Ark of Fire [Paperback]

C.M. Palov (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2009

Photographer Edie Miller witnesses a murder and the theft of an ancient Hebrew relic. Fearing authorities are complicit, she turns to a historian for help. Neither realizes the breadth of the crime, its ties to a government conspiracy, or its connection to the most valuable relic in history-until they are both marked for execution.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Nonstop action and clever plotting power this thrilling debut. When freelance photographer Edie Miller witnesses a brutal murder and the theft of a sacred relic, she knows her life is in danger. She contacts former MI5 agent and scholar Caedmon Aisquith, one of the victim's colleagues, who thinks Edie is crazy until someone tries to kill them. When Edie and Caedmon discover that the Warriors of God believe the artifact will lead them to the Ark of the Covenant and kick off an epic war, they must decipher clues and travel the globe in a race to find the Ark first. Palov makes even the most arcane biblical, historical and mythological knowledge intriguing and accessible, tossing in just a hint of romance and politics. Fans of Dan Brown and Steve Berry will be enthralled. (Dec.)
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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Berkley; Original edition (December 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425231461
• ISBN-13: 978-0425231463
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,038,312 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too many lucky breaks..., December 2, 2009

By 

Monica Garcia "ReadingWithMonie.com" (Arlington, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ark of Fire (Paperback)

When cataloging rare artifacts for the Hopkins Museum of Near Eastern Art, photographer Edie Miller witnesses a murder of the chief curator. Just as she bends down to check on some loose cable wires the murderer walks in and shoots the curator with no questions asked and steals an ancient Hebrew relic. Saved by her convenient hiding place Edie just makes it out of the museum alive where she sees the killer meet up with a D.C. policeman.

Fearing for her life she refuses to turn to the police because of what she saw. Instead she turns to the historian, Caedmon Aisquith who the curator was about to send Edie's pictures to.

Together with Caedmon they realize who the killers are working for and what they are after... The Ark of the Covenant. But if Edie and Caedmon can find it first they'll stop the killers from seeing their plans through to the deadly end.

Reading the endorsements on the cover of this book had me really looking forward to Ark of Fire. On the front cover is a blurb by Steve Berry one of my favorite action thriller authors and a blurb on the back cover from Karen Dionne describes the book as "Part Dan Brown, part Indiana Jones and part James Bond..." With the two things I was expecting a lot more from Ark of Fire.

It was a good story but a little too over the top. I can't exactly explain some of the major aspects that bothered me without giving any spoilers away but a couple of small things that made me roll my eyes where just how many times Caedmon and Edie were saved by the killers being out of bullets or their gun jamming and how many times they escaped death and other horrific acts just in the nick of time. Not to mention the whole escaping from Washington D.C. to Europe. I found it hard to believe it was really that easy to flee the country with only $3,000 and a conveniently remembered passport with a killer breathing down her neck.

With those vents out of the way the storyline was pretty good and there was obviously a lot of action. I would recommend this one as loaner or library read for anyone who loves a good suspense thriller.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Born Again Margaret Atwood, January 4, 2010

By 

Barry Webb (Arizona) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ark of Fire (Paperback)

I really love good political thrillers that are based on events or artifacts from the distant past (ala Greg Loomis and Clive Cussler), or science (ala Michael Crichton and James Rollins). I bought this book because it looked to be just right up my ally, and could not wait to sit down and start reading it.

I made it through 24 pages.

The first rule of fiction writing is that you have to get your readers to suspend their disbelief. You do that by including enough verifiable facts along with your story line that will help to suck your readers in--while avoiding glaring factual mistakes and anachronisms. You also have to avoid preaching. If you have a message it better be subtle, if at all.

Unfortunately MS. Palov broke both rules within the first 24 pages.

Right off the bat I had trouble with the "Hopkins" museum of Near Eastern Art in D.C., because there is no such thing, though Hopkins University in Baltimore might have such a museum. Then I had trouble with a "breastplate" being only 4 inches by 6 inches. Even a Hobbit would have trouble getting into a breastplate of that size. Had she called it a medallion or a portion of a breast plate it would have gone down easier. But then came the modern square Hebrew characters on an artifact that, according to her story, was buried nearly a thousand years before those square Hebrew characters were used. A little research into ancient Semitic scripts would have clued her as to which alphabet was in use at the time her supposed artifact was (actually even a good Hebrew-English dictionary would have told her that).

However, I was willing to forgive her all of that since she is a first time writer, and after all, this is a thriller, a genre where fans are generally forgiving of illogicalities. But then came the preaching. It sounded like Janet Napolitano ("the only real terrorists we have to worry about are American troops returning from Iraq") married to Margaret Atwood (gotta watch out for those evil Bible-reading Christians).

No matter whether one is an agnostic, as I am, or a Hindu, or what, and no matter whether one was for the Iraq war or not, I found this book to be a premeditated smear of our troops who have put their lives on the line for a very thankless job.

Also, the bad guys were so over-done in the "Christians are such evil creatures" theme that they were nothing more than card board cut outs from an Atwood fantasy cartoon.

So, that's where I stopped. Usually I donate unwanted, or no longer needed, books to charity. But this one will have to go in to the fireplace.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars not an Indiana Jones tale, May 5, 2010

By 

M. R. Randazzo "scifi freak" (westschester,ny usa) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ark of Fire (Paperback)

Ark of Firethe cover of this book caught my eye so i was intrigued to read the story.you get caught right from the start in following the clues to the end discovery, I love books that combined real facts of history with a fictional story.there is a touch of the templar tales, another side of Moses and the Ark,religious beliefs vs the Black Plague. of course there is the required love interest featuring a good looking Scotish redhaired ex James Bond figure with the arty photogragher American female.the story keeps you turning the pages to the end