The Paleontologist
Luke Dumas
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A haunted paleontologist returns to the museum where his sister was abducted years earlier and is faced with a terrifying mystery in this chilling novel, perfect for fans of Katy Hays’s The Cloisters and Dan Brown.
Dr. Simon Nealy never expected to return to his quiet Pennsylvania hometown, let alone the Hawthorne Museum of Natural History. He was just a boy when his six-year-old sister, Morgan, was abducted from the museum under his watch. The guilt has haunted Simon ever since. But after the loss of the aunt who raised him, Simon feels drawn back to the place where Morgan vanished without a trace.
But from the moment he arrives, things aren’t what he expected. The Hawthorne is a crumbling ruin and plummeting toward financial catastrophe. Worse, Simon begins seeing and hearing things he can’t explain: strange animal sounds. Bloody footprints that no living creature could have left. A prehistoric killer looming in the shadows of the museum.
Terrified he’s losing his grasp on reality, Simon turns to the handwritten research diaries of his predecessor and uncovers a blood-soaked mystery in the making that could be the answer to everything – if he can solve it before it’s too late.
About the Author
Luke Dumas is the author of the novel A History of Fear. His nonfiction has appeared in Literary Hub, Hobart, Last Exit, Panorama: The Journal of Travel, Place, and Nature, and more. He received his master’s degree in creative writing from the University of Edinburgh and is a graduate of the University of Chicago.
Book Details:
Published: November 2023
ISBN: 9781408720530
Format: Paperback
Page extent: 368 pages
