DRAGON BONES

A teen on an archaeological dig in Mongolia finds himself at the center of a conspiracy to uncover the treasures of Genghis Khan’s lost tomb in Cooper’s YA thriller.

Fourteen-year-old language prodigy Vance has been promised the “adventure of a lifetime” by his Uncle Frank: a chance to travel to Mongolia to hunt for fossils of a mysterious dinosaur. Once there, the teenager finds himself far more interested in Michelle, the daughter of the expedition’s photographer, than in Mongolia’s Flaming Cliffs or its horse-milk-rich local cuisine. In the face of bandits and sandstorms, tensions within their group grow harder to ignore: Mr. Carrel, the expedition’s wealthy financier, grows increasingly impatient with Uncle Frank despite some significant historical finds, while Carrel’s sinister Russian associate, Tarkov, takes a sadistic pleasure in bullying Vance. Tarkov doesn’t know that Vance also speaks Russian, and the boy overhears his and Carrel’s true plan for the dig: uncovering the long-hidden tomb of Genghis Khan and its immense riches, a prize they’re willing to endanger the children to claim. Cooper’s YA novel is full of pulpy thrills, pitting its young protagonist against unfamiliar terrain and scheming adults who underestimate him. The story offers plenty of high-stakes adventure while drawing on Mongolia’s culture and geography, the history and lore of Genghis Khan, and the ever-durable allure of dinosaurs. References to real-world archaeology and paleontology will likely encourage readers to explore these topics after finishing the book. Though the narrative never loses momentum—Cooper is always throwing some new challenge at Vance and the group—it takes a little too long to reach the deeper intrigue and danger of Carrel and Tarkov’s plan, leaving the story somewhat unmoored until their subterfuge is revealed. It’s easy to forgive the wait, however—Vance and Carrel’s final showdown is too clever to spoil here, but it will shatter stalactites, stalagmites, and expectations.

Dinosaurs, danger, and hidden treasure make for a lively, if overstuffed, adventure.