Three thousand years ago, the Queen of Sheba ruled an empire and had wealth beyond measure. Legends said that one day the Arabian desert rose up and swallowed the queen, her temple, and her fabulous treasure.
It is 1938, and antiques dealers Rick and Rose Sinclair come across an old journal. It tells an explorer’s tale of sighting the queen’s lost temple, but his porters forcing him to turn back, terrified by myths of the temple’s protection by giant monsters and the queen’s avaricious ghost.
The Sinclairs set out to find the temple, transported in a decrepit plane by their smuggler friend Humphrey. The moment they land, their plan goes awry. They are robbed, and worse, they discover they have competition searching for the lost temple.
The Sinclairs will find that all the legends were true. The temple does exist. The treasure is still there. And it is all defended by giant creatures bent on slaughtering any who trespass. Will Rick’s cunning and Rose’s intellect be enough to survive the dangers of the temple of the queen?
Russell R. James was raised on Long Island, New York and spent too much time watching Chiller, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, and Dark Shadows, despite his parents’ warnings. Bookshelves full of Stephen King and Edgar Allan Poe didn’t make things better. He graduated from Cornell University and the University of Central Florida.
After a tour flying helicopters with the U.S. Army, he now spins twisted tales best read in daylight.
His wife reads what he writes, rolls her eyes, and says “There is something seriously wrong with you.”
He has published the novels DARK INSPIRATION, SACRIFICE, BLACK MAGIC and DARK VENGEANCE, the compilations OUT OF TIME and TALES FROM BEYOND, as well as numerous short stories. He founded the Minnows Literary Group.
He and his wife share their home in sunny Florida with two cats.
Drop by the website to kill some time with some short stories.
It's 1938 and Rick and Rose Sinclair are antique dealers. It is clear that Rose is the brains of the operation while Rick is a chance. Rose likes to check on important things such as provenance and potential buyers before bidding at auctions. Rick prefers to dive in there with nothing but his wits and whims to guide him. And that's how he came to buy a stuffed polar bear. It came with a box of assorted tat, except it wasn't all tat. In amongst all the rubbish was a journal that told of the temple of the legendary and fabulously wealthy Queen of Sheba which, so legend had it, disappeared in a giant sandstorm, burying the Queen and all her wealth somewhere far into the Arabian desert. That's when the adventure starts. Rick and Rose decide to go after the treasure. Unfortunately they are not the only ones.
This is such a fun read. Russell James is noted for his two other adventure series - one featuring Grant Coleman, a hapless paleontologist and the other featuring National Park Ranger Kathy West and her sidekick Nathan Toland. With the addition of Rick and Rose Sinclair - who seem set for future adventures - readers are in for plenty more treats to come. There's more than a nod to Indiana Jones with some fantastic beasts who don't welcome the intrusion of humans. There's also plenty of humour and banter, danger and jeopardy. A thoroughly satisfying and absorbing read. Looking forward to the next one!
Russell James has a way or writing snarky, funny, good hearted characters that you can't help but love. That's just the beginning. He also does great adventures, treasure hunting, with great locations and cool little details (like the invisible city, and when you find out how, you'll think, "how awesome is this"?), throw in some bad guys, and some insane killer creatures, and you come out with a great story like this. I read it in one sitting and loved it.
Russell James is fantastic at writing characters that are likable. Every time I read one of his male leads, I picture Brendon Fraser playing that part. Having read most of his books I can say I am excited to see where this series is going.
I love Rick and Rose's relationship throughout their adventures, fantastic and intriguing writing by Russell!! Love these little adventures they're the perfect escape from a hectic day.
Rick and Rose Sinclair are antique dealers, when they find a journal pointing towards hidden treasure, they set out to find it. Good story, with likable characters, a trade mark of Russell James books.
This book had a very Indiana Jones like feel to it, especially as it takes place in 1938. The book is fairly well written, and the adventure is very fast paced and filled with action, but to me it was a little bit bland. The characters are sometimes a bit too quick to solve the clues, but that is something a lot of these adventure books suffer from. It was a fun read, but I don't think I will read more in the series.
Very severe 90s Mummy vibes! Main character named Rick, side character named Jonathan, hidden temple protected by an army and magic to make it invisible ... plus a Monty Python reference. What more do you need?!
I was amazed at how quickly I got swept up into this story. Right from the very beginning I was just pulled right in and it is kind of rare for a book to do that so well. But for unknown reasons this one did. And it was certainly great fun to go on this crazy adventure across the burning sands searching for the ancient temple of the Queen of Sheba.
So there were a few things in here I liked besides the great adventure part (and more on that later). The main male character in here is Rick. And he is a bit of a wild card or a goofball if you will. He is the kind of guy who is sent to the store to buy very practical things but instead he comes home with a giant stuffed polar bear. And yes, it's real. And who the neck is going to buy a polar bear, especially since its 1938 and the Great Depression is in full blast. Rick does spur of the moment stuff and he takes risks. Luckily he is incredibly lucky.
His wife Rose is more sensible. And she certainly doesn't like the stuff he does but it's a tad too late to complain about money spent and now you are the proud owners of a giant stuffed polar bear!
But then they hear about the treasure. Out in Yemen, very far away from where they live in Georgia. But the two decide to go on an exciting treasure hunt. And it is certainly a dangerous trip with thieves, camels, traps, old tombs and even nasty things that may try to eat you! In many ways this is similar to Indiana Jones - but they are doing it all rather by the seat of their pants. The story moves at a very good pace and there was always stuff happening. Never dull at all.