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The 13th Apostle
In the ruins of a medieval monastery, the diary of a 12th-century monk has been uncovered . . . and the murders have already begun. It is rumored the monk's writings offer clues to the whereabouts of a scroll dating back to the time of Jesus--the creation of a hitherto unknown intimate who recorded the actual words of Christ.
Two people possess the combined skills to follow where the document leads: American cybersleuth Gil Pearson and Sabbie Karaim, former Israeli commando and biblical translator. But what awaits them on their strange odyssey across the globe and through two thousand years of history is both an indescribable treasure and an unrelenting terror. For all manner of zealots and devils are after the secrets they seek--to own the power to destroy the world we know.
Two people possess the combined skills to follow where the document leads: American cybersleuth Gil Pearson and Sabbie Karaim, former Israeli commando and biblical translator. But what awaits them on their strange odyssey across the globe and through two thousand years of history is both an indescribable treasure and an unrelenting terror. For all manner of zealots and devils are after the secrets they seek--to own the power to destroy the world we know.
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 31, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
September 1, 2016
I found The 13th Apostle to feel a bit rushed throughout, lacking the 'little details' that make for an engrossing read. I thought the characters were interesting enough, but there wasn't enough time spent developing them, their backgrounds, and relationships in a way that would make them endearing.
More importantly, I was thoroughly disappointed with the ending. Killing off a main character is fine. Leaving the critical part of the story untold is worse. But, the worst part to me was the rush-rush-hurry-and-finish-the-book way the final chapter felt. It was as though the great concept and plot (and it was a good concept) was the thrust of the work, with little forethought as to how to actually end the story.
More importantly, I was thoroughly disappointed with the ending. Killing off a main character is fine. Leaving the critical part of the story untold is worse. But, the worst part to me was the rush-rush-hurry-and-finish-the-book way the final chapter felt. It was as though the great concept and plot (and it was a good concept) was the thrust of the work, with little forethought as to how to actually end the story.
December 28, 2012
When I read the plot it convinced me that this is must-read so I bought it. Unfortunately, after I read the book I have to say that it was money ill-spent and that I have yet to read a book worse than this one. To be short I would say that this is a lame and unsuccessful attempt to copy Dan Brown.
August 20, 2008
I couldn't get past the first few chapters...intriguing premise but poorly written. These two authors should stick to writing diet books.
October 10, 2019
I gave The 13th Apostle three stars only because I read the whole book but in my defence I was in a caravan, in a field and it was raining and more importantly short of reading matter. A very over complicated tangled plot; unnecessarily so in my view. There was even a Nazi/ KKK villain! All it needed was a prostitute with a heart of gold, a deaf mute and dwarf, essential characters for any novel!...Perhaps the authors could keep them in mind for the next ten novels they intend to write.
I did read with interest that the novel had been meticulously researched...really?!
Spoiler Alerts!
There was never a monastery at Weymouth but that’s okay, just a bit of artistic licence I suppose. Of course what they didn’t discover in their ‘meticulous research’ is that Weymouth didn’t exist before the 1200’s...oh and there is no such thing as ‘Weymouthshire’. As any Brit knows the ‘shire’ refers to counties, and Weymouth is a seaside town not a county. And why on earth would they think this nonexistent abbey way down in the south west would have a monk who knew how to write music or have the knowledge to construct such an elaborate organ! It wasn’t until the 1400’s that the use of the organ was well established in monastic churches and by the 1640’s all the early organs had been destroyed by Cromwell’s troops.
And another thing the Crusades did not start until 1095 so for a Crusader to get to the Holy Land and back and get executed in 1097, all in such a short space of time?! This is taking artistic licence a little too far, don’t you think?
And to suggest that this nonexistent monastery would have a room full of priceless thousand year old tapestries just randomly piled up is laughable! The Bayeux Tapestry was the first of its type in Britain and this was not a ‘tapestry’ as we know it, it was embroidery on cloth. There were no woven tapestries, as described in the novel, until about the 1400’s.
The final shoot out was the most badly written piece of the book, I don’t think the authors had the necessary talent to put the fight down onto paper so to speak.
To suggest that the 13th Apostle would have been familiar with the teachings of Buddha (didn’t reach China until the Han dynasty 206BCE -220CE) Confucius and Lao Tzu is stretching a bit too far. Any novel has to have good bones which necessitates thorough research otherwise you end up with a mess like The 13th Apostle
And Oleander ? Why on earth would the authors have a character injured by an oleander tree, not many of those growing outside in the mild climate of the South West, maybe in a pot or greenhouse!
