The blurb on the back says "think Indiana Jones crossed with Dan Brown." I appreciate not everyone would see this as praise, and I know it is one of many "artefact-hunt" type books that have sprung up since The Da Vinci code. However, for me the difference here is the subject matter, dealing with the Roman Empire, specifically around the time of Claudius and the Birth of Jesus - the Last Gospel being reputedly a scroll written by Jesus himself, and the author's knowledge of his subject is impressive. Sometimes his desire to tell us everything he knows about Herculeneum, Pompeii, Rome, Galilee, etc, and also to share his archeological expertise with us, comes across as a bit clumsy. The main technique he uses is dialogue, so the main character (Jack Howard - think Indiana Jones) is always explaining things in great detail to his sidekick (Costas) - who asks the kind of intelligent questions that only someone who already knows the subject area inside out would be able to ask. As such, these conversations seem a bit fake. So not perhaps the best writing style - but I was completely hooked by the "quest" and in the many historical references to the ancient Roman Empire.I would recommend this to anyone interested in this period, although it is the 3rd in a series of books featuring the main characters, and as such would be best read after the first two - it does work as an independent story but there are numerous references to previous "adventures", which I will now be hoping to track down and read. Lost Tomb has the generic thriller formula. Avid explorers find a hidden clue in history that leads them on a chase around the world hoping to find an answer to the mystery. The difference with this book is that it is much more like a history lesson than a thriller. The main character, Jack, spends too much time seeing history pass in front of his eyes as he stands in a historical place and explaining the history to his partner Costas. Costas' main purpose seems to be to ask questions to prompt Jack to explain things to him so the reader would have enough background info.
What do You think about The Lost Tomb (2008)?
historical fiction about the search for the lost gospel of st. paul and jesus' own writing
—gjones53
You cant beat a good conspiracy theory against the catholic church!
—fdoyrldan
Good on on history, but too much romance...!
—keshnia
