Badlands

Nora Kelly, Book 5

By: Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child

Narrated by: Cynthia Farrell

Bloomsbury presents Badlands by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, read by Cynthia Farrell

The #1 New York Times bestselling authors return with a scintillating supernatural-themed thriller. Nora Kelly and Corrie Swanson investigate bizarre deaths in the New Mexico desert, but awaken an ancient evil.

In the New Mexico desert badlands, a woman's skeleton is found with two rare artefacts clutched in her hands: lightning stones used by the ancient Chaco people to summon the gods.

Was it suicide... or sacrifice?

FBI Special Agent Corrie Swanson brings in archaeologist Nora Kelly to investigate. When a second body is found in identical circumstances, they realise the case runs deeper than they imagined.

As Corrie and Nora pursue their investigation into remote canyons, haunted ruins, and long-lost rituals, they find themselves confronting a dark power that, disturbed from its long slumber, threatens to exact an unspeakable price.

'Preston and Child know how to craft compelling stories that are both baffling and surprising.' Associated Press

©2025 Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (P)2025 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

poor plot

slow, boring ending. I miss Pendergast’s old books and plots. Maybe Corey needs some assistance

Badlands is... well...uhm... bad!

I’ve been a fan of Preston and Child for a long time, and I’ve really enjoyed the Nora Kelly series up to this point. But Badlands was the first time one of their books actually left me bored.

I was genuinely looking forward to this one. After all, it’s the fifth instalment, and I’ve been following the series closely. But the excitement quickly gave way to disappointment. It’s starting to feel like the formula is getting tired. Nora Kelly is still the same self-righteous, insufferable character she’s always been - only this time, it’s more grating than ever. She bulldozes through every situation, convinced she knows best, with no regard for the people around her. And Skip? I honestly don’t know what to say anymore. He’s like a walking disaster magnet, and somehow, Nora is always there to save him while others drop like flies around them.

The plot structure doesn’t help either. Characters are conveniently introduced just to be killed off later, so our main characters don’t have to face real consequences. And the repeated emphasis on how revered PhD graduates are—only for these same characters to make the dumbest decisions imaginable—just felt forced and, frankly, insulting. It's hard to take the gravitas of academia seriously when your supposedly brilliant characters lack basic common sense.

Even Corrie, who usually adds a refreshing contrast to Nora, felt completely watered down here. It’s like their personalities blurred together, and the dynamic that made earlier books more compelling was just... gone.

The book also lacked the atmosphere I’ve come to expect from the series. It felt flat, disjointed, and just too safe. All in all, Badlands was easily the most underwhelming book in the Nora Kelly series so far. I’m not giving up on Preston and Child, but this one left me disappointed.