Though Professor
Indiana Jones and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Novelization
He's back. Everyone's favorite globe-trotting, tomb-raiding, wisecracking archaeologist is finally at it again -- hurtling headfirst into high adventure and relying on his wits, his fists, and his trusty bullwhip to get him out of deep trouble. But the man in the jaunty brown fedora and battered leather jacket is no ordinary digger in the dirt. From the fabled lost Ark of the Covenant to the legendary Holy Grail, he's salvaged the world's most amazing artifacts, while beating the baddest villains and defying the most breathtaking odds.
Now it is 1957, the atomic age is in full swing, and McCarthy-era paranoia has the nation on edge. But for Indiana Jones, the Cold War really heats up when his latest expedition is crashed by a ruthless squad of Russian soldiers. Commanded by a sword-wielding colonel who's as sinister as she is stunning, the menacing Reds drag an unwilling Indy along as they brazenly invade American soil, massacre U.S. soldiers, and plunder a top-secret government warehouse. Their objective: a relic even more precious -- and powerful -- than the mythic Ark, capable of unlocking secrets beyond human comprehension.
Fast thinking and some high-speed maneuvers help Jones turn the tables, and a one-in-a-million escape narrowly saves him from certain death. But when he's tarred as a suspected spy and fired by his university, Indy thinks it may be time to hang up his hat.
Fate, however, has other plans. Suddenly the road to retirement takes a sharp detour when a colleague's kidnapping leads Jones into the depths of the Amazon jungle on a desperate rescue mission. With a hot-headed teenage biker as his unlikely wing man and his vengeful new Russian nemesis waiting for a rematch, Indy's back in the game -- playing for a prize all the wonders of the world could never rival.
Author James Rollins adapts and expands the story by George Lucas and Jeff Nathanson and screenplay by David Koepp. Rollins is the bestselling author of eight previous novels: Subterranean, Excavation, Deep Fathom, Amazonia, Ice Hunt, Sandstorm, Map of Bones, and Black Order. This novel is available in hardcover from Del Rey Books. (Buy an autographed edition from IndianaJonesShop here.)
Here an excerpt of the prologue of the novel:
1546
RETURN ...
Francisco de Orellana stumbled the last steps toward the cliff 's edge. At the lip of the precipice, he fell to his knees. The wide desert plain spread far below him. As the sun sank, he stared across that parched and rocky landscape, a reflection of his own soul. From this height he saw strange pictures carved into the desert floor, mon¬strously large, stretching many leagues across the rocky plain, giant figures of monkeys, insects, snakes, along with flowers and strange angular shapes.
It was a God- cursed and demonic land. He should never have come.
Francisco tore the conquistador's helmet from his head and tossed it behind him. While the sun gave up its last light, he planted his sword deep into the hot, sandy soil. The Spanish pommel and grip formed a cross against the setting sun.
Francisco prayed for release, for forgiveness, for salvation.
El dios querido, me perdona.
But there could be no forgiveness for the murder he had committed.
Blood bathed his gilded armor, dripped from his sword, and soiled his breastplate. The blood came from his own men, slaugh¬tered at his own hand.
With his gold dagger, Francisco had slit the throats of the twin brothers, Iago and Isidro. He had used his sword to gut Gaspar like a pig and had come close to cleaving Rogelio's head clean from his wide shoulders. He had stabbed Oleos in the back as he tried to flee; the same with Diego, cutting him off at the knees. The last man's screams had chased Francisco to this perch atop the cliff.
But all had fallen silent.
The slaughter was complete.
Return ...
Francisco clawed at his face and dragged deep gouges. The com¬mand filled his skull. He sought to dig it out, cursing himself and the trespass he had committed. It would not let him go. The urge cut through his entrails like a rusted hook. It dug deeper than his spine, hooking him and trapping him.
For weeks he had fled that cursed place, sure he had escaped with a wealth to challenge kings, with wonders that would make queens weep. He had chests of gold and silver, another full of rubies and emeralds. A boat waited only a few days away, ported in a deepwater cove.
So close.
Return ...
He sank around his sword, begging for release. As this day had dawned, he had finally succumbed to the command etched into his bones. With each step away from that accursed valley, the word had grown louder in his skull. There was no escaping it. At last he found it impossible to continue, to take another step toward his ship. He became trapped in amber, unable to move forward. Only one path was left.
His men felt no such compunction. They chattered like boys, ex¬cited to return home, reveling in how they'd spend their wealth, full of grand schemes and great dreams. They would not listen when he spoke of going back. They had fought him, urged him, and swore at him. They meant to take the treasure and continue to the ship, even if it meant leaving him behind.
And Francisco would have let them.
But in their greed, the men moved to take that which belonged to Francisco alone. That could not be! In a blind rage, he had cut them down like a scythe through wheat. Nothing must stop him, not even his own men.
Return ...
Now he was alone at last.
Now he could go back.
As the sun dropped below the far horizon and night fell, he gained his feet, retrieved his helmet, and pulled his sword from the soil. He turned, ready at last to obey the command. He headed down the dark slope -- but movement drew his eye.
Below, figures shifted out of shadows and from behind tall boul¬ders. They rose from holes and crawled from the limbs of twisted trees. They climbed toward him from all directions. He heard the knock of naked knees and the clop of stony heels.
An army, stripped of flesh . . . made of bones.
He paled and backed away, knowing now he was truly cursed.
The living dead closed toward him.
Come to drag him to Hell.
Where he truly belonged.
Still, he screamed to the night sky -- not in terror, but in anguish, knowing he was forever damned. For he had failed, failed to obey the command burning in his skull. Merciless, relentless, the dead advanced toward him. His scream ripped into the night, but all Francisco de Orellana heard was one word.
Return ...
Indy's previous cinematic adventures were re-released earlier this year in a Del Rey paperback anthology collecting the novelizations of the original trilogy by Campbell Black, James Kahn and Rob McGregor. Also, many of Indy's earlier "expanded adventures" novels published by Bantam Books are once again on bookshelves, written by Rob McGregor, Max McCoy and Martin Caidin.
