Their latest project has a colorful history. A fortune hunter named Blackjack Martin lead an expedition to Brazil in the 1920s looking for whatever might produce fortune and fame. The trip was, in great part, a disaster. No one believed his stories of encounters with the natives and the few treasures he amassed were destined to collect dust in museums that refused to display them without more definite facts about their provenance.

 After months of mostly fruitless searching in the Brazilian forests, Danielle buys a small gray stone from a logger that has Mayan writing on it. The symbols closely resemble those on some artifacts of Blackjack Martin’s which Martin identified as the symbols of the underworld. Danielle had asked the logger how he had acquired the curious stone. He was evasive, but indicated that guides he had employed, members of the Nuree tribe, showed him an identical marking on a much larger stone. This stone was part of a wall called the Wall of Skulls. Danielle remembers reading in Blackjack Martin’s journals a description of the same wall.

Both Danielle and Arnold are elated by the find. The stumbling block is a directive from their superior, Stuart Gibbs. Gibbs has ordered that Arnold return to Washington. Danielle will remain in Brazil as director of the operation. While this situation represents a chance for great career advancement for Danielle, the knowledge that a previous expedition had failed miserably makes her more than a little apprehensive. The thought that such an opportunity affords a great advancement in the study of the Mayan civilization wins out. Danielle decides to go forward. She will assemble the best prepared team of individuals that she can to try and discover what Blackjack Martin had tried to do so many years before.

The major thrust behind the plot of Black Rain requires that the reader accept the fallacy that parts of the Mayan civilization existed in Brazil. This is a giant leap of faith as the evidence of the Mayan exists only in Central America. In addition the plot delves into the realm of speculative fiction with the introduction of an animal species which possesses highly unusual characteristics demanding equally unusual methods for interacting with such creatures.

 Another important feature of the plot involves the search for a source of energy employing cold fusion techniques which also fall into the realm of speculation. The actual mechanics of producing said energy from a cold fusion reaction are not discussed in detail which may satisfy non scientific types but those more comfortable with the hard sciences may be skeptical.

 Black Rain falls squarely into the middle of the thriller category. All of the gunfire, hand to hand combat scenes are described in vivid detail lending this story unsuitable for those lacking a strong stomach. The abilities of the combatants border on those of Superman. People on the receiving end of major injuries are up and fighting again with little recovery time. While this makes for fast moving action, it strains credulity.

Part of the story involves misuse of government and company funds in private industry. This situation, while providing a legitimate motive for unscrupulous behavior, happens regularly enough in mystery tales that it is not surprising.

 One bright spot in the novel is detail about the Mayan civilization and their calendar. Considering the tools and equipment these people had to work with, it is amazing how accurate their work is.

--Andy Plonka