Excavation

When an Incan ruin is discovered by Henry Conklin, also called Hank, in Peru, a team of grad students is sent to explore. On this team is Sam, Henry’s headstrong nephew, Maggie, an Irish student, Norman, a photographer, Ralph, a former football player, and Philip, a rich Harvard graduate. All is going well when intruders trap all of the students, except Philip, inside the ruins. With the threat of a cave-in pressing down on them, Sam and the others must delve further into the ruins. They initially are worried about shortage of supplies, but that issue turns out to be the least of their problems. Meanwhile, things aboveground are going badly for Hank as well. A strange discovery draws the attention of an unusual enemy, and Hank must try to stay one step ahead of them. And at the heart of all of this, an extraordinary secret is hidden, just waiting to be discovered.

 
Excavation is an excellent story. There are two storylines that slowly converge, and Rollins ends each chapter with a cliffhanger to keep you interested throughout the entire story. The characters each have depth, instead of just the main character. The author uses many literary techniques, such as verbal irony, imagery, and characterization. Rollins’ books are always completely believable, except for one aspect. Excavation is no different, adding one unrealistic element to a realistic world. This technique makes his books extremely interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys adventure and suspense stories and can handle gory details and death.  If you need a good, hard-to-put-down read, this is the book for you.