50 something book and comic reviews ago, or 3 and a half years ago, the first book that I read and reviewed here on the site was Indiana Jones And The Dinosaur Eggs By Max McCoy.
I said it was one of the easiest of the Indy books to read.
All these years and all these books later, I’ve finally gotten to the next book in the series, the penultimate entry in this line.
How does it hold up against Dinosaur Eggs?
Has McCoy done it again?
Grab your whip & fedora, it’s time we found out!
As always, this is your official ***SPOILER ALERT***, so get ready!
I gotta say, right here at the very top, goddamn is it good to be back hangin’ with Indiana Jones again.
Now, the story: A major snow storm has swept across New Jersey, and Indy has settled in for a night of comfortable research and reading, when a knock at the door suddenly throws him into another globetrotting race against those piece of shit goosesteping goons from Berlin that leads deep into the arctic circle.
But it’s not all snow and ice along the way as Indy makes new friends and faces old rivals yet again!
There are some damn great set pieces in this novel that really do rival the movies, including some great trainyard deception and action, attempted murder in a Kansas hotel room that quickly becomes a chase into a theater, a New Orleans Cemetery Duel, but my favorite comes near the New Mexico-Texas border.
Much like Last Crusade, Indy goes on a dungeon crawl through a mythical treasure trove in the Guadalupe Mountains, and almost doesn’t make it out.
The intricacy of the labyrinth is just so well described, the word portrait is incredibly painted.
It reminds me of the mine exploration videos I’ve watched on YouTube, just the dank oppressiveness McCoy gets across is brilliant.
I absolutely love it.
Something else I love is that the Crystal Skull storyline from McCoy’s previous Indy novels continues.
And I suspect that it will continue into the next book, Secret Of The Sphinx, as well and I’m excited to see where it goes.
I like that both Rob MacGregor & Max McCoy have had stories that are incredibly self-contained, but also feature overarching plots that run through them.
If gives both a great sense of continuity, and is appreciated.
One last thing that I want to mention is the afterword.
McCoy does a great job in the afterword of breaking down some of the key influences and elements that he extrapolated or bent a little to tell a more compelling story.
But they come off like fun little history lessons on some of the weirder beliefs of the past, and add a great sense of depth to the story you just finished.
It lets you know that even though these may be considered fun or silly little adventure novels by some, he does pretty extensive research on the topics he handles.
To start wrapping up, I have to admit that I finished this book with a slight tinge of sadness.
I only have 6 Indy novels left, only 1 of which is in this particular series and by this author.
Disney needs to quit sitting on their collective nuts and commission some new novels, cause I need more, man.
I think it’s clear I love Movies, TV, and Comics, but nothing has ever, or will ever, light up my mind and imagination the way a novel does.
Rob MacGregor wrote a Novelization of the last Indiana Jones game, but it was never released, dust that bastard off if you must!
I don’t give a shit, I just NEED more.
If you have never read any of these books, I don’t know what else I can possibly say to convince to check them out, but you have to.
They’re everything the movies promise and more.
They’re all brilliant, pulpy, thrilling action adventure novels that deserve far more praise than they get.
Don’t sleep on them any longer, gang, dive in!
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Special thanks to @ACFerrell1976 for her continued editorial assistance.
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