When Simon becomes curator of paleontology at his hometown’s decrepit natural history museum, he’s forced to confront his sister’s disappearance when they were children—an open wound that has infected every corner of his adult life. To make matters worse, he’s haunted by the ghosts of those who’d vanished millions of years before on that very spot. Luke Dumas’ The Paleontologist’s language is lovely, the characters well developed, the single effect perfect and the mystery well meted-out; bonus if you love dinosaurs—journal entries with sketches will feed your mania. We loved this novel, and recommend it to 34 Orchard readers because it’s an elegant, heart-wrenching portrait of what can happen if we spend too much time in the past to escape our present.

Recommended books and films are at the opinion of the34 Orchard staff with an eye for what our readers might enjoy. They’re not solicited, nor are they paid endorsements.