Author: Boyd Morrison
Publisher: Sphere
Publication Date: 19th August 2010
Pages: 576
ISBN: 9780751544152
Source: Library
Rating: 4/5
Purchase: Amazon
Do the remains of Noah's Ark really exist?
Before he dies, the father of ambitious young architect Dilara Kenner leaves her tantalising clues about the location of the legendary historical artefact - Noah's Ark.
The most fabled relic of all time, the search for Noah's Ark has obsessed many over the years. And when Dilara starts her quest - aided by former army engineer Tyler Locke - she rapidly becomes transfixed by the thought of discovering it.
But there are sinister forces gathering who have deadly reasons for wanting to be the first ones to get to the relic.
From a helicopter crash in the Atlantic, to a sinister sect in Arizona's Mojave desert, to the remote slopes of Mount Ararat, this thrilling page-turner blends nonstop action with fascinating historical fact.
I knew I was on to a winner with The Noah's Ark Quest when not even fifty pages in, my heart was racing. This book gave me an adrenaline rush like no other has for a while, and two sleepless nights as I rushed through it. I read to the point where sleep eventually won out.
As always it's difficult to discuss the plot, what I consider a brief summary often has people complaining about spoilers so perhaps skip this bit if you are one of those. Dilara Kenner is meeting with one of her father's friends as he has information about her father's disappearance and archaeological discoveries. Before he can reveal all, he dies, but not before sputtering out a number of words, none of which in the beginning make sense. All Dilara knows is that she must seek out Tyler Locke. Dilara soon finds out though that some nasty individuals are determined to take her out, and it isn't long before they have Locke in their sights as well. Together they must fight to stay alive, and work out what each of the words mean, and attempt to locate one of history's most famous artefacts, Noah's Ark.
This book is typical of its genre, but what's wrong with that? Aren't the majority of books in a genre similar in one way or another? It is what the author does with their ideas that sets them apart from everybody else and I have to say that the story in this book to me felt both original and authentic. In the background we have a rich billionaire plotting to wipe out over a billion people, and the idea behind this actually felt quite plausible, how somebody with the right amount of cash and contacts could actually carry out something like what is planned in this book. I had no idea how it tied in with the Ark though, but couldn't read quick enough to find out. The author uses real and fictitious technology to tell this story and does so in a believable way. The book does come across very Hollywood at times, and has enough action-packed scenes that the budget for making this into a film would be immense, but that's what I love about Books vs. Film, the author has an unlimited budget - their imagination.
Tyler Locke is interesting enough to stand alongside his contemporaries and he does have all those hallmarks a thriller's lead character must have but that's not a negative thing at all. Similarly the relationship he and Dilara go on over the course of the novel has perhaps been done before, but he does have a number of personality traits and strengths that for me set him apart from the rest and I'm definitely looking forward to reading another Tyler Locke book in the very near future. He did have that air of invincibility about him though, and knowing this was the start of a series there was never that moment where I believed he wouldn't survive but my heart didn't seem to know that! None of this is a criticism in my eyes, I pick these books up knowing what I want and knowing what I'm going to get.
The storyline in this book I felt was very strong, and moved along at just the right pace. At almost 600 pages I would ordinarily be put off, as a blogger time is of the essence and this was a library book and not a review book, but as I said two sleepless nights later I was finished as I was far too engrossed and caught up in the mystery to care how long it was. Before reading this Noah's Ark was something I learnt about in school (and the nursery rhyme) but this book has really left me wanting to read up about it more and as I neared the conclusion of this book, and everything started to be revealed, it all made sense. I believe this was originally self-published, but it's easy to see why a publisher snapped Boyd Morrison up, this is a series I can't wait to read more of.
4/5
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