Rating: 3 1/2 stars
The Italian police squad find a corpse of a unidentified young woman who appears to be from a distant past. A court case that seems to have no apparent connection to the corpse introduces us to two unsuspecting heroes: Jonathon Marcus, a Young American lawyer and former doctoral student in classics and Dr. Emili Travia, a UN preservationist.
Jonathon has found himself removed from the antiquities scene and his life torn apart after a tragedy that happened during his years of studies. Now seven years later he finds himself drawn back into the realm of ancient history in search of an artifact of biblical proportions. Emili is an old love interest of Jonathon and very passionate about preserving history. At first they are on opposite sides of the "bench" so to speak as each represents a different view in the courtroom. The story begins to spin and -- you guessed it -- they find themselves relying on each others skills and connections to save one of histories biggest and best kept secrets.
Enter Salah-ad-Din. As with any adventure story, you need a bad guy and this one is no different. A mysterious radical whose identity is unknown even to those he works for, he has one goal in mind: to erase every remnant of Jewish and Christian presence at any cost.
With the use of cryptic inscriptions, networks of subterranean tunnels and a gladiatorial battle in a modern-day Colosseum, the author tries to keep your interest peaked. The more Jonathon is absorbed in the ancient riddle, the closer he comes to unraveling the location of this 2000 year old artifact, the deeper he descends into danger. Chased by a corrupt Italian cop -- and friends with loyalties in question -- closing in on him, he finds himself running out of options and time. From Rome to Jerusalem and back again, you'll find unexpected trusts broken and a new piece to an ancient puzzle on every page.
Even though I did enjoy the basic story line and the historical points to be accurate (as far as I understand them to be), I found this book to be a tough go. The characters are believable but dull; the secondary cast of a Jewish historian and an Italian policeman really come off well and have more going for them then our leads. With the use of words like "burrasca" (where I reached for my dictionary), numerous Latin translations, intense historical detail, and the tendency to give art history lectures through stilted dialogue...I lost interest on more than one occasion. If you're looking for an Indiana Jones-meets-The Da Vinci Code, than this book may be right up your alley.
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Pub. Date: August 2009
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
ISBN-13: 9781594488726
ISBN: 159448872X