Mappamundi

by Chris Hewitt

For fans of adventure mystery writers such as Dan Brown, Lee Childs, Stieg Larsson, James Rollins, Janet Evanovich, a novel that is picking up 5 star reviews across the board.
"A gripping read from start to finish"
"I found it difficult to put this book down"
"A proper page-turner"

Richie Littleton has grown tired of the mundane bind of London commuting. Armed with a rucksack he leaves his career and his girlfriend to experience the real world, searching for vitality amongst the sense-battering contradictions of India. He is another deluded backpacker. That is until a fortuitous event brings back childhood memories and heralds a journey of discovery that involves riddles, danger, murder and deceit, culminating in an earth-shattering revelation.
Unaware of the importance of his find, Richie soon becomes a target for the police and for a mysterious criminal network with more ruthless objectives, as he blindly strives to reveal hidden truths.
Mappamundi is a crime mystery that combines good with evil and history with the modern day. It tracks the deadly race to uncover a cherished icon by those who would play fair and those who would stop at nothing.

437 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 18, 2012

Reviews

[Hilary Mccarthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange book at the beginning as it seemed to just wander along , perhaps as Richie himself did .
A lot of coincidences and luck follows Richie a little unbelievable at places .
However the book plot held itself together and lurched towards the ending ,sometimes taking me with it despite my reservations.
An exciting un challenging book which is fun to read . Will read the next unlikely instalment .

[Julian King · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite fun, this, if you're a fan of, say, Tintin. I loved this sort of thing, but then I started wearing long trousers.

Richie Littleton (1st class hons in Economics from Oxford - I don't think!), in a sort of teenage rebellion against his drone-like existence in the city (yawn) chucks it all in, including girlfriend Fiona - who is 'sensible' enough to know it's all a bit silly and thus remains on hand as helpmeet (is this sensible?). He takes his backpack and heads for ... India! Meanwhile, shady figures negotiate mysterious shenanigans.

By chance, a certain item falls into Richie's hands and he begins to follow ... a trail of clues!

I was disinclined to carry on beyond about 20%, and then was finally dissuaded by these other reviews (everyone seems to hate the ending, and after this sort of beginning, I really couldn't face ploughing on only toward further disappointment). So I plead guilty to reviewing a novel without having properly read it. Sorry.

[Lorraine Webb]

The story suffered somewhat from the length of time I took to read it, it being on the Kindle ap on my laptop and phone. But it kept my interest to keep reading right through to the end. An interesting tale, at times gripping, at times seeming a bit far fetched.

[Su · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little slow to get going but an interesting end. It makes you think about our perception of accepted history which is generally written by the victors.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this book a bit slow to start, but once into it really enjoyed - a modern day Indiana jones!

[Peter Drake · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK as a Tintin style yarn with decent pace but a bit far-fetched at times and not brilliantly written. Slightly 2D characters.

[Magda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kinda fun, but definitely far-fetched.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable, but pieces seemed to fit in too easily at times.

[Simon Lucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the words of Randy Jackson....It was just OK for me!