinet of Curiosities were chosen by readers in a National Public Radio poll as being among the one hundred greatest thrillers ever written, and Relic was made into a number-one box office hit movie. They are coauthors of the famed Pendergast series and their recent novels include Crooked River, Old Bones, Verses for the Dead, and City of Endless Night.