Oh and Hire Cars do not have red licence plates!
You cannot get from Weymouth to London in two hours!! I know Britain is small compared to the US but believe me it’s not that small.
And we have plastic wheelie bins not the old metal dustbins!
I could go on but I won’t!
In the Q&A section at the back the authors’ state they do not have any favourite authors and would rather write than read. I would suggest if they are serious about writing more novels they should take time out to read more, there are a great many excellent authors out there and they could pick up valuable insights on how to craft a novel.
I did read with interest that the novel had been meticulously researched...really?!
Spoiler Alerts!
There was never a monastery at Weymouth but that’s okay, just a bit of artistic licence I suppose. Of course what they didn’t discover in their ‘meticulous research’ is that Weymouth didn’t exist before the 1200’s...oh and there is no such thing as ‘Weymouthshire’. As any Brit knows the ‘shire’ refers to counties, and Weymouth is a seaside town not a county. And why on earth would they think this nonexistent abbey way down in the south west would have a monk who knew how to write music or have the knowledge to construct such an elaborate organ! It wasn’t until the 1400’s that the use of the organ was well established in monastic churches and by the 1640’s all the early organs had been destroyed by Cromwell’s troops.
And another thing the Crusades did not start until 1095 so for a Crusader to get to the Holy Land and back and get executed in 1097, all in such a short space of time?! This is taking artistic licence a little too far, don’t you think?
And to suggest that this nonexistent monastery would have a room full of priceless thousand year old tapestries just randomly piled up is laughable! The Bayeux Tapestry was the first of its type in Britain and this was not a ‘tapestry’ as we know it, it was embroidery on cloth. There were no woven tapestries, as described in the novel, until about the 1400’s.
The final shoot out was the most badly written piece of the book, I don’t think the authors had the necessary talent to put the fight down onto paper so to speak.
To suggest that the 13th Apostle would have been familiar with the teachings of Buddha (didn’t reach China until the Han dynasty 206BCE -220CE) Confucius and Lao Tzu is stretching a bit too far. Any novel has to have good bones which necessitates thorough research otherwise you end up with a mess like The 13th Apostle
And Oleander ? Why on earth would the authors have a character injured by an oleander tree, not many of those growing outside in the mild climate of the South West, maybe in a pot or greenhouse!
Oh and Hire Cars do not have red licence plates!
You cannot get from Weymouth to London in two hours!! I know Britain is small compared to the US but believe me it’s not that small.
And we have plastic wheelie bins not the old metal dustbins!
I could go on but I won’t!
In the Q&A section at the back the authors’ state they do not have any favourite authors and would rather write than read. I would suggest if they are serious about writing more novels they should take time out to read more, there are a great many excellent authors out there and they could pick up valuable insights on how to craft a novel.
August 27, 2015
I'm in two minds about this one...
I came across it in a hotel library and, since my son had commandeered our Ipad, and therefore the kindle books I'd intended to read, and 99% of the books in the library were in German, I thought I'd give it a go.
Reading it on a sun lounger by the pool it was a pleasant enough diversion. Easy to read and get into I have to say I didn't struggle to finish it like some have said, and therefore it deserves a couple of stars in my eyes.
Having said that there were some elements that were damn irritating. There were some strange jumps and inconsistencies that made me wonder if it had been wise for the authors to co-write this. Perhaps one of them should have stuck to the writing and the other acted as a beta reader, or even better done some proper research.
This is where the biggest annoyance lay for me - the inaccuracy of basic facts. So what if most readers won't spot things which are incorrect, that doesn't excuse incorrect chronologies that don't fit with real history and which could be so easily corrected. Why use dates that simply don't fit the Crusades? You wouldn't write about things happening in World War II and set the story in 1933. It shows a lack of regard for the reader, and is all the more irritating when they authors claim to have done so much research.
The ending was also a let down, and I didn't fully understand it. That's the ending of the story by the way, not the end of the book which was an interview with the authors letting us know how great they, and their lives, are.
In all fairness I didn't mind it, even if the chronology did bother me from page one until I googled the First Crusade to check that I was right to doubt that it really fit. The other liberties they took with history I could largely let slide, it's fiction after all, but it all seemed a bit lazy and made worse by the fact the authors tried to give the impression that they had done so much research.
As a holiday read, it gets two stars as it was OK, but it could have been better, and a lot less irritating.
