James Becker - The Moses Stone

Review by Brian on show 1st July
This book kept reminding me of Dan Brown’s Da Vinchi Code and Angels and Demons.
The story is set in the middle east, mainly in Israel, particularly in Jerusalem and involves a lot of history of the ancient tribes in the time of Moses.

A clay tablet covered in ancient writing is found by an English couple in Morocco. A day later they are dead, killed in a car crash. But where is the relic they died to protect?

Determined to uncover a secret that’s endured for two thousand years, Chris Bronson follows a trial of clues that lead him from the hustle of a Moroccan souk to the deserted caves of Qumran, from the sinister echoes of a water filled tunnel under the city of Jerusalem to a windswept fortress whose name spells death.

With the help of his ex wife, Angela, an expert in ancient writing, they follow the clues on the clay tablet, which turns out to be one of a set of four, trying to locate a buried horde of silver treasure. Threatened on every side by violent extremists, Bronson and Angela are plunged into this mystery rooted in biblical times.
A good story with the historical part made to be interesting. I enjoyed it and can recommend it as a good read, shortly available in the charity shop!
review by Brian

show 1st July

Guests this week are Brian Lowen and Ro Bennett and books on review – well a strange title amongst them:
The Mark of the Assassin by Daniel Silva/The Moses Stone by James Becker
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch/If you meet the Buddha on the Road, kill him! by Sheldon B Kopp. Hmmmmmm

James Becker -The First Apostle

review by Brian Lowen on show 2nd June

Another book of the Da Vinci Code type, ie, searching for ancient lost relics by having to solve riddles that lead to the hiding place.

A rather far fetched story that leads to a poor unexciting ending. It is somewhat amazing how our two heroes solve these riddles that the Vatican has been trying to work out since the birth of Christ !

The story starts with the murder of an Englishwoman in her holiday home in a remote area near Rome. Her distraught husband enlists the help of his closest friend, Chris Bronson, who discovers an ancient carved inscription on a slab of stone built into the wall above the fireplace in their old Italian house. It translates as “Here lie the liars”- but who are the liars, and what is it that they are lying to protect?

Bronson is pursued across Europe by the Italian Mafia who are working on behalf of the Vatican, as he uncovers a trail of clues that lead him back to the shadowy beginnings of Christianity – to a chalice decorated with mysterious symbols and a secret code hidden within a scroll.

A good readable story, quite predictable in its outcome, but not a real page turner. \Not a good thriller, but a good read even though it is quite unbelievable in parts and with an ending that is an anticlimax.