cover image Flight of the Serpent

Flight of the Serpent

Val Davis. Bantam Books, $5.5 (272pp) ISBN 978-0-553-57803-4

Federal investigators rule a mysterious plane crash in the Arizona desert a ""pilot error,"" but archaeologist Nicolette Scott knows there is more to the story than authorities are letting on. When her eyewitness account of the incident is discredited, she joins forces with the dead pilot's grandfather, John Gault, a man who shares her expertise in aviation and her determination to uncover the truth. Their quest leads them to the discovery of a top-secret facility near the crash site, and, ultimately, to a chilling conspiracy allowing illegal aliens to be detained there for use as human guinea pigs in radiation testing. The action kicks in when the pair decides to take Gault's WWII bomber on its final flight to avenge his grandson's death. (Dec.)