I came across it in a hotel library and, since my son had commandeered our Ipad, and therefore the kindle books I'd intended to read, and 99% of the books in the library were in German, I thought I'd give it a go.
Reading it on a sun lounger by the pool it was a pleasant enough diversion. Easy to read and get into I have to say I didn't struggle to finish it like some have said, and therefore it deserves a couple of stars in my eyes.
Having said that there were some elements that were damn irritating. There were some strange jumps and inconsistencies that made me wonder if it had been wise for the authors to co-write this. Perhaps one of them should have stuck to the writing and the other acted as a beta reader, or even better done some proper research.
This is where the biggest annoyance lay for me - the inaccuracy of basic facts. So what if most readers won't spot things which are incorrect, that doesn't excuse incorrect chronologies that don't fit with real history and which could be so easily corrected. Why use dates that simply don't fit the Crusades? You wouldn't write about things happening in World War II and set the story in 1933. It shows a lack of regard for the reader, and is all the more irritating when they authors claim to have done so much research.
The ending was also a let down, and I didn't fully understand it. That's the ending of the story by the way, not the end of the book which was an interview with the authors letting us know how great they, and their lives, are.
In all fairness I didn't mind it, even if the chronology did bother me from page one until I googled the First Crusade to check that I was right to doubt that it really fit. The other liberties they took with history I could largely let slide, it's fiction after all, but it all seemed a bit lazy and made worse by the fact the authors tried to give the impression that they had done so much research.
As a holiday read, it gets two stars as it was OK, but it could have been better, and a lot less irritating.
March 31, 2015
‘Three souls. Two thousand years. One truth.’ Well the truth is that a couple of chapters in my brain was set on "why am I reading this" mode. There was no character development or background. As it gets to the end they decide to kill off the main character many questions unanswered. The entire book seemed rushed. Very sad since this was a book club read, a very poor choice
February 24, 2012
Rubbish!!!!!!!!
January 3, 2014
Bellissimo, crea un ottima suspance e scorre bene... Il finale delude...
May 19, 2022
What did we learn from this book? All Muslims are terrorists (so original), if you’re blond and blue-eyed you’re probably a white supremacist, everyone in biblical times had the same name as an Old Testament prophet, copper scrolls have magical healing powers. Yep, think that was about it. The plot made literally no sense, and the characters were all one-dimensional. On the plus side the chapters are nice and short, so this book is not too taxing. Would probably go well in a dentist’s waiting room.
January 2, 2022
2022 has not started off great. This is not a book I'd recommend to anybody to read. The concept of the plot is interesting, but the writing is not of a good standard. I did not feel engaged with any of the characters, and the villains (of which there are many) did not seem threatening at all to the characters.
Reading this, one thought came to mind. The authors wanted to grab a piece of the religious-thriller money train at any cost, and have written something that fails to deliver.
Reading this, one thought came to mind. The authors wanted to grab a piece of the religious-thriller money train at any cost, and have written something that fails to deliver.
October 10, 2017
Não gosto de comparações, mas este é daqueles livros que se pode comparar a Dan Brown, mas de uma formas mais simples e ao mesmo tempo que nos embrenha numa história sobre tempos imemoriais e nos remete para a religião católica através de uns escritos que vão sendo decifrados apesar dos erros com que foi, ao longo dos tempos, transcrito.
October 16, 2019
This book has a good plot but the writing is maddening. Too many inconsistent jumps and the ending is just terrible. The flow is terrible, the characters not well developed and they disappear and re-appear unexpectedly. I love historical fiction and really wanted this book to be good so I stuck with it.
May 24, 2021
DNF’d at 46%.
I honestly felt though if I kept reading this book it would physically hurt me.
What in the name of sweet Jesus. The plot was TERRIBLE. The characters were AWFUL. I genuinely did not know what I was getting myself into and I really, really wished I hadn’t picked this book up in the first place.
NO.
I honestly felt though if I kept reading this book it would physically hurt me.
What in the name of sweet Jesus. The plot was TERRIBLE. The characters were AWFUL. I genuinely did not know what I was getting myself into and I really, really wished I hadn’t picked this book up in the first place.
NO.
December 5, 2024
Have read this once already and it holds a special place as my nan leant this to me for my first read and since I lost her in 2012 I have searched for it and finally found it so I read it every once in a while, whilst it's not the best book I've read I do enjoy it
July 9, 2017
Didn't see the point of the book. What was the beginning was the end interspersed with violence in between.
