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Picnic in the Ruins
Picnic in the Ruins | Todd Robert Petersen
5 posts | 5 read | 13 to read
A madcap caper across the RV-strewn vacation lands of southern Utah meets a meditation on mythology, authenticity, the ethics of preservation, and one nagging question: "who owns the past?" Anthropologist Sophia Shepard is researching the impact of tourism on cultural sites in a remote national monument on the Utah-Arizona border when she unexpectedly crosses paths with two small-time criminals. The Ashdown brothers were hired to steal maps from a "collector" of Native American artifacts, but instead of delivering as promised, the brothers are out to strike it rich. But their ineptitude has alerted the local sheriff to their presence--and forced their employer, a former lobbyist seeking lucrative monument land that may soon be open to energy exploration, to send a fixer to clean up their mess before it upsets her machinations. Sheriff Dalton, following the Ashdowns' trail, soon discovers he's not dealing with a simple burglary--and any hope the sheriff had for peace and quiet is long gone.
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Booksnchill
Picnic in the Ruins | Todd Robert Petersen
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Pickpick

4⭐️ from me. This is humourous while handling deep issues of the exploitation of “artifacts” and the politicization of “preservation” specifically of Monument National Park. Excellent characters and great audio narration- I recommend this!

kspenmoll Sounds right up my alley! Thanks! Great review! 2y
Booksnchill I am glad to recommend it! 2y
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Addison_Reads
Picnic in the Ruins | Todd Robert Petersen
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Pickpick

#ToBLonglist

Great book! I loved the mix of thriller, humour, and historical fiction. Having most of the setting in a national park made for excellent descriptions that left very vivid images in my mind. This book addresses the issue of artifacts and cultural appropriation, which I found intriguing and insightful.

The characters in this book are also quite colourful and add to the fun aspect of reading it.

TEArificbooks Pretty cover 2y
45 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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Conservio
Picnic in the Ruins | Todd Robert Petersen
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another #vacation read.

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HeatherBookNerd
Picnic in the Ruins | Todd Robert Petersen
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Pickpick

This was really good. A nice thriller with a touch of humor and lots of colorful characters. Also an interesting exploration of national public lands and parks management, and cultural artifacts and appropriation.

My last book of 2021! Looking forward to great books for 2022. Happy New Year!

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Hooked_on_books
Picnic in the Ruins | Todd Robert Petersen
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Pickpick

Sophia is in Utah doing doctoral research in anthropology at a national park when a murder related to antiquities occurs, wrapping her up in the aftermath. This book manages to tackle some serious topics with a strong streak of fun and humor, as if Carl Hiassen wrote one of Nevada Barr‘s Anna Pigeon books. I‘m glad this was on the TOB longlist, as I wouldn‘t have found it otherwise.

BarbaraBB Sounds good and I love the cover! 3y
Megabooks Stacked! 3y
HeatherBookNerd Just finished this and it‘s really good! 2y
42 likes4 stack adds3 comments