Roswell Incident: A Dane Maddock Adventure

Dane Maddock #16

by David Wood

A buried artifact. A legendary outlaw. A race for the truth.

When former Navy SEAL turned treasure hunter Dane Maddock uncovers a mysterious artifact hidden among Billy the Kid’s fabled treasure, he and his partner Bones are plunged into a deadly chase across the New Mexico desert.
The disc is unlike anything they've seen before—etched with impossible symbols and pulsing with a strange energy. Their search for answers leads them to Roswell during AlienFest, where the line between conspiracy and truth is thinner than ever.

But powerful enemies are watching.

Pursued by a ruthless black-ops agency, betrayed from within, and racing against a countdown buried in history, Maddock and Bones must unlock the secrets of the “City of the Sky”—a place whispered of in legends and hidden beneath the earth.

The truth is out there… and it’s not waiting.

Indiana Jones meets the X-Files in this breakneck adventure from the bestselling world of Dane Maddock.


Praise for David Wood and The Dane Maddock Adventures!

“With the thoroughly enjoyable way Mr. Wood has mixed speculative history with our modern-day pursuit of truth, he has created a story that thrills and makes one think beyond the boundaries of mere fiction and enter the world of ‘why not’?” David Lynn Golemon, Author of the Event Group series

“What an adventure! A great read that provides lots of action, and thoughtful insight as well, into strange realms that are sometimes best left unexplored.” Paul Kemprecos, author of Cool Blue Tomb and the NUMA Files

“Dane and Bones.... Together they’re unstoppable. Rip roaring action from start to finish. Wit and humor throughout. Just one question - how soon until the next one? Because I can’t wait.” Graham Brown, author of Shadows of the Midnight Sun

“A page-turning yarn blending high action, Biblical speculation, ancient secrets, and nasty creatures. Indiana Jones better watch his back!” Jeremy Robinson, author of SecondWorld

“Let there be no David Wood is the next Clive Cussler. Once you start reading, you won’t be able to stop until the last mystery plays out in the final line.” Edward G. Talbot, author of 2012: The Fifth World

“A twisty tale of adventure and intrigue that never lets up and never lets go!” Robert Masello, author of The Einstein Prophecy

“I like my thrillers with lots of explosions, global locations, and a mystery where I learn something new. Wood delivers! Recommended as a fast paced, kick ass read.” J.F. Penn, author of Desecration

“David Wood has done it again. Within seconds of opening the book, I was hooked. Intrigue, suspense, monsters, and treasure hunters. What more could you want? David’s knocked it out of the park with this one!” Nick Thacker- author of The Enigma Strain

“The literary equivalent of a theme park roller coaster!” BookAnon

249 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 22, 2025

About the author

David Wood is the USA Today bestselling author of the Dane Maddock Adventures and many other titles and series. He also writes Science Fiction under the pen name Finn Gray and fantasy as David Debord. He is also a book reviewer, podcaster, and a member of International Thriller Writers and The Horror Writers Association. David and his family live in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Visit him online at www.davidwoodweb.com.

Reviews

[Cheryl Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not up to what I expect from this series. It seemed rushed and lacking transition along with grammar mistakes. I hope this was an anomaly and that the next book is back up to the previous standards. It has been a wonderful series until this book.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Needs To Open A Teepublic Store. Y'all Should Help Me Convince Him. :) This was another fun entry in the long and spiraling Dane Maddock saga, but also one that those new to Wood can pick up as their first book and neither have much spoiled nor miss much of anything, as it largely is a fairly solid standalone tale with a couple of links to a larger world - though one of those links in particular does play a larger role in the epilogue than it does in the overall tale here.

Instead what we get here is an adventure thriller based in the American Southwest featuring its most famous of creatures - the Roswell Aliens and the various lore and objective facts that are known about that event all those years ago. As usual, Maddock himself has seen some things, but is still the more down to earth explorer. His partner "Bones" Bonebrake... is the more outlandish believer of many things who also happens to be *very* good at, well, breaking bones when the need arises.

As with most of these tales, there is at least some plausibly achaeology-ish setup, a lot of being chased by people with bad intentions, a few key fights, and (particularly later in these adventures, as this book is), some element of scifi and/ or the supernatural. Though in this case it *does* have a more interesting spin on the concepts than I've seen in other works, and I've read a lot of interesting stuff related to these particular events.

But the reason David needs to create a teepublic store: He has created a symbol for a group - and granted, these people are the antagonist for this novel - that is so badass I actually would consider getting a tattoo of it, and despite having several tattoos, many of them book-inspired, that isn't something I say very often. I would *absolutely* wear this on a shirt in a heartbeat, and I honestly think even just having stuff available with this image alone would have enough sales to at least warrant the effort of creating the shop and making it available.

But y'all need to read this book and leave your own reviews of it, and tell David to create the shop so we can buy the shirts. Maybe if enough people har - I mean, gently ask him - he'll eventually do it just to get us to leave him alone? :D

Very much recommended.

[Linda A. Blanchette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to actually go back to an earlier David Woods book to see if this flowery prose style had always been there or if this was something new and unwelcome. The book seems to have been written by two very different people. The beginning was decidedly full of unnecessary adjectives and scene setting with snippets of the straight forward writing I had come to expect from Woods. As the action became more intense, thankfully the writing improved and I no longer felt like I was in the middle of a contest for who could use the most words to describe a simple scene.
Obviously, the writing retracted from the story for me. These characters are favorites, too bad there was an additional opponent to battle.

[Vicky Coughlan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very disappointing book. Didn’t read like any of the previous David Wood books. A lack of proofreading together with the lack of the usual crash bangs, crazy chases and the by now so familiar banter between Maddock and Bones made me think maybe this was AÍ trying to imitate David Wood’s style. Yes there were a few good bits but the bad ones were way more noticeable. And that ending??? Big sigh of disappointment.

[Stephanie Marcoux · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the book. I am familiar with the characters but really liked the twists and turns in this book!
The story grabbed me and I HAD to get to the end. I obviously like action books and this one has plenty of action

[Amanda Brewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ending

No spoilers here. .. Just saying that this was a great story. Unique twist to the Area 51ish type tales. And the ending is satisfying and leaves you wanting a sequel.

I was really excited to see another Maddock and Bones story come out.

[margaret banta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

A good, good read. This being the 16th in the series, I look forward to the sequel. The story holds your attention throughout and you are always looking for what comes next. If you like some science fiction in your reading adventure, then you will like this book.

[Pamela Selby · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it.

One of the best reads I have had in a long while, couldn’t put it down. Of course I’ve always loved Maddox and Bonebrake.