I liked Shadows of the Stone Benders by K. Patrick Donoghue  much more than expected.  I occasionally enjoy science fiction and rarely like fantasy. Yet the write-up I saw on Netgalley was interesting.

The publisher compared it to the books of James Rollins and Steve Berry.  I’ve never tried James Rollins but I have read and liked several books by Steve Berry.  So I thought I would give it a try.

Briefly, an eccentric archaeologist dies in what seems to be an accident but on further examination looks suspicious to friends and family.  Then those investigating the death are themselves in danger as it becomes clear that the archaeologist’s discovery of powerful stones made by an ancient  advanced civilization led to his death.

This book was hard to put down.   The main characters were interesting and well-developed. The descriptions were good.  The mystery was introduced in an interesting fashion and got me “hooked” quickly.  Once I got further into the mystery I found the stone business a bit hard to accept but was willing to go along since it was a good story.

This is the first of a new series.  I look forward to the next installment.

At this writing,  the Kindle version in substantially less expensive that the paperback version