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The Queen Jade

A New World Novel of Adventure

#1 in series

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

There is a legend of the New World that has endured for centuries: the strange, tragic tale of a King, a Witch . . . and a blue gem of intoxicating beauty said to grant extraordinary power to whoever possesses it.

Archaeologist Juana Sanchez, convinced that she's discovered the key to unlocking the mystery of the fabled Queen Jade, ventures into the Central American jungle alone—just ahead of the relentless pounding fury of Hurricane Mitch. When the terrible storm is over, Juana is gone, and an ancient, long-buried jade mine has been uncovered in the mountains of Guatemala, giving new hope to all obsessed seekers of the legendary stone. But it is a different obsession that plunges Juana's daughter—scholar and bookseller Lola Sanchez—into the remarkable adventure of a lifetime. For only by following the Queen Jade's perilous, cursed trail can Lola hope to find her vanished mother . . . if it isn't already too late.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      January 17, 2005
      A trek through the Guatemalan rain forest helps a Mexican-American woman heal old family wounds—and solve a centuries-old archeological puzzle to boot—in this atmospheric, long-winded adventure story by Murray (The Conquest
      ). Lola Sanchez, a 30ish Californian bookseller, is long accustomed to dispatching her difficult mother, Juana, on archeological missions to the "jaguar-and-relic-filled jungles of Guatemala." But this time is different: Hurricane Mitch has devastated much of the country, and Lola fears that her mother's quest to discover the "magic queen of all jades"—a rare blue relic whose fabled power has obsessed centuries of European explorers—will lead her into dangerously flood-ravaged terrain. So she closes shop and heads for the rain forest, accompanied by Juana's academic rival, Erik Gomara, a paunchy lothario; her own intensely bitter ex-friend, Yolanda de la Rosa, who boasts expertise with a machete; and Manuel Alvarez, her frail, panicky father. These entertaining characters are all sharply drawn, and the depiction of the teeming jungle is breathtaking. But Murray is less successful at conveying the mythos of the Queen Jade and the history of its pursuit. Too much of the novel consists of the characters reading documents aloud to one another or pedantically lecturing. The repeat appearances of a menacing mustached soldier add zip to the plot, but seem forced and implausible, as does the family tree–altering conclusion in an amazing cave. Agent, Shana Kelly at William Morris. 5-city author tour.

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