22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The jungle is very protective of her secrets..., July 4, 2008
This review is from: The Aztec Heresy (Signet Novel) (Mass Market Paperback)
The premise of this book is rather simple with the standard treasure hunt procedures; good guys, bad guys, some gray but questionable characters and a mysterious religious order all want a piece of adventure while some just want to make some money on it all running loose in the jungle at some point in the story line. When a sunken ship from four hundred years ago, rumored to have carried the location of secret Mayan treasure hidden by Hernan Cortez himself form the Spanish rulers is suddenly a hot commodity for treasure seekers, American Finn Ryan and Brit Billy Pilgrim, all hell breaks loose and people start dying as secrets come out.
Those who simply want to reveal a part of history to the world are being chased by men from Cuba, Mexico, America and even the Vatican finding that all the random activities are somehow connected and they all seem to lead to The City of Gold. It seems that the actions taken by our friends wake those sleeping in slumber over the vigil for such curious behavior. When submarines, lost nuclear bombs, power struggles and a large pharmaceutical company combines forces the only thing that ensures is an outbreak of madness that seem to trail Finn and Billy. They must first find the Codex with the map upon a wreckage of a mysterious ship rumored to have sunk near the Bahamas and then find the temple that houses gold objects found by Cortez.
A sweaty journey through a jungle, ravaged by ants and killer animals and the dives is what makes this book exciting. The story is also a semi espionage type of a thriller with more weaponry and submarine talk than I have ever experienced and while there are a lot of characters in it, only a few are memorable. I didn't enjoy the fact that they were introduced in a bit of a robotic manner, instead of knowing who they were first the reader got to hear their biography and then got to learn of their character later on.
The book, even though wasn't perfect, was entertaining and I read it in about two days because it was somehow strangely alluring and adventure stories are always fun. It wakes up the kid in us who always wanted to be an archaeologist and for those who are always behaving like adults there is plenty of action and dangerous activity. The story was looking very broad when a lot of characters and plots were starting to unfold and I was wondering how on Earth was the author going to tie it all up, in the end he did a pretty good job. I just wish this was more about the treasure itself and little less about crazy people with personal gains but overall a good story. This was more of a 3.5 star book but after finishing it I felt that I had a good time reading it so I give it 4 stars. I am looking forward to reading more of Finn and Billy's adventures as the author has all ready included them in his previous books. This is perfect for hot summer nights with a cool drink in hand and plenty of night to read into, enjoy.
- Kasia S.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Great premise - Poor execution, July 28, 2009
This review is from: The Aztec Heresy (Signet Novel) (Mass Market Paperback)
This book sounded perfect for me! I love adventure books filled with history and science (Cussler, Rollins, Crichton) and I teach about Aztec and Maya history. Unfortunately, this book did not even approach my expectations. The author provided paragraphs and pages of description of location, people's backgrounds, appearances, etc. which did not have bearing on the plot, did not drive the story forward, and did not provide insights into motivations of characters. In addition, the many characters began to overlap in my mind and it was difficult to differentiate who was doing what. Sub-plots aboud but do little to create a cohesive story. The ending was a let-down and the "action" sequences were more description of events than guiding the reader "into" the story. I finished the book because I hate abandoning stories but by the final fourth of the book, I was skimming over narrative to find dialogue and action that had bearing on the plot. I was extremely disappointed.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing, June 23, 2009
This review is from: The Aztec Heresy (Signet Novel) (Mass Market Paperback)
I bought this novel thinking it sounded interesting. While the author has some talent, much of his writing comes across as immature, at times overblown (read the exhausting prologue) and at times simply undeveloped. SEMI-SPOILER FOLLOWS. Most disappointing is the final set-piece, in which the leads suddenly solve the mystery in a few pages of retrospective dialogue. A real waste of time for a book with such a cool title, and much potential!
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