October 7, 2020
I found this book to be poor in general. I stuck with it and finished its 3/5 from me
October 22, 2020
Not the best I ever read, not the worst I ever read, so 3 stars.
April 10, 2021
Fantastic!!!!!
May 21, 2021
Great Plot but the story dragged a lot.
December 28, 2022
If I've ever read a worse book I don't remember it.
January 8, 2023
So boring. Couldn't even finish it. Had to skip to the end.
July 26, 2024
Verhaal is super tot 85% in het boek.
March 5, 2012
Gil è un cyber-cacciatore: il suo compito è quello di bloccare virus, scovare hacker e siti con foto illegali, fino a quando il suo capo non gli dice che dovrà partire per Israele e collaborare con un anziano professore inglese ed una giovane ex-militare israeliana. Gil si ritroverà all'improvviso a dover decifrare un antico messaggio nascosto nel diario di un frate in epoca medievale e finirà per rincorrere un antico rotolo di rame che contiene un segreto inimmaginabile su Gesù e i suoi apostoli...
La trama di questo libro è sicuramente intrigante e incuriosisce soprattutto la storia relativa alla figura del tredicesimo apostolo e del ruolo avuto nella vita di Yeshua (Gesù).
La lettura parte leggermente a rilento, come un motore che ha bisogno di scaldarsi prima di prendere un po' di giri, ma superate le prime pagine la storia si fa interessante ed avvincente.
Inizialmente si è portati a pensare che i due autori abbiano fornito dati non rilevanti né inerenti al racconto, ma si scoprirà poi che tutto è collegato, che ogni informazione fornita fa parte di uno stesso quadro e che ha un peso all'interno della storia.
Tutti i personaggi presentati, anche da quello più insignificante, hanno un proprio ruolo: sono tanti fili colorati che si intrecciano dando vita ad un racconto che non lascia nulla al caso e non risulta mai scontato.
Nessuno dei personaggi incontrati durante l'intera lettura viene mai descritto in maniera minuziosa, vengono date poche informazioni sull'aspetto fisico e gli stessi protagonisti, Gil e Sabbie, sono poco approfonditi: vengono fornite poche informazioni sulla loro vita e sul loro carattere, vengono descritti nel presente, viene spiegato come lavorano e l'unica informazione che viene data in più è che entrambi in passato hanno sofferto molto. In effetti il vero protagonista di tutta la storia resta il Tredicesimo Apostolo e il segreto che per 3000 anni ha custodito.
Un thriller questo dei coniugi Heller che riesce a conciliare un presente tecnologico e informatizzato con la ricerca storica, l'archeologia e la religione.
Il racconto della ricerca da parte di Gil e Sabbie di un antico rotolo di rame è intervallato da porzioni di traduzioni provenienti sia da un diario medievale su cui i due effettuano le loro ricerche sia dalle traduzioni dello stesso rotolo: ciò a volte rende la lettura un po' più lenta, ma fornisce anche molte risposte al lettore e nello stesso tempo lo porta a fare errate congetture.
Non mancano scene d'azione con inseguimenti, depistaggi e lotta e il lettore si ritrova spesso coinvolto insieme ai protagonisti prima nella decrifazione del diario medievale, poi nella ricerca dei segni che porteranno a scoprire il rotolo di rame.
Il linguaggio usato è talvolta forbito, ma non appesantisce assolutamente la lettura, che risulta veloce anche se impegnativa per i temi trattati. A tratti si nota purtroppo che il libro è stato scritto a quattro mani, anche se non è eccessivamente marcata la differenza di stile tra i due coniugi è comunque presente.
Il finale lascia sicuramente perplessi, soprattutto perché si scopre che il segreto costudito per millenni ha un significato più profondo di quanto il lettore possa immaginare.
http://ilcoloredeilibri.blogspot.com/
La trama di questo libro è sicuramente intrigante e incuriosisce soprattutto la storia relativa alla figura del tredicesimo apostolo e del ruolo avuto nella vita di Yeshua (Gesù).
La lettura parte leggermente a rilento, come un motore che ha bisogno di scaldarsi prima di prendere un po' di giri, ma superate le prime pagine la storia si fa interessante ed avvincente.
Inizialmente si è portati a pensare che i due autori abbiano fornito dati non rilevanti né inerenti al racconto, ma si scoprirà poi che tutto è collegato, che ogni informazione fornita fa parte di uno stesso quadro e che ha un peso all'interno della storia.
