Discovery in the Desert

by Peter Leavell, Ken Raney (Illustrator)

Siblings Josh and Abby Hunter don't believe their parents' death was an accident. After taking pictures of the most incredible find of the 1920's-proof humans and dinosaurs lived together in the same time and place-desperate outlaws armed with tommy guns are on their tail! Only Josh and Abby know where the proof is hidden-in the canyons of Arizona's desert. When an intruder searches Josh and Abby's bags inside their new home, the two convince their uncle Dr. David Hunter into returning to the canyon and finding the pictures they'd hidden. But the outlaws are just as eager to find the proof before Josh and Abby. Can Josh use his super-smart brain to outfox the villains in time? Will Abby's incredible physical abilities stop full-grown men? And will their uncle believe them? Dino Hunters is an apologetics-adventure series aimed at the middle reader to help them trust the Bible from the very first verse.

234 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Peter Leavell, a 2007 graduate of Boise State University with a degree in history, was the 2011 winner of Christian Writers Guild's Operation First Novel contest. He is winner of the 2013 Christian Retailing's Best award for First-Time Author. Peter and his family live in Boise, Idaho. For entertainment, he reads historical books, where he finds ideas for new novels. Whenever he has a chance, he takes his wife and two homeschooled children on crazy but fun research trips. Learn more about Peter's books, research, and family adventures at www.peterleavell.com.

Reviews

[Bonnie Olive]

Wonderful exciting book

I would highly recommend Dino hunters for readers of any age.
It's an exciting trip to digs in the dessert and bad men trying to stop them. Proving creation is true.

[Derek · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well where to start with this book. Needless to say, it was quite disappointing.

The Book

Well the book itself was highly disappointing. It is veiled Creationist propaganda. The story goes along fine and then all of a sudden they are "proving" that the earth is thousands of years old and man walked with dinosaurs. Then they do an alternate reality of the Scopes Monkey trial where the lead evolutionary biologist renounces evolution in favour of creation. This book is clearly aimed an young readers to misinform them. Then the last chapter goes straight into direct propaganda telling about all the "evidence" to support the functional story. I had to explain to my kids a lot about this book and the "facts" at the end.

The Story

The story is actually an interesting mystery despite the fact that the premise makes no sense and is never explained. in the 1920s Archeologists find evidence of human footprints fossilized alongside dinosaurs. As they discover these they are accosted by the mob who is trying to suppress this (why the mob is interested in archaeological finds is never addressed). The mob kills the scientists and orphans their kids. The kids then go on to "prove" the finding and convert the most renouned American evolutionary biologist to a creationist in the middle of the scopes money trial.

[Carol L. Caldwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reader can picture an early "Indiana Jones" in this story. It is compelling and entertaining. Tragedy strikes when Josh and Abby lose their parents after an amazing discovery in the desert. But their Uncle David steps in to take care of them.

Lots of character development goes on with Josh and his Uncle David. It's a hard road for kids when their parents die and they lose all they are familiar with. The authors handle this well, and have the readers wishing for cell phones and digital photos in the 1920s to help catch the villains.

I look forward to reading other stories in the series.

[Rebekah Leavell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun book for the kids. Our kids enjoyed it!