Dragon Bones

Dragon Bones
Lisa See
Ballantine Books
New York, New York
ISBN: 0-345-44031-5
2003
$ 12.95
350 pages

Building the largest dam in the world was a daunting task even for an immense nation like China. The creation of this humongous structure also involved the massive relocation of entire villages that were in the path as well as the permanent loss of any archeological artifacts that would be forever buried under tons of water. As with many massive dig sites, certain ancient objects mysteriously were not catalogued and disappeared to private vendors usually ending up at auction sites or private sales.
Liu Hulan is an Inspecttor in China's Ministry of Public Security and her former husband, David Stand. Their relationship suffered after the devastating loss of their daughter who died of meningitis. This loss coupled with their own personal guilt and insecurities caused this loving couple to split. However, even after five years, those around these two knew that they continued to have strong loving feelings for each other. Could working together rekindle their relationship?
David continued to live in China as an attorney from the United States solving problems for those who need assistance in the bureaucratic systems within and between the two nations. Liu Hulan and David have both been assigned the task of investigating the death of an American archeologist whose body was found downstream, severely beaten and decayed from a long river journey along one of the many construction sites along the soon to be built dam. Was he beaten before he died or did the river do the brutal damage to his body? Was it suicide, an accident, or murder?
Dragon Bones is an intricately woven tapestry combining mysteries, romance, legend, history, geography, with a riveting action adventure tale telling the inside story of the Three Gorges Dam in China and displaying just a small picture of the enormity of this project. The characters are each realistic revealing their strengths and weaknesses into a memorable story interlocking the history and legends of this area of China.
Lisa See is one of those authors where I read everything that she has ever written. Her stories are intense based on real history, well-researched, where the reader is literally with the main characters and making their personal choices as each page is revealed.
Somehow, I had purchased this book years ago and realized that I had not read it. Dragon Bones is an addictive reading story that constantly changes perspectives so that the reader does not see a linear story but an involved tale with multiple issues surrounding the introductory death. Lisa See beautifully wove a story that is informative, entertaining, and masterful.