Tutti i personaggi presentati, anche da quello più insignificante, hanno un proprio ruolo: sono tanti fili colorati che si intrecciano dando vita ad un racconto che non lascia nulla al caso e non risulta mai scontato.
Nessuno dei personaggi incontrati durante l'intera lettura viene mai descritto in maniera minuziosa, vengono date poche informazioni sull'aspetto fisico e gli stessi protagonisti, Gil e Sabbie, sono poco approfonditi: vengono fornite poche informazioni sulla loro vita e sul loro carattere, vengono descritti nel presente, viene spiegato come lavorano e l'unica informazione che viene data in più è che entrambi in passato hanno sofferto molto. In effetti il vero protagonista di tutta la storia resta il Tredicesimo Apostolo e il segreto che per 3000 anni ha custodito.
Un thriller questo dei coniugi Heller che riesce a conciliare un presente tecnologico e informatizzato con la ricerca storica, l'archeologia e la religione.
Il racconto della ricerca da parte di Gil e Sabbie di un antico rotolo di rame è intervallato da porzioni di traduzioni provenienti sia da un diario medievale su cui i due effettuano le loro ricerche sia dalle traduzioni dello stesso rotolo: ciò a volte rende la lettura un po' più lenta, ma fornisce anche molte risposte al lettore e nello stesso tempo lo porta a fare errate congetture.
Non mancano scene d'azione con inseguimenti, depistaggi e lotta e il lettore si ritrova spesso coinvolto insieme ai protagonisti prima nella decrifazione del diario medievale, poi nella ricerca dei segni che porteranno a scoprire il rotolo di rame.
Il linguaggio usato è talvolta forbito, ma non appesantisce assolutamente la lettura, che risulta veloce anche se impegnativa per i temi trattati. A tratti si nota purtroppo che il libro è stato scritto a quattro mani, anche se non è eccessivamente marcata la differenza di stile tra i due coniugi è comunque presente.
Il finale lascia sicuramente perplessi, soprattutto perché si scopre che il segreto costudito per millenni ha un significato più profondo di quanto il lettore possa immaginare.
http://ilcoloredeilibri.blogspot.com/
July 27, 2011
‘Three souls. Two thousand years. One truth.’
…so goes the tag line for Richard and Rachael Heller’s ‘The 13th Apostle’. And trust me, that forms by far the most interesting line in the entire book. That single line right there on the cover.
This story is another take at misinterpreting the unexplained or unsatisfactorily-proven parts of the life of Jesus Christ (who else!). I’m seriously wondering what it is about Jesus that people find so hard to believe that every budding author out there wants a go at proving he was not what he is made out to be! Seriously people, it’s getting old. Try something newer!
The hero, Gil Pearson, here is a software geek who works for an internet security firm. The concepts of technology are too made up to be believable and if the authors think they can impress people with big words that don’t quite mean anything, well, they’re grossly mistaken. So the hero is pulled into a search for an ancient relic, a scroll, that supposedly contains the gospel written by a 13th Apostle of Christ (for the uninitiated, Christ had 12 Apostles) which, as it is with all fiction these days, didn’t make it to the Bible. And this scroll has information that could devastate Christianity as a faith. Anything new there, folks? Nope!
And since it’s against a religion, there are obviously a whole bunch of bad guys who can’t let the world see the scroll. Add to that a fanatic Muslim group that badly wants people to see this scroll and denounce Christianity. So Gil teams up with an Israeli translator, Sabbie Kraim, and goes on a quest for the hidden scroll. How they find it, what they do with it and what does the scroll actually contain forms the rest of the story.
The reason I didn’t like this book at all is because it sounds very very amateurish. The sentence structures, the descriptions, the flow – everything is amateurish. It’s as if they had something called ‘A Guide to writing a book like Da Vinci Code’ and followed it word for word. The storyline is wafer thin and the authors do nothing to reinforce it and carry it along. I started skipping entire pages in between and I assure you, I didn’t miss the story at all. Remember those hyped up movies where a song comes just before the climax scene just for the heck of having a song? Well, most scenes and encounters in this book are like that – they’re there because the authors think the reader would expect that particular exchange there. Which, for me, is against the whole point of writing good fiction. If I read what I expect to read, why would I enjoy the book?! I want to read the unexpected. And this book is definitely not on those lines.
So if you see this book on a bookshelf, do yourself a favor and keep moving!
…so goes the tag line for Richard and Rachael Heller’s ‘The 13th Apostle’. And trust me, that forms by far the most interesting line in the entire book. That single line right there on the cover.
