This is a new author for me and I am trying to find out more
about her. This I believe is her debut novel. I just picked it up randomly and
decided to have a read. I am not sure what I was expecting as by now everyone
who reads my reviews would know I tend to go for the thrillers and mysteries. I
have read some novels with the central character was an ex Knights Templar so
thought this one might be interesting.
The story starts with a photographer who was cataloguing the
museum artefacts witnesses the murder of the museum curator and the artefact
she was shooting is taken. When the killer looks at the log of entry to the
museum he finds that this photographer is in the building. She had been in the
process of helping the curator to email the photo to his friend and was under
the desk checking on the connections of the computer when the murder took
place. The killer believes the email has been sent and contacts his boss to let
him know. This starts the photographer running as the man comes after her as
she is a loose end. She manages to contact the curator’s friend to warn him
that he is in danger.
At first he is reluctant to believe her but is intrigued when
she shows him the picture of the artefact and he identifies it as the Stones of
Fire, a gold and precious stones breastplate that was worn by the priest when opening
the Ark of Covenant. While they are discussing the murder and Eloise was describing
the ring worn by the killer they are shot at. Now both have to run and try to
find out what this is all about. This leads them to a secret group of people
who are all working for a security company and apparently are Christian
fanatics. They are after the Ark of the Covenant which can only be opened with the
safety with the Stones of Fire to channel the energy. The leader is planning to
open it and use the powers to win a victory for the Christian world. There is a
lot of quoting from the Bible and the mythology of the Ark and Stones of Fire.
The chase is on as once Eloise and her new friend Caedmon realise that they
would have to find the Ark first if they are to avoid the misuse of it. However
there is no plan beyond finding the Ark. They fly to UK and meet up with one of
the professors at Oxford to get information about the last person who was known
to have the Ark.
They follow the clues left in a poem and realise that they
misunderstood the clues so even though they rush to a village in Kent they find
it is the wrong site. The bad guys are also there and when they realise that
their historian was not successful in finding the Ark they kidnap Eloise and
get Caedmon to help find the Ark. Will they find the Ark? What havoc do the
fanatic guys plan to unleash as after all it is fabled that opening the Ark
causes disasters? The setting moves from UK to Malta and from there the Ark is
to be taken to Jerusalem. While the thrill of the chase and tension of being
safe keeps the story moving fairly fast, romance blooms between Eloise and Caedmon
and so provides a lighter side to the story.
All in all this is a good read and I plan to find the other novels
by this author. It does feel a bit heavy on the religious discussion and
explanations particularly if you are not familiar with it. However I can
recommend that the story is worth reading.
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