The Ark of Fire by C M Palov

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.

Athabasca by Alistair MacLean

Oh I had a long break from reading specially the Alistair MacLeans. One can have too much of a good thing, I think. This is one book I seriously have no recollection reading and I wonder why? It is a good story and very much in line with the usual plot lines.

There is espionage in the oil fields of Alaska and Canada where messages are being sent with no demands but just warnings of disruptions to the plants. They promised to be minor disruptions but the first one included the death of 2 engineers. Jim Brady’s company is one that is top in the field of capping oil fires and for the first time he is approached to handle this kind of a problem where they have to review the security system to see where there can be a breach and so a likely place for saboteurs to disrupt the oil flow. He sends in his 2 best men to investigate and then joins them when the death of 2 engineers occurs.

 The pace moves fairly fast and it has everyone racing from Alaska to Canada and back. It is surprising that there are so many ways to disrupt the working of an oil field. Once the deaths are found to be murders and more people die things get serious and attempts are made to get the oil companies to get rid of Jim Brady and his men. Why the high up men in the 2 companies seem so reluctant to cooperate?  What do these saboteurs want? There is a consensus that the softening up process was indicating that the demand when it came would be huge. So what is it they want? Why are the company security men, who are the best on the world, unable to stop the sabotage? The messages are being sent in the company code, in both cases, so it is very much of an inside job linking both the sites as the messages were similarly worded. Why does the company doctor certify the deaths of the engineers as straightforward shooting and that of field operations manager as being sandbagged and left to die in the cold?

Jim has his wife and daughter with him as they feel that the ‘bad guys’ will not hesitate to kidnap them and use as a lever to stop the investigation. They are being guarded by the Canadian Mounties but on the day they are visiting the plant and then going for dinner with the CEO they just have the plant security with them when they get kidnapped. The security men were left dazed and unconscious. Where they really beaten? Who can they trust to help from within the companies? How to find where the kidnappers have taken Jim’s wife and daughter as well as Reynolds the CEO? Has Jim given into the demand of the kidnappers when they put in the flight plan to leave Canada?

There is a fair tension maintained in the plot and there is the usual dry humour working well with the story. As usual when I read something for the first time (as this read felt like that) I am in such a rush to know the whole story that I am sure I have missed finer points. This means I shall have a happy second read in a couple of months and savour the book again.

The Chosen One

I am one of the chosen ones

Chosen to see what can be done

To the human body in time

Making me, in pain hum and chime

The pain sparks around the body like lightening

The tingle of it leaves the fingertips whitening

Sadly the lightening is flashes

While pain is continuous lashes

The fatigue makes body heavy

And the mind a memory gravy

Can we do away with some parts?

Or do we need all body parts?

Days merge into one another

Months merge into one another

Some days I emerge from the fog

Wanting to play leapfrog

When the burst of energy is gone

I savour the fun that is gone

Someone asks why me?

Then I think why not me?

Why not be the chosen one?

Even evolution needs an experimental run

Hopefully I will lead to a better human

Is it exciting to be a fore runner of new human?

I know now how a lab rat feels

Wonder how the rat deals

With the things being done to it

With no control at all over it

The changes both physical and mental

For all these drugs are detrimental

Will it be worth the sacrifice of me

Will the new human be superior to me?

If that can be done

I am happy to be the chosen one

Scattered Beads

The day the basket of beads scattered

Nothing was the same and nothing mattered

The beads rolled everywhere

The colours of the rainbow everywhere

The dreams of achievements shattered

My confidence left tattered

It is hard to gather all the beads

Rolling away, elusive are these beads

Gathering myself to make me whole

Is difficult, when like beads parts of myself roll

Just out of reach, they seem

Like those fractured scenes of a dream

When I get to one another bead escapes me

When I find humour, courage escapes me

Will I ever be able to gather these beads of me?

And make a basket that is whole me!

Cycle of Life

Ever since I got chronically ill

My body will not obey my will

There is muscle fluttering here

Or a pain shooting there

An inability to move a joint

Or lying listless without a point

It is good when energy is high

Otherwise all I do is sigh

The spring has come with lots to do

Cleaning and clearing, yes lots to do

I can run about without thinking

The need for balance easily forgetting

Then hits the wave of tiredness

Dragging me down this wave of sadness

The mood does not lift easily

The sadness grows uneasily

I stop talking and laughing

I need to start talking and laughing

Easier said than done

When the darkness weighs a ton

Meeting with friends

Sharing with friends

Might let in a spark of light

Keeping that glow still alight

Life finds a way to emerge

With renewed hope and happy urge

All is well in the world again

Until the overdoing yet again