This story is another take at misinterpreting the unexplained or unsatisfactorily-proven parts of the life of Jesus Christ (who else!). I’m seriously wondering what it is about Jesus that people find so hard to believe that every budding author out there wants a go at proving he was not what he is made out to be! Seriously people, it’s getting old. Try something newer!
The hero, Gil Pearson, here is a software geek who works for an internet security firm. The concepts of technology are too made up to be believable and if the authors think they can impress people with big words that don’t quite mean anything, well, they’re grossly mistaken. So the hero is pulled into a search for an ancient relic, a scroll, that supposedly contains the gospel written by a 13th Apostle of Christ (for the uninitiated, Christ had 12 Apostles) which, as it is with all fiction these days, didn’t make it to the Bible. And this scroll has information that could devastate Christianity as a faith. Anything new there, folks? Nope!
And since it’s against a religion, there are obviously a whole bunch of bad guys who can’t let the world see the scroll. Add to that a fanatic Muslim group that badly wants people to see this scroll and denounce Christianity. So Gil teams up with an Israeli translator, Sabbie Kraim, and goes on a quest for the hidden scroll. How they find it, what they do with it and what does the scroll actually contain forms the rest of the story.
The reason I didn’t like this book at all is because it sounds very very amateurish. The sentence structures, the descriptions, the flow – everything is amateurish. It’s as if they had something called ‘A Guide to writing a book like Da Vinci Code’ and followed it word for word. The storyline is wafer thin and the authors do nothing to reinforce it and carry it along. I started skipping entire pages in between and I assure you, I didn’t miss the story at all. Remember those hyped up movies where a song comes just before the climax scene just for the heck of having a song? Well, most scenes and encounters in this book are like that – they’re there because the authors think the reader would expect that particular exchange there. Which, for me, is against the whole point of writing good fiction. If I read what I expect to read, why would I enjoy the book?! I want to read the unexpected. And this book is definitely not on those lines.
So if you see this book on a bookshelf, do yourself a favor and keep moving!
September 12, 2019
It was just ok. The same sort of religious questioning as a Dan Brown novel. I really didn't care for the characters and felt like the end left a lot hanging with no answers in sight.
February 13, 2017
Excellent read. Loved the ending. Expected and not all at the same time. Love the modern action and the historical perspective. Looking forward to other books by these authors. Great collaborative effort!
March 11, 2016
It was while I was reading Dan Brown, James Rollins, and books about the Knights Templar (I know. Nothing to do with either books but it was part of that phase). It was a read-by-the-seat-of-my-pants book. It was a great book. I didn't mind the flipping of story from the Vatican to back to the Last Supper era. But after a while, it seemed a little long and drawn out. I have conflicting feelings about this book. While I definitely wanted to research some of the things mentioned, I tend to find it quite boring at times. I tried reading it a 2nd time but just found it boring after the first read. It was "read once and shelve" book for me. Luckily I had checked it out at the local library.
May 10, 2012
Pseudo historical fiction - flash backs from archeologists and new Jerusalem scrolls - which is a suspense filled story of finding them and keeping them from the "bad guys" - and the time of Jesus. My quandry was the biblical story telling of Jesus which didn't fit with my research and belief - I was afraid it was going down hill and I wouldn't like the ending at all. But the way (weird) this part of the story played out had no direct application to the most beautiful ending. It was really philosophical and uplifting. I think it is worth 4 and a half stars! I just can't get to the amazing 5 stars.
This is a winner
This is a winner
January 29, 2014
Another mini-review -This was another in a long line of "artifact" thrillers, with an American cyber sleuth and a biblical translator and former Israeli commando female lead. A lot of the book is spent back in the past, as we follow in the footsteps of one who was "there." The story is fine, although lacking depth, and the characters were also a little bland for me, and I didn't connect with them as I would have liked - that really colors how I react to a book. And the ending to me was trite, and sort of too mystical? But it is an okay read for the beach, for a trip, etc. No big shakes, but no major flaws to me.
December 21, 2013
I did actually quite enjoy most of the book. The pace was fast and simple and I could put it down and pick it up a week later and it still made sense. Unfortunately the ending was best described as WTF. Where is my real ending? It just ended. The plot wasn't finished. I half expected to find a second book but no. It was just disappointing. There were a lot of other things that could have done with some work but I was willing to forgive those given the type of book it was(It's a We-must-find-this-thing-and-translate-it-or-the-world-will-end book). The ending however I will not.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews