This week on Let’s Review Wednesday (also the 100th post of Tracings), our book is And The Beat Goes On by Tracy Krauss.

The Story
Archaeologist Mark Graham is on a dig in Africa when he and his team unearth human and dinosaur remains in the same grave. Not just in one tomb, but in several, and arranged in a deliberate manner. Additional evidence at the site supports the young earth creation/intelligent design theories of the earth’s age and ancient history.

Mark is excited by the find but concerned about the fallout that will surely occur when/if he publishes their findings. His partner and sometime girlfriend, Laura Sawchuk, is opposed to even entertaining the idea that the winged reptile bones and human remains might be the same age – that dinosaurs and humans might have co-existed. A militant feminist and hard-core evolutionist, Laura does everything in her considerable powers to persuade Mark to spin his dissertation away from the young earth/intelligent design model.

But Mark, despite his falling out with Christianity some years earlier, can’t ignore the facts in front of him. In addition, two of his colleagues, one another self-proclaimed prodigal son and the other a die-hard conspiracy theorist, support his need to publish the facts as he sees them, regardless of his personal views on the matter.

Meanwhile, Mark’s surrogate grandfather and mentor, jazz musician Jack Burton, dies. Mark decides to fly back to Canada for the funeral, despite his misgivings about leaving the dig site. He barely has time to reconnect with family and friends; a message from the site draws him back to Africa after only a couple of days at home.

Things have already been going wrong at the dig, but when local government officials swoop in to confiscate the team’s samples and arrest Mark on a number of charges, the project starts to crumble and Mark is left grasping for straws and clinging to a re-awakening faith.

My Reaction
Thanks to a childhood interest in fossils and rocks, I’ve long been fascinated with geology and archaeology. This story gripped me from the start, and the archaeology information was woven into the tale in an interesting way. I found myself wishing for a bibliography at the end of it so I could read Tracy’s source material – and I don’t often want to do that.

Tracy has pulled together several intriguing plot lines into a tightly woven tapestry of intrigue, action, suspense, and even romance. I highly recommend And the Beat Goes On. It will definitely entertain, and it might just change the way you view the theories about the earth’s origins. At the very least, it will give you something to consider.

About the Author
Tracy Krauss is a high school teacher by profession, and a prolific author, artist, playwright and director by choice. She received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Saskatchewan and has gone on to teach Art, Drama and English – all the things she is passionate about. After raising four children, she and her husband now reside in beautiful Tumbler Ridge, BC where she continues to pursue all of her creative interests. Her first two books were both nominated for the ‘Indie Excellence Book Awards’ for religious fiction in 2011.