“The Spanish Papers” by Kevin Tumlinson
(NAPSI)—Kevin Tumlinson’s
archeologist hero Dan Kotler, star of “The
Spanish Papers” and seven other thriller novels, is more than a modern
Indiana Jones.
He believes artifacts belong in museums, but he’s got cash to throw
around to buy them up. He consults for the FBI’s Historic Crimes
division, a fictitious invention that marries the agency’s high-tech
resources with the retro cold case appeal of archaeological MacGuffin hunts. Heck, instead of delivering university
lectures, Kotler gives TED talks.
He’s the adventure serial hero updated for the 2010s—Robert
Langdon with heavy emotional baggage and an FBI clearance.
Where “The Spanish Papers” excels most is its cross-genre
appeal. The novel is at once a historical mystery centered on the contents of
the titular Spanish papers, a murder mystery centered on the death of the man
who procured them and an espionage-driven mystery complete with fancy
cocktails.
All of these disparate elements shouldn’t work together, but they
do, and a big reason is that this novel is just so darn fun. At one point, Kotler cracks a meta joke about the novel’s many
layers of genre and homage: “Secret lairs, items of great power, men
with no scruples. The Bond film writes itself.” He then takes a moment
to reflect on the disappointing “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the
Crystal Skull” before moving on.
This is the eighth book in the Dan Kotler
series, but Tumlinson does an admirable job filling
in Kotler’s back story and summarizing past
adventures so the reader is never lost. There’s a lot of ground to
cover, as crucial relationships between Kotler and
his friend and coworker Agent Roland Denzel as well as between Kotler and love interest Liz Ludlum have been established
and fleshed out in previous books.
“The Spanish Papers” kicks off in the aftermath of Kotler and Ludlum’s first kiss and the tension
between the two would-be lovers. This adds weight to their professional
interactions and keeps the reader invested in their safety while
they’re on their respective missions.
Also important: the Knights of Jani, a shadowy
organization with violent aspirations on a global scale. They’re Kotler’s SPECTRE and, having recurred in the
previous books, they’re back again. During World War II, Hitler planned
to use ancient, cryptic artifacts (also depicted in the Indiana Jones films)
as a means of aiding the Nazis’ quest for world domination. Could it be
that some of these artifacts are now part of the wicked plot of the Jani? It’s up to Kotler
to unearth this and other secrets buried in the hot Arizona desert. Fans of
action, adventure, espionage and thrillers that generally don’t take
themselves too seriously will love this one.
Buy “The Spanish Papers” at https://amzn.to/2OYFmDc.
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“Kevin Tumlinson has penned the eighth
thriller in his Dan Kotler series. “The
Spanish Papers” is a history and mystery that doesn’t take itself
too seriously. http://bit.ly/2Ml8wsJ”
On the Net:North American Precis Syndicate, Inc.(NAPSI)