Hunt Through the Cradle of Fear [Mass Market Paperback]

Gabriel Hunt (Author), Charles Ardai (Author)

Book Description

Series: Hunt | Publication Date: August 2009

A discovery deep inside the Great Sphinx of Egypt reveals a secret that will send Gabriel Hunt racing to the Greek Isles of Chios and then on to a deadly confrontation atop Sri Lanka’s ancient rock fortress of Sigiriya.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Leisure Books; Original edition (August 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0843962585
• ISBN-13: 978-0843962581
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,320,188 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the first in the series, September 30, 2009

By 

Peterack (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Hunt Through the Cradle of Fear (Mass Market Paperback)

This was entertaining enough for what it is - escapism adventure story - but there was something missing in this book compared to the first (which had a different author...though all are known as "Gabriel Hunt"). The story herein was very two dimentional and places where the author could have brought humor or depth into a character or circumstance were avoided at all costs. For instance, one could get very drunk if one reads this book and takes a shot of liquor every time Gabriel's gun runs out of bullets....it happens in every fight and battle. This is perfect to make it into a running gag or a "why don't I ever have enough bullets?" comment or something. Instead five or so pages after the last time, it happens again, and is not used to flavor the story at all.
I stuck with the book only to be surprised to see the words "The End" way before the pages of my book finished. It turns out the real author had permission to submit his own novella...also uninspired. Thus, all in all, I feel cheated. If you have not already, I recommend "Hunt at the Well of Enternity" which is far superior to this...in my humble opinion.

4.0 out of 5 stars Guilty pleasure, July 21, 2010

By 

Joseph A. Payne "Max" (Milwaukee, Wisconsin United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Hunt Through the Cradle of Fear (Mass Market Paperback)

Indiana Jones meets Doc Savage meets "The Librarian". These books should be filed in the "Guys Adventure" section in Barnes & Noble, and they are a throw-back to the old style "Guys" adventure books from the 50's, 60's and 70's.

And that's a good thing!

They are pure escapist entertainment. Gabriel Hunt is a world travelling adventurer who speaks (almost) every language on Earth. Every scientist he meets turns out to be a drop dead gorgeous damsel in distress, needing a long series of rescues that always come a hairs breadth away from death. In this world he never meets a woman who can resist him, or an enemy that can't be subdued by intelligence or buy an old fashioned six-shooter.

His adventures take place in a world where all our urban legends are true, and where ancient treasures, lost worlds, and lost tribes are waiting to be found - one step ahead of an evil Billionaire. Deep philosophy it ain't. But pick up a copy, grab a beer, sit back on the beach, read and be entertained.

2.0 out of 5 stars Not nearly as enjoyable as the first book, June 23, 2010

By 

Tivor (Los Angeles, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hunt Through the Cradle of Fear (Mass Market Paperback)

I really enjoyed the first book of the series, Hunt at the Well of Eternity. It was no high literature by any stretch of imagination, but it was a very fun, popcorn literature. For what it was trying to be, it was a great success.

So it was with that expectation I picked up the second book.

Unfortunately, I did not find this book nearly as enjoyable as the first book. In fact, I even found it tedious at times. I finished the first book in just over two days. This one took me almost two weeks.

I pin the blame on the author's writing style. The first book was written by James Reasoner, and he had a writing style that was very concise and to the point. He did not waste words on literary embellishments, and simply focused on telling the story, and that led to a very quick and easy read, adding to the sense of momentum to the adventure.

The second book, on the other hand, was written by Charles Ardai, and unfortunately he felt the need to embellish the action with unnecessary detail. For example, when you're tearing off the fare meter from a taxi cab to throw at your pursuers, do we really need to know what increment the meter is counting its fare? Surely Mr. Ardai feels he is bringing the scene more fully to life by describing objects in detail, but all he's really doing is breaking up the action and slowing the story down. Mr. Ardai is actually the creator of the Gabriel Hunt series, but it appears that Mr. Reasoner understood better that the series needs its writing to be fast, focused and streamlined in order to be the action-packed page-turner it wants to be.

This book makes another big blunder, and that is its deceptive length. The story comes to an end at page 217, while the book itself contains 267 pages (not counting the usual preview excerpt to the next book). The remaining 50 pages contain a separate, unrelated novella by Mr. Ardai. There was no indication anywhere else in the book that there would be a "bonus" story until that point, so the ending came very abruptly as I was expecting the story to unfold for 50 more pages. It really did not leave a satisfying impression to finishing the book.

All in all, I am very disappointed with the second installment to the Gabriel Hunt series. It is as if my favorite movie was followed by a subpar sequel by a different director. And despite the fact that the "different director" in this case is actually the series creator, that's exactly what happened.