A Walk in the Darkness

Ben Kamal and Danielle Barnea #3

by Jon Land

More than fifty years after members of an archaeological team are found murdered after making a truly amazing discovery, an Israeli and Palestinian team up to solve the mystery

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Middle East, Mystery Thriller, Jewish

352 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2000

About the author

Jon Land is an American author of thriller novels and a screenwriter. He graduated from Brown University in 1979 Phi Beta Kappa and Magna cum Laude. He often bases his novels and scripts on extensive travel and research as well as a twenty-five year career in martial arts. He is an associate member of the US Special Forces and is an emeritus board member the International Thriller Writers. John currently lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

Reviews

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicely written suspense. I didn't know it was part of a series but had no trouble reading on its own.

[Paul Chan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I say,I'm really enjoying reading this series,Jon Land writes a highly entertaining easy read,I love this guy :-)

[Hermien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing premise, fascinating setting, but the body count does get a bit unbelievably high. I enjoyed it nonetheless.

[Wanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this series. It has a lot of history along with the mystery. Enjoy learning about Palestine from a different perspective. This mystery involves the deaths of some supposed archeologists in the desert and one ends up being related to Ben Kamal. He is on a quest to find out what happened to his nephew and why. Danielle Barnea is involved from the Israeli side and is coming up against some resistance from the commander of Shin Bet and his hand picked subordinates. They want to keep her out of the picture to hide what they are doing. A group of Italians attached to the Vatican (Knights Templar) are also involved trying to keep hidden what was found in the desert. The leader of a fanatical Israeli sect is always in on things.
The artifact that was found is wanted by everyone and there is talk of finding an oil reserve in the desert and who owns that. Ben gets help from the head of the Palestinian security forces who seems to have his own agenda and there is a bit of globe trotting involved as Ben and Danielle got to the U.S. to find some information and get help from Ben's brother. They are also dealing with lots of personal issues between the two of them.
Great characters, the good guys and the bad guys, interesting locations, good story. With each book in the series you learn a little more about Ben and Danielle's backgrounds and family history.

[Shirley A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast paced

Fast paced novel with the Ben and Danielle readers will have become accustomed to in earlier books in the series. It is fiction, of course, and isn't SUPPOSED to represent reality, but all the rapid travel here and there internationally was actually annoying to me. There were even a few misspelled words, which was surprising coming from this writer. He almost certainly has proofreaders, and how some of these typos are unexpected.

[Robert Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished 05/02/2012. A mystery on the West Bank, Palestinian territory. Danielle Barnea of the Israeli National Police and her lover, Ben Kamal a Palestinian detective are involved. The violence and suspense spans the globe and involves Moshe Baruch of the Shin Bet, a fanatical Jewish rabbi, the Knights Templar a secret Vatican guard, a priest and numerous family members and followers.

[Syazwanie Winston Abdullah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast paced and intriguing. What more do I want. Except to find more books by this author!

[Paula Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Walk in the Darkness has Ben and Danielle once again join forces to fight the evil that exists in man attempting to control events in the Middle East. This time it is not just the Palestinians in the West Bank and Baruch and his corrupt group in the Israeli government but also Lorenzo, the head of the Vatican Swiss guard and Mordecai Lev the leader of a radical Jewish group in the West Bank.

The power struggle is great between all of these groups with Ben and Danielle right in the middle. Lev and Baruch are concerned with oil discovered and plan to use it to destroy. Ben and Swiss Guard are fighting over the lost scroll of Josephus, a 1st century Jewish writer.

Twists and turns are found throughout the book not only in the political tension that exists but also with Ben and Danielle's relationship.

[Ed Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1948 Turkey, a team of archaeologists are murdered. Fifty years later another team is murdered in the Judean desert, one of them being Ben Kamal's nephew. Danielle and Ben find themselves in an intriguing mystery of lies and secrets, leading them to three continents as they try to uncover the secret and save the world as they know it.

[Colin Kemmis]

Boring first 200 pages, too many bad guys to follow that never really connected, cheesy ending, too many connections to previous books in the series. I liked the 2 main characters though and good action.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It read like a fast paced action movie. I am curious about Jon Land's other books now. Hopefully they are just as satisfying as this one.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ben & Danielle #3

[Limopilot]

Definitely worth the read. Wonderful story line with an interesting premise and subplot.
Wasn't sure how I would like it as it was in the bargain bin at Border's but it really was a good read.

[Darinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 3rd book in the Ben Kamal and Danielle Barnea series. Action and adventure. Entertaining.

[Erin]

Interesting, unique, good pace.

[Judie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy this series but A Walk in the Darkness was more adventure story à la Indianna Jones than Kamal and Barnea. It was a good read - I just expected something different.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great find in the Goodwill store to take on our latest trip. Liked the two main characters a lot. Hoping there's a sequel to find out how their life turns out.

[Barb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable.