Subterranean by James Rollins

From Goodreads: Beneath the ice at the bottom of the Earth is a magnificent subterranean labyrinth, a place of breathtaking wonders—and terrors beyond imagining. A team of specialists led by archaeologist Ashley Carter has been hand-picked to explore this secret place and to uncover the riches it holds. But they are not the first to venture here—and those they follow did not return. There are mysteries here older than time, and revelations that could change the world. But there are also things that should not be disturbed—and a devastating truth that could doom Ashley and the expedition: they are not alone.

This was my first James Rollins and I will likely be reading more. I've long been interested in Archaeology, and caves, and dinosaurs and ancient civilizations, and this pretty much rolls all that up into one package! There's romance, intrigue, action and mystery, quite honestly it could have gotten a little out of hand, and too farfetched even for a theoretical thriller, but Rollins offers fictionally plausible theories on why his secret world under the ice developed the way it did, and it made for a fun adventure.  He did a good job of setting the scene in the different cavern environments, at once eerie and beautiful, hostile and fragile.  Too often a story suffers from being told where the setting is, rather than shown, and I felt a real sense of place and surrounding while reading this.  4/5 and a recommend from me if you're looking for an adventure thriller.  This being Rollins first novel, I'm looking forward to seeing how he developed in later books!

COYER SH #39 - Nothing living on the cover