The Mounds Anomaly by Phyllis Gunderson ~ Blog Tour

The Mounds Anomaly by Phyllis Gunderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Source: Received from the Publisher to review
Genre: Fiction

Book Description:  Mathilda (Matt) Howard can’t resist a good mystery. So when one falls into her hands, she relentlessly pieces the clues together to figure out the answer. It all starts with a forgotten coin that Matt finds in her old excavating backpack. But when she takes it to a colleague, it’s instantly branded a fake from one of the greatest hoaxes ever to occur in America.

Undeterred by the skepticism, Matt begins to dig for the truth, leading her to ancient ruins in Illinois and Michigan. But just as she makes some headway in her research, she is stopped again and again by those who don’t want the truth out—a truth that could change the entire world’s history.

Full of intrigue and action, The Mounds Anomaly will change the way you think about ancient American history.

My thoughts:  I am fascinated by archaeology. The past holds many mysteries that are waiting to be unlocked. Whenever someone finds pieces of the past, questions are answered and sometimes more questions are unearthed.

When the opportunity came for me to review this book, I jumped on it. To have someone delve into the mystery of ancient American history is not something that is typically found. The reasons for this are stated in the book, many findings have been marked as a huge and elaborate hoax.

I enjoyed Phyllis Gunderson's fictional book that explores a real topic. I loved that an archaeologist was questioning and exploring, in spite of the ramifications to her career. While the characters are fictional, she has author's notes at the end of the book that document work done by past professionals and their conclusions.

The book is well written and interesting to read. It opened my eyes to many details that may be one of the biggest cover ups in history.  The unresolved question for me is whether the findings are fact or fiction, personally, I'm thinking  fact.

This is the third Mathilda Howard book.  That was surprising to me, I haven't read the other two.  This felt and read like a stand alone.  I may pick the others up in the future and learn of more of Mathilda's (Matt's) adventures.

I found this interesting on the tour page.  Here is Phyllis Gunderson's words on why she wrote this book!

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I got curious about the American mounds when I learned of farmers in the early 1800s who uncovered thousands of artifacts that shouldn’t have been under their fields: helmets, jars, calendars, and tablets carved in an unknown script.

Scientists pronounced everything, including the farmers, hoaxes and frauds.

After that, if anyone found something strange, they used it as a doorstop and shut up. I searched for additional history and found more than enough to write a mystery novel based on archaeological discoveries in North America. By lucky coincidence, “The Mounds Anomaly” comes out in time to coordinate with the new TV series, “America Unearthed,” which examines evidence of ancient world civilizations in North America. It’s fun stuff—and could change history.

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About Phyllis:  Phyllis Ethlyn Gunderson has degrees in Communications, ESL, Ancient Religious Texts, and enough credits for a minor in Anthropology. She taught English in India, Thailand, and Cambodia, marveling at the vast history and ruins of those lands. She also traveled to Belize, Egypt, England, Ireland, and China to see evidence of the past. But she is especially intrigued by the prehistoric earthworks of her own country. The Mounds Anomaly, told as a story, reveals the largely unknown civilizations that once flourished and faded in North America. She resides in Provo, Utah, always searching for unsolved mysteries and offbeat archaeology.

See some of the other tour stops!

• June 13 – Heidi – Geolibrarian/Heidi – LDS and Lovin’ It/April – My Book Addiction
• June 25 – Yolanda – Literary Wonders
• June 29 – Christina Dymock
• June 30 – Mindy Detweiler

Where can you get a copy?

Amazon * Book Depository * Barnes & Noble