Terri Lynn Adams was fascinated by the stories of hidden, underground tunnels carved out by the ancient Inca civilization. She heard rumors about them all through her Mormon mission to Peru in the mid-1980s.
Later, when she returned with an LDS humanitarian service group, she leapt at the chance to explore a few.
Now, she's written a fast-paced, enlightening book about them.
"Tombs of Terror" takes readers on a heart-thumping journey through these secret tunnels that presumably exist for hundreds of miles beneath the Peruvian landscape.
The tunnels in the book are filled with spiders, webs, gold coins and mummies. Access is strictly controlled, and Incan descendants are intent on keeping their existence secret in an attempt to honor the Incan dead.
Adams said the tunnels she actually visited were cleaned out but still very dark.
"We took a spontaneous trip to see some in the nearby hills. The guide mentioned there were some by us and we persuaded him to take us through them," Adams said. "So we didn't even have flashlights with us. We used the flash from our cameras to light our way."
Much as the character in the book uses the illuminated screen on his cell phone and his video game to see where he's headed, Adams would take flash pictures and try to memorize what was ahead.
"I was able to visualize how Jonathan (the teenager in the story who becomes trapped in the tunnels) would feel," she said.
Adams is currently a busy mother and freelance writer living in Belt, Mont. She teaches seminary in the Belt Montana Branch in the Great Falls East Stake and writes for the Prairie Star newspaper.
She knows the route Jonathan would have taken through the tunnels to Lima because that's the route she traveled overland during her 18-month mission there.
She's also aware of "The Shining Path" — the active terrorist group in Peru that her fictional characters fear — because she met several members on her mission.
"They treated me well because I was a missionary," she said. "They were respectful to me."
Adams isn't certain how much treasure and how many mummies are deep in the earth in Peru because the Peruvian government has capped most of the known entrances. But she knows there's plenty of legend and at least a few existing tunnels.
She's curious about them, as are many of the people who read her book and want a sequel. She'd love to know more.
"I don't know if they're as extensive as rumored. I'd love to go back. I could live in Peru for the rest of my life if my family would let me," she said.
More information and photos are available at tlynnadams.blogspot.com. The book, published by Cedar Fort Press, is available at amazon.com.
e-mail: haddoc@desnews.com