Friday, January 29, 2021

Pre-Order Ancient Winds


By Kristy McCaffrey

Greetings to everyone in 2021. I hope you’re all well and safe and healthy. I’m pleased to share that I finally have a release date for ANCIENT WINDS – February 15!! Keep scrolling for the pre-order links.

Brynn Galloway and Tristan Magee’s journey is a combination of Indiana Jones and Romancing the Stone, with a dash of The X-Files. I hope you’ll have fun reading it. It’s a bit of a departure from the tone of the first two Pathway books, DEEP BLUE and COLD HORIZON. Those entailed rigorous and detailed research regarding great white sharks and climbing K2. While I did quite a lot of reading about the Bolivian jungle and historic Mesopotamia, this story is a bit more whimsical. It includes the creatures of the South American wilderness, shamans both good and bad, questionable archaeology, the search for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence, and time travel. I definitely relied more heavily on my imagination for this tale. So come along for a wild romp through the jungle with a skeptical Brynn Galloway and an irreverent Tristan Magee.

In the jungle, there are no barriers …

Brynn Galloway doesn’t know it, but her academic career in archaeology is about to become a laughingstock. When a rare Sumerian artifact surfaces, her presence is requested in Bolivia, but nothing is as it seems. Soon, she’s entangled in a desperate hunt not only for a valuable antiquity but also for answers to humanity that might stretch across time. And by her side is a sexy mercenary physicist with a maddening belief in space aliens.

Dr. Tristan Magee is in a bad mood. When his latest acquisition—an unusual and as yet untranslated Sumerian cuneiform tablet—is stolen right out from under him and spirited away to the Bolivian jungle, he’ll do whatever it takes to get it back. Unfortunately, that includes partnering with a female archaeologist who proves to be the kind of distraction that brought down civilizations.


Excerpt from Ancient Winds

Tristan has recently become acquainted with Brynn while both are looking for a Bolivian guide named Dimar Castanos.

When they disembarked at Copacabana, he (Tristan) made his way to a bus, following Dimar and his group of customers. Once aboard, he grabbed a window view, and Ms. Galloway swiftly occupied the seat beside him.

“Good gravy,” she (Brynn) huffed. “It’s difficult to get a seat together.”

“I didn’t realize we were together.”

“So this tablet is why you’re after Irene?”

“I’m only after her, as you put it, to get it back, since she stole it from me.”

“Where did you get it?” she asked, plowing forward.

He supposed he should’ve been happy that she’d given him a night free of an interrogation.

“I’d rather not say.” He leaned against the window and shifted his hat to cover his eyes, hoping to sleep.

“Was it found in Iraq or Iran? An excavation? An accidental discovery?” She seemed to be mostly talking to herself at this point. “Has its whereabouts been known for years and hidden from the public?”

When he didn’t reply, she went silent, but that didn’t last for long. The bus pulled out and she started chatting again.

“Are you certain it’s not a forgery?”

Tristan gave up his nap and dropped his hat to his lap. “Well, if I wasn’t sure a few weeks ago, I am now that Irene swiped it.”

“Why would she steal it? I’ve never known her to be a thief.”

“Look, I’m not here to debate the moral character of Dr. Caridad with you, since I’m guessing you’re her friend, but if you’re in on this, then tell me now.”

Brynn straightened her shoulders. “You think I helped her steal it?”

Tristan waited. Galloway’s countenance didn’t budge as she watched him. Shrugging, he turned away. Either she was a very good liar, or she really didn’t know anything about the piece.

“All right,” he conceded. “You didn’t help her. Maybe Irene took it because she’s a lunatic, and she’s managed to keep her mental illness hidden from her family and friends all this time.”

“Really? That’s your answer? That if a woman does something subversive then she must be crazy?”

“No, sorry. I’m just a bit frustrated. Irene is a smart lady. That’s why I don’t understand any of this.”

“Look, I can assure you that I had no idea the tablet even existed, let alone that Irene had it,” Galloway said. “She asked me to come down here to help on an excavation.”

“That must be it then,” he murmured. “She’s gonna plant the tablet here and pass it off as a South American discovery.”

“That’s quite an accusation. Maybe she has a reasonable explanation. And what if evidence of Sumerian culture could be found in the Americas?”

“I’ve heard this song before.”

“Did you get the piece illegally?”

“You think she’s acting as a de facto police force against the illicit tradings of Tristan Magee?”

She answered with a silent raising of both eyebrows. He could hear the duh as clearly as if she’d spoken it aloud.

“No, I didn’t get it illegally. At least, I don’t think so.” He muttered the last bit. He never purposefully went after hot items, but that didn’t mean he didn’t stumble across them in the underground antiquities market. He also wasn’t about to tell Galloway that he hadn’t actually seen the piece before Irene got her grubby little hands on it. There was no denying that mistakes had been made during the acquisition process, but Tristan didn’t have the stomach to be censured at the moment. Not by this woman.

“So you don’t know where it was discovered?”

“All the information on provenance is back in the States.” Kinda. “I didn’t want to travel with any documentation. I’ll admit, I really didn’t care where it was found, just that it had been found.”

“Why?”

“I have my reasons.”

“If Irene does have this tablet, why would she bring it down here?” she asked. “She’d never be able to get it through customs. Maybe she doesn’t have it with her. Maybe you’re wrong.”

Tristan sighed. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

Copyright © 2021 K. McCaffrey LLC


Read Chapter One: https://kmccaffrey.com/ancient-winds/


Pre-order now at all platforms for $2.99. On release day the price will increase to $4.99. Please note: Ancient Winds will become Amazon exclusive and will enter the Kindle Unlimited program on February 22. If you buy your books from other vendors, don’t delay.

 

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