Picnic in the Ruins

Written by Todd Robert Petersen

Narrated by Eliana Marianes

Anthropologist Sophia Shepard is researching the impact of tourism on cultural sites in a remote national monument on the Utah-Arizona border when she crosses paths with two small-time criminals. The Ashdown brothers were hired to steal maps from a "collector" of Native American artifacts, but their ineptitude has alerted the local sheriff to their presence. Their employer, a former lobbyist seeking lucrative monument land that may soon be open to energy exploration, sends a fixer to clean up their mess. Suddenly, Sophia must put her theories to the test in the real world, and the stakes are higher than she could have ever imagined.
What begins as a madcap caper across the RV-strewn vacation lands of southern Utah becomes a meditation on mythology, authenticity, the ethics of preservation, and one nagging question: Who owns the past?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Everand Productions
• Release date: Jun 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781094417936

Todd Robert Petersen

TODD ROBERT PETERSEN grew up in Portland, Oregon, and now teaches film studies and creative writing at Southern Utah University. Petersen's previous books include Long After Dark, Rift, and It Needs to Look Like We Tried. He and his family live in Cedar City, Utah, on the western edge of the Markagunt Plateau.

Reviews for Picnic in the Ruins

[Melissa Verett · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I didn’t appreciate the anti-Trump jibes. It happened too often to attribute it to any generic government-in-charge. I liked the Indian information, but I couldn’t see much beyond the politics. I don’t think this is my genre, although I usually love modern westerns.

[Rae Jean Nelson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Good story, fun ride, exciting adventure. And learning about Native American culture is always good.

[Andrew Sturgeon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The intersection of characters was enjoyable and the unresolved issue of artifacts was thought provoking. Could've done without "Russian Collusion, cultural appropriation, and Democratic Socialism " but worth a listen.

[Kim Barr · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The story is ok but the narrators accent doesn’t come from the west. It’s hard to imagine someone in Bryce Canyon talking like a North Dakotan. Off putting

[Brenda Shealey Steele · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Interesting but highlights of mystery not enough consequences or follow up to the crimp behavior. Killed characters and left lots of curiosity about how they came about….

[sukhw · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love this book ? ? ? ? ? ?

[Mary Lorigan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting perspective I would have never thought about - around preservation

[Amy Borchardt · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Very liberal author with a very liberal story. Very preachy