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Badlands

Nora Kelly, Book 5

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About this listen

Bloomsbury presents Badlands by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, read by Cynthia Farrell

The #1 New York Times bestselling authors return with a scintillating supernatural-themed thriller. Nora Kelly and Corrie Swanson investigate bizarre deaths in the New Mexico desert, but awaken an ancient evil.

In the New Mexico desert badlands, a woman's skeleton is found with two rare artefacts clutched in her hands: lightning stones used by the ancient Chaco people to summon the gods.

Was it suicide... or sacrifice?

FBI Special Agent Corrie Swanson brings in archaeologist Nora Kelly to investigate. When a second body is found in identical circumstances, they realise the case runs deeper than they imagined.

As Corrie and Nora pursue their investigation into remote canyons, haunted ruins, and long-lost rituals, they find themselves confronting a dark power that, disturbed from its long slumber, threatens to exact an unspeakable price.

'Preston and Child know how to craft compelling stories that are both baffling and surprising.' Associated Press

©2025 Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (P)2025 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Adventure Crime Thrillers Espionage Science Fiction Spies & Politics Supernatural Thriller & Suspense Scary
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I like the build up and the parallel stories that weave into each other.
I found the end a bit rough, rushed and maybe even a bit cheezy. A bit more subtelness and less action may have made the scenes more unreal.

Excellent thriller.

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For me, this series has overtaken the Pendergast novels which have got a bit silly in the last three books. This book has a great, realistic storyline with a quirky ‘could that be real?’ twist that I have always loved about the P-C books. Very much recommended.

Great story

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Very slow. I was losing the will to live by chapter 14 and archived it. Not encouraged to buy further books by two once brilliant writers. Feels ghost written.

Very tedious. I really rate the Pendergast novels but this book feels like it's written for a whole different audience.

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