Publication Date: July 1, 2013
Medallion Press
Paperback; 472p
From Tour Home Page:
Cambridge archaeologist Sarah Weston and anthropologist Daniel Madigan team up for another expedition and adventure in this second book in the Sarah Weston Chronicles. While working on the Qaryat al-Fau archaeological site in Saudi Arabia, the pair uncovers a mysterious ancient scroll composed as a riddle. As they attempt to date and decipher the scroll, a flurry of ills befalls their expedition and the scroll is stolen. A trail of clues leads to India, Jerusalem, and the Judean wilderness, where the two discover the scroll was written by the enigmatic King Solomon as a map to an ancient manuscript. Meanwhile a privileged young Briton, Trent Sacks, has invested years and a fortune looking for his manuscript. Believing he is the last descendant of the House of David in the line of Solomon, Sacks will do whatever it takes to amass the ancient relics which will prove he is the Jewish Messiah. Leaving a string of murders in his wake, Sacks vows to crush Sarah and Daniel for challenging his quest. Journeying through the worlds of the occult, corporate greed, geopolitical conflict, Judaic mysticism, and biblical archaeology, Sarah and Daniel race to uncover the powerful ancient message that could have an explosive impact on modern Israel.
My Thoughts:
Action, adventure, Bible tales coming to life, as well as a maniacal villain bent on starting WWIII....what more could you ask for in a book!
Our heroine is Sarah, an archaeologist who believes the artifacts she finds are for the people. It is their or our history. Sarah is very scientific yet respects the belief systems and cultures of others. One has to when the majority of the high profile archaeology digs are in the Middle East. Her partner and possible love interest is Daniel. He reminds me more of an Indiana Jones type. Smart, handsome, and willing to put himself in harm's way to protect others and history. Together these two stumble upon a find that is the key to a very powerful item, while at the same time revealing aspects of King Solomon's history to be true.
As with mythological objects, there are those in the world who believe it is their destiny to wield the power of the objects for themselves. Enter our villain, Trent Sacks. This guy made my skin crawl. Like most psychopaths, Sacks believes in his actions and will stop at nothing to succeed. It is his destiny to destroy the world, then unite it under his rule. Well it is Sarah and Daniel's destiny to stop him and save the world.
King Solomon comes from the Old Testament of the Bible and as such there are religious and legendary tales that surround him. Did Solomon even exist? Where did the power he was reported to have come from? This story seamlessly weaved together old and new conflicts together along with historical tales attached to them. The Middle East has never been a peaceful place and the events the author created in this book could believably exist today.
I enjoyed how the story drew me along into the adventure. I sometimes held my breath too hoping Sarah and Daniel would make it through the troublesome spots and ultimately defeat the big bad (Sacks). All in all this story had everything I like and more. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would definitely read more from this author again as well as any other stories that feature Sarah and Daniel.
FYI: This is Book Two in a series, but not reading Book One, will not affect your reading. At least it didn't for me, since I didn't realized it until now :)
For more information, please visit D.J. Niko's website. You can also follow on Twitter and Goodreads.
Thanks to Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for my review copy!
 |
| Please visit the tour page to see what other's thought of this book! |
© Jenny Girl - 2013 "All Rights Reserved"
