The Last Ember by Daniel Levin

Copyright: 2009
Publisher: Riverhead books
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 415
Challenges: None
New-to-me Author: Yes
Author's Website



Simple Description:

I took the following from the author's website. To be perfectly honest with my readers, I did it because it's so much easier for me right now. I've been suffering from major sinus pressure for the last couple of weeks which leaves me foggy (a bit disoriented) and with migraines (in addition to the sinus pressure in my nose and behind my eyes). I would love to give my own description but know that I wouldn't do the books justice right now. So without further ado...here you go:

An Italian antiquities squad discovers a woman’s preserved corpse inside an ancient column. Pages torn from priceless manuscripts litter the floor of an abandoned warehouse. An illegal excavation burrows beneath Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock, ground sacred to three religions.

Jonathan Marcus, a young American lawyer and a former doctoral student in classics, has become a sought-after commodity among less-scrupulous antiquities dealers. But when he is summoned to Rome to examine a client’s fragment of an ancient stone map, he stumbles across a startling secret. The discovery reveals not only an ancient intelligence operation to protect an artifact hidden for 2000 years, but also a ruthless modern plot to destroy all trace of it by a mysterious radical bent on erasing all remnants of Jewish and Christian presence from the Temple Mount.

With a cutting-edge plot as intricately layered as the ancient sites it explores, The Last Ember is a riveting tale spanning the high-stakes worlds of archaeology, politics, and terrorism, in its portrayal of the modern struggle to define — and redefine– history itself.

Now what you really want to know....my thoughts:

It took me forever, or at least it feels like forever, to read this book. However that's due more to the issues I mentioned above and doesn't reflect this book at all. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It's quick paced, there's a lot going on, and it kept my interest level up. I compare this one to Dan Brown, just because it's about people following clues left hundreds of years ago in order to find a treasure long since believed to be lost. I think those who enjoy Dan Brown's books will enjoy this one. If you didn't enjoy Dan Brown's books but still like a fast paced mystery, I encourage you to give this one a try. This is the first published book by the author and you can tell. That would be my only negative views regarding the book because there was a lot that left me saying, um, ok, new author. Just like in the last book that I reviewed. That doesn't mean it's not worth reading, just means that I don't think you can be too critical with the book. The writing was good, the story was great, and I'm hoping there will be more in store for this author. The author definitely has room to grow and I can't wait to see what he comes up with. Personally, I'm hoping the main character in this book will make another appearance, but who knows.

If you are interested, there is a audio excerpt and a pdf excerpt on the author's website, so check it out and get a feel for it.

Thanks to Wiley from Authors on the Web for providing this book for review.