A review by canada_matt
Curses! by Aaron Elkins

3.0

Elkins takes the readers on yet another international adventure with Dr. Gideon, this time down to Mexico. When invited to work on a dig by his long-time mentor, Gideon and his wife rush down to Mexico to work on excavating the ruins of a temple and its inhabitants. Mystery surrounds the site, as one of the previous workers is said to have stolen an important codex and simply disappeared years before. When Gideon is attacked and a letter warning him to leave does not do the trick, the 'gods' begin wreaking havoc on him and harming those at the site. With a murder and the discovery of a set of bones at the dig site, Gideon must determine who is behind all this before he becomes the ultimate victim and the gods get their final revenge. An interesting read for the series fan, but perhaps not one best used to coax new admirers.

I found the book dragged in its opening half, so much so that I put it down on my holiday and tried to refocus myself. When I returned, I dove right in and sped through to the end, more to find out what happened than due to the excellent prose. The story is tepid, but the 'teachable moments' are surely well done. Nothing as exciting as a Jefferson Bass or Simon Beckett novel (or Reichs for that matter), all of the same genre, but a good read. Taking in its chronological context, Elkins does a good job of keeping the reader entertained.

Good job Dr. Elkins. Not your best work, but a decent approach to keep the series moving.