The list easily broke down into five categories which contained the names of bestselling authors. Thrillers included Michael Crichton's "Congo," where archaeological ruins are protected by sign language communicating apes, and "Sphere," an underwater search for an ancient alien spacecraft. I read the former recently, and found the idea topical and arresting, and probably the only reason I finished the book. Robin Cook wrote a novel about Egyptology called "Sphinx." Clive Cussler, famed author of the adventurer hero Dirk Pitt penned several books with archaeological topics. The title "Raise the Titanic!" is self-explanatory. "Treasure" is about Museums and archaeology, "Inca Gold," concerns lost Inca treasure and the smuggling of artifacts. I have read only one of Cussler's books, called "Atlantis Found," and it too could be considered archaeological in that it involved mysterious ancient inscriptions, and of course the lost city of Atlantis, is a classic archaeological topic, though most respected professionals would never touch the subject.
I was not surprised to see the names of bestselling authors in the genre of historical fiction. James Michener's "The Source," is the chronicle of the Middle East from it's primitive beginnings to present-day conflicts via archaeologist's discoveries of artifacts and ruins.
In the mystery genre, the renowned Agatha Christie sometimes set her stories in lands teeming with archaeological mysteries. She was married to a British archaeologist so it was natural for her to flavour her work with such characters and settings. "Death Comes as the End," is a murder mystery set in Thebes. "The Man in the Brown Suit" has the heroine's father as an absent-minded archaeologist. I have read every one of Agatha Christie's books and I think her reference to things archaeological is one of the reasons her books appeal to me. Another bestselling mystery writer, Tony Hillerman has written books with archaeologists involved in murder, missing persons, and grave robbing. Three titles are listed in the bibliography: "Dance Hall of the Dead," "A thief of Time," and "Talking God." I read his books too, for the same reason, because they had something to do with archaeology.
