Thunderhead



Thunderhead is a novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, first published in 1999.

The story follows Nora Kelly on her search to uncover the truth about her father and his possible discovery of Quivira, a mythical Anasazi city of gold. The expedition sets out into the badlands of Utah, but the way is fraught with danger and a sinister evil seems to be lurking in the desert.


 * Action Girl: Sloane pilots, rock climbs, rides horses, and has decent skill with a firearm. And these are just the things she actually does in the story. It's mentioned or implied that she does a ton more such activities at the insistence of her high standard father. Nora doesn't do too bad herself.
 * Adventure Archaeologist: Nora's father was an amateur pot hunter who enjoyed searching the desert for undiscovered sites.
 * Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Sloane is beautiful, intelligent, smart, and extremely talented. She's also ruthlessly power hungry and manipulative.
 * The Cavalry Arrives Late:
 * Chekhov's Gun:.
 * Death World: The Utah canyon system is a dangerous place: from rattlers, lack of water, perilous cliffs, poisonous shrubbery, and flash floods, to.
 * Deceased Parents Are the Best: Despite their mother's bashing of him, Skip and Nora obviously remember their father fondly.
 * Disappeared Dad: Nora's father literally disappeared into the Utah desert 16 years ago.
 * Exact Words: Nora asked for the weather report, not the actual weather.
 * Exposition Victim:
 * Foreshadowing: When Swire shares his poem to Hurricane Deck with Nora, he specifically notes that the last stanza doesn't fit. It refers to the magnificent free spirit of a horse being retired to carrying tourists around dude ranches.
 * Freudian Excuse: Sloane has serious Daddy issues.
 * Grave Robbing: The skinwalkers rob graves to strip corpses of their magical parts.
 * Hot Scientist: Nora is described as quite attractive and she surprises many men when they first meet her. They expect a mousy, nerd type and find her to be quite stunning.
 * I Call It Vera: Teresa refers to her shotgun as "Senor Winchester."
 * Lost World: Quivira
 * Make It Look Like an Accident:
 * Motive Rant:
 * Murder Is the Best Solution:
 * Perfect Poison: Corpse Powder
 * Sacrificial Lamb:
 * Sacrificial Lion:
 * Shipper on Deck: Sloane tells Nora she's pegged Smithback for her, and Black for herself.
 * The Starscream: Sloane is constantly looking for ways to undermine Nora's authority and take over herself.
 * Vigilante Execution: Beyoozadin recounts how his family hunted down the skinwalker who killed his grandfather and cursed him. They shot the man in his sleep so they didn't give him any chance to cast further spells or try to escape. He mentions that it "took a great many bullets."
 * "Well Done, Son" Guy: A female version in Sloane. It haunts her that she never seems to live up to her father's expectations of her.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: We never do find out the fate of poor Thurber.
 * When a Jerk Loves A Tsundere:
 * Witch Doctor: The skinwalkers.