Paradox

In the father/daughter Preston duo’s second “Cash & Colcord” book (after Extinction), Sheriff Colcord calls CBI Agent Frankie Cash to help investigate a bizarre murder deep in the Flat Top Wilderness in the Rocky Mountains. The victim is an illegal squatter in a cabin by Solitary Lake. They find him laid out on the kitchen table dressed in a white gown, looking like he is asleep, but with marks showing torture and smells that include embalming fluid. There is a possibility the Neanders—reanimated Neanderthal creatures who caused a disaster in the first book in this series—are involved. In addition to the investigative team that survived in book one, there’s a priest sent on a secret mission to recover a stolen relic, an exobiologist searching for UFO artifacts, and a possible secret society death squad. Character development is excellent, but the plot develops slowly, with the story told from different viewpoints.