Alfred Hitchcock, the greatest suspense director of all time, understood the importance of a great script. So, he selected the best source material and used the best screenwriters to craft the scripts for classics like “Psycho,” “North by Northwest,” and “Rear Window.” A list of the writers who contributed, one way or another, to Hitch’s works reads like a who’s who of mystery and suspense scribes of the era. They include Robert Bloch, Ernest Lehman, Cornell Woolrich, Patricia Wentworth, Anthony Shaffer, Frederick Knott, and many others. Andrew Davis understands the importance of a great script as well. The acclaimed action thrillers he’s directed include “The Fugitive,” “Under Siege,” and “A Perfect Murder” (adapted from the same Frederick Knott play that inspired Hitchcock’s “Dial M for Murder”). Davis knows the elements of a good suspense thriller. So, when he turned his talents to novel writing in “Disturbing the Bones” (co-authored by Jeff Biggers), it’s no surprise that the result was a crackerjack thriller that turned out to be much more complex and layered than readers first believe.

“Disturbing the Bones” takes place mostly in and around Cairo, IL. It’s a small town on the southern tip of Illinois, at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Like many people, I had heard the name because of its similarity to the Egyptian capital. But I was unaware of its long and often unsavory history, which forms the backdrop for the novel. (Co-author Jeff Biggers is an acclaimed journalist and an expert on this part of the United States.) Cairo was the site of lynchings, race riots, and a Ku Klux Klan revival in the early days of the 20th century and again in the 1960s. Partly because of the racial unrest, the population has dwindled to near-ghost-town proportions of 2,000 people today.

It’s against this backdrop that “Disturbing the Bones” is set. A group of archaeologists are excavating a significant find of primitive early American artifacts and human remains near Cairo. Among the thousand-year-old skeletons, they find one considerably more recent, that of Florence Jenkins, a black journalist who disappeared while on assignment in Cairo in 1978 to cover the unrest. Her son, Randall Jenkins, remembered his mother’s disappearance and has since become a Chicago police detective. He goes to Cairo to investigate. There, he meets Dr. Molly Moore, the archaeologist in charge of the expedition. She also has a family connection to the disappearance, as does the book’s third central character, retired General William Alexander, the wealthy defense contractor who sponsored the dig. (Cairo is in Alexander County, whose namesake has no relation to the fictional Alexander’s family.)

“Disturbing the Bones” starts out as a fascinating historical mystery about an area of the United States that’s itself a mystery to most readers. The authors incorporate historical details about Cairo seamlessly into the narrative. The families of the fictional main characters blend in with real-life events from decades earlier. Randall maneuvers around the inter-agency hurdles (the FBI soon becomes involved in the case) and learns more details about the events surrounding his mother’s disappearance. I expected “Disturbing the Bones” to become a well-written “ghost of the past” historical mystery.

Then, one-quarter of the way into the book, its scope expanded significantly and abruptly. While Randall is investigating his mother’s murder, a nuclear accident takes place in Siberia, killing thousands. I had as hard a time processing this transition as readers of this review probably did reading my last sentence. The accident leads to the election of a new president a few weeks later who is committed to nuclear disarmament. Under pressure from the new president, the world leaders soon schedule a disarmament conference in Chicago (a convenient plot development). Thanks to the international focus on the summit and the possible resulting security issues, the investigation into Florence Jenkins’ murder falls entirely off the map—except for Randall.
Within a few chapters, “Disturbing the Bones” shifts from a historical murder mystery to a political action thriller. The authors don’t completely forget the events back in Cairo, and the book’s focus returns there repeatedly as the book progresses. But when the Russian ambassador to the summit conference is murdered on a Chicago street, subsequent events there become much more critical in the eyes of the world. Experienced genre readers will probably guess many of the book’s later events and how the storylines eventually intersect. Still, they will be swept along among the various shootouts and firefights that take place.

Andrew Davis knows how effective movie thrillers are constructed, and “Disturbing the Bones” has all the elements. The two leads, Randall Jenkins and Molly Moore, are fully developed and likable. The book provides enough of their backgrounds to show how they are wrestling with the demons of their families’ past. Co-author Jeff Biggers contributes the region’s history, which the authors insert seamlessly into the novel. The book never bogs down in lengthy history-lesson information dumps. The details of the period provide background so that the historical material makes sense. They also encourage readers like me to learn more about Cairo’s complex history, which would make a great story by itself.

“Disturbing the Bones” is the rare novel that succeeds in two disparate genres. The transition between historical mystery and political thriller is rough initially. Also, the story has a couple of highly convenient coincidences for the protagonists. However, overall, it’s a page-turner with suspense building until the end. Also, the story’s political background is especially appropriate for the political climate of the 2020s. I’m guessing that Andrew Davis is probably working on the details of this book’s film rights because it has the makings of the rare thriller that’s not a rehash of many other movies. As for the book, I can confidently predict that “Disturbing the Bones” will disturb the sleep patterns of those who wind up staying up late at night to finish it.

NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.

Bountiful energy done dirt cheap was all the rage in the mid 1990s, giving rise to movies like THE SAINT and CHAIN REACTION, putting young hotcake stars squarely in the sights of meddling governments, state secrets, alphabet soup agencies and the newly minted megalo-baddie, Russia. Providing the atmosphere, the Windy City was where the atomic age arguably started in a secret place under the old Stagg Field stadium, courtesy of the University of Chicago and Enrico Fermi, producing the first controlled CHAIN REACTION in Dec 1942. DISTURBING THE BONES returns to Andrew Davis', yes THE Andrew Davis of ABOVE THE LAW and THE FUGITIVE, favorite place, Chicago, to demonstrate the dangers of restarting the nuclear arms race and the modern perils of nuclear holocaust at the hands of politicians who aren't worthy of the people's trust.

Literally mimicking its own title, DISTURBING THE BONES goes full Howard Carter from the start, minus the tomb of Tutankhamun or any real or imagined curse, instead unearthing some of America's ugly history at a major archaeological find, possibly the largest permanent village in the Mississippi Valley and possibly more than 12,000 years old. In the way of a new highway, this site falls under federally mandated preservation of historic artifacts, and of course Chicago PD when the bones of a long lost civil rights photographer are discovered. Echoing the archeological site set-up of JURASSIC PARK and the OG TWISTER, DISTURBING THE BONES feels like the authors showing off how much they know or how deep their research ran. In the tradition of BEVERLY HILLS COP without the motormouth hilarity of Eddie Murphy, DISTURBING THE BONES goes the MISSISSIPPI BURNING route of a restless and determined Chicago cop sifting through the dirt to find answers, likening crime scene investigation to archaeological digsite exploitation via processes, methodology, and mentality. The story treks from Chicago to Cairo, both in Illinois, one on the tip of Lake Michigan and the other deep in the south of the Prairie State on the banks of the Ohio river, separated by 440 miles and 7.5 hours of hostility, distrust, and racism. Obviously, this time, the Chi-Town cop can't walk away, not again. Like THE BLACK DAHLIA, DISTURBING THE BONES is a story about healing, retribution, vengeance, and most of all, justice.

Accompanying the simmering history and conflict below the surface of those ruins, DISTURBING THE BONES suffers from major directional issues, having the FBI, Chicago PD, Uncle Sam, the County Sheriff and Archaeologists running all over the place with a lot of 'jurismydiction crap' going on. Politics, baby, politics. As such, Cairo, IL, is a microcosm of what is currently happening in the United States, the authors happily providing veiled commentary on the previous White House Administration, the forever wars, the military industrial complex, and sundry politicians. Interestingly enough, DISTURBING THE BONES features a political battle for the White House that is presciently predictive of what is happening IRL right now for the November 2024 election. Just when readers get comfy with arky terms like Magnetometer, soil strata, radar scans, remote sensing and dead reckoning, the narrative does a 180 with a big nod to Annie Jacobsen's NUCLEAR WAR, issuing yet another stark reminder that in the game of nuclear maneuvering, posturing, and deterrence, human error is a formidable deadly enemy. In the shadow of gross Russian malfeasance and negligence, DISTURBING THE BONES turns to international intrigue, laser drone warfare, rearming America and keeping the war machine rolling to make sure that a superior armed America prevails. This is not a video game or a 1970s space flick, this is a new era of weaponry and warfare. Totally abandoning the local racist sheriff angle and civil rights era scabs, DISTURBING THE BONES warns that the chasm between speed and human error is slight and that if ya dig too deep, you may find things that are better left unfound. Digging through lots of secrets buried in southern Illinois, DISTURBING THE BONES is an ambitious thriller about finding an abducted scientist, seeking the truth, and stopping a madman with a militia. Roll the bones and get in on the action. Alea iacta est.

I think I am in the minority on this book, though I did find parts of it enjoyable, there were sections that dragged on. While excavating the future site of a highway as part of an archeology survey due to ancient bones previously found on the site, Molly Moore, a well known archeologist, finds bones that are more recent than she would expect. The bones are quickly determined to be that of a 60's era journalist/civil rights worker, Florence, who had gone missing and had never been found. Her son, Randall Jenkins, a police man from Chicago has not been back to Cairo Illinois since his mom had disappeared, she had been quickly identified and he returns to find out what happened to her. And then, the story switches to a ballistic missile that accidently crashes into Siberia creating a nuclear explosion. Things happen very quickly after that, a presidential election is looming, a female is in the running and promotes peace and disarmament as her platform. Meanwhile, General (retired) William Alexander, who had granted the archeology survey to Molly, is asking her how long it will take to complete, and when the bones of Florence are found, the police get involved, and the site gets vandalized, causing extensive damage. I did finish the book and as I mentioned, parts were good and the ending was well done. I would look for a future book by these authors. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Melville House for the ARC.

Andrew Davis and Jeff Biggers have written a startling and action-packed political thriller, Disturbing the Bones. Chicago detective Randall Jenkins hasn’t been to his hometown of Cairo, Illinois since the death of his journalist mother. However, that changes when archaeologist Dr. Molly Moore uncovers a set of bones that don’t fit with the 12,000-year-old site at a highway construction site. With her sponsor, retired military general and contractor William Alexander trying to hurry the dig, Molly and Randall find themselves in the middle of controversy. On top of this, there’s a global peace summit in Chicago after a nuclear weapons incident. How do these events intertwine? Can Randall and Molly put the pieces together?

The characters are well-drawn. Randall has an unflappable presence and Molly is ambitious. Both are intelligent, but their family histories have an effect on their thoughts and perceptions. The secondary characters also have depth.

This pulse-pounding thriller is full of suspense and action. The plot is multi-layered with a cold case disappearance, a significant and important archaeology dig using innovative technology, military technology, a political election, and a peace summit. The interpersonal dynamics added another layer of intensity and realism to the story. Political divisiveness, racism, civil rights, protests, to disarm or not, global politics, patriotism, conspiracies, domestic political intrigue, and trust are threads that are expertly woven into the storyline.

Quickly hooking me, the storyline gripped me and kept me rapidly turning the pages throughout the novel. The plot is thought-provoking and the characters are compelling. The exciting narrative gave excellent insight into the challenges the police, politicians, military officers and archaeologists faced. It’s insightful, thought-provoking, and riveting throughout. Additionally, it’s full of suspenseful moments that caused me to rapidly advance through the book. It incorporates real-world issues and looks at them from multiple perspectives. It’s chilling to consider the possibility of these events unfolding. My biggest quibble is the ending. It didn’t sufficiently wrap everything up satisfactorily. Does that mean there will be a sequel?

Overall, this was an intense and engaging thriller that looks at peace and patriotism from different perspectives. Exceptional characters, suspenseful events, and multiple conflicts kept me engrossed and wondering what was going to happen next. The story exceeded my expectations. If you enjoy political and crime thrillers, then I recommend that you check out this one. I am looking forward to finding out what these authors collaborate on next.

Melville House Publishing, Andrew Davis, and Jeff Biggers provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. The publication date is currently set for October 15, 2024. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

Okay, I tried . I really tried . This was one that I just couldn’t get into. The plot and characters were all over the place and I was confused most of the time . This book wasn’t for me.

I really loved this book! The characters are well written! The details! The plot! Very great book! I highly recommend to thriller lovers like myself! 🖤

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

This started quite slow, with history of violence against civil rights workers over decades. Then, it explodes into a fast-paced detective story of conspiracies, corruption, treachery, and kidnapping, threatening the world. This stems from re-opening a cold-case murder of a civil rights reporter. Afterwards, conspiracy theories get much of it backwards.

It is extremely important that the reader get beyond the first 50-or-so pages. I almost set it aside, and I'm very glad I didn't! You need the background to understand the interwoven events of the bulk of the book – and you will not be disappointed in this thriller involving the current (2024) geopolitical situation.

This is a chilling possibility that could happen or might even BE happening in our world. This could be a cautionary tale about disturbing old bones?