Format: Mass Market Paperback, 512 pages
Publisher: Pocket Star
Publication date: 29 June 2004
ISBN-13: 9780743406123
Links: Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Barnes & Noble
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
An archaeological manhunt is raging in the holy land — a hunt for the historical Jesus. For Nathan Lee Swift, the line between noble discovery and the plunder of ruins is sacred — until the night he crosses it.
A wealthy collector unleashes a two-thousand-year-old plague. Combining the scientific precision of The Andromeda Strain with the intensity of classic adventure epics, Jeff Long takes readers on a riveting voyage through the rubble of earthquake-torn Jerusalem.
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Review
I think I read a different book to the one that was advertised on the back cover blurb. The book sounded really interesting and a bit different to most other ‘end of the world’ scenarios I’ve read but mostly it’s just not that gripping once you get into it. It’s a steady story which kept me turning pages – but only to try and get to the tale that was promised.
The first few chapters are really promising but very quickly I lost interest in the main character, which isn’t really what you’re looking for in a book. My indifference to Nathan Lee (for some reason even his name grates on me) meant that I never really got involved with his struggles and/or experiences.
There are also a few characters we meet and I’m still not sure why or how they figure in the story. They’re given fairly large chunks of storyline but if they were removed I can’t say that it would take much away from the tale.
It’s not the worst book I’ve ever read, but I’m a bit disappointed that the fabulous story I was looking forward to wasn’t forthcoming. I think that if I wasn’t misled into looking for a story that wasn’t there, then I might have got involved more. Before I knew it I was at the end and left wondering if I’d missed a chapter or 3. The conclusion when it comes seems so rushed that I had to go back and re-read the last few chapters because I was sure I’d missed a crucial pivotal moment. I hadn’t….and there wasn’t…
It’s a bit of a mish-mash of ideas going on actually and not all of it gel’s when thrown together into a single story. The worst part is the the virus itself, which the book revolves around….it’s just madness.
For fans of apocalyptic plague fiction though, give it a whirl….just don’t expect what’s written on the back cover.
It’s not a book I’d go back to, but since it belongs to a genre that I’m very fond of, I’m glad I read it.
Rating
| Characters | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
| Plot | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
| Pacing | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
| Writing | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
| Overall | — |
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