The Lost Temple [Hardcover]

Tom Harper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 2008

For three thousand years, the world’s most dangerous treasure has been lost. Now the code that reveals its hiding place is about to be broken . . .
     Greece, 1947. Europe is just beginning to heal after World War II, but the fighting in Greece continues as a civil war is waged. Sam Grant, a disgraced ex–Special Operations Executive soldier and an adventurer by trade, is lured back to the Mediterranean by a secret from his past: six years ago, a dying archaeologist entrusted him with his life’s work—a leather notebook full of unintelligible notes written in Ancient Greek. When the KGB show up looking for the notebook, Grant sets out to protect the discoveries that the archaeologist lost his life for—and to find out what could be so valuable that the CIA and the British Secret Intelligence Service want it as well.
     With help from a brilliant Oxford professor and a beautiful Greek archaeologist with her own secrets to hide, Grant follows the notebook to a hidden cave on Crete, where a tablet of mysterious writing has lain hidden for thousands of years. Deciphered, it could lead to one of the greatest prizes in history. But the treasure is as dangerous as it is valuable.
     Seeking the places where history and myth collide, following the trail left by Homer in his epic poems of heroic warriors, vengeful gods, and treasure beyond anything known to man, Grant is plunged into a labyrinth of ancient cults, forgotten mysteries, and lost civilizations. But time is running out.
     The secrets of the distant past may hold the key to the newest threats of the modern world. . . .

"Fans of thrillers with an Indiana Jones angle who just can’t wait for the next James Rollins or Steve Berry novel should check out this very entertaining tale....With a lightning-fast pace, a cast of colorful characters, plenty of twists and turns, and a story that reaches into the past and the future, the novel is sure to please fans of the historical-thriller genre." --Booklist

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fans of Harper's superb historical trilogy set during the Crusades (The Mosaic of Shadows, etc.) are likely to be disappointed by this middling thriller, yet another variation on the Indiana Jones theme. In 1947, the British, Americans and Russians are all looking for the legendary shield of Achilles because it may contain Element 61, a chemical element then missing from the periodic table that could be used in weapons. C.S. Grant, a British adventurer in need of a government pardon, agrees to help recover a murdered archeologist's notebook that may hold clues to the shield's whereabouts. A number of stock supporting characters, including an attractive female archeologist and an elderly scholar, accompany Grant to Crete in search of answers. While Harper offers some interesting discussions about the origins of Homer's poems, some readers may weary of such formulaic plot elements as a slow-motion romance, gunfights, hairbreadth escapes and the loss of a key clue. (Nov.)
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From Booklist

Fans of thrillers with an Indiana Jones angle who just can’t wait for the next James Rollins or Steve Berry novel should check out this very entertaining tale. Set in the late 1940s, it features a disparate group of adventurers (including a disgraced British solider, a beautiful archaeologist, and a university professor) who are searching for an ancient treasure that could have important ramifications for the postwar world. As they race from place to place, following clues to the treasure’s location, they discover that key elements of Greek mythology might not be so mythological after all. With a lightning-fast pace, a cast of colorful characters, plenty of twists and turns, and a story that reaches into the past and the future, the novel is sure to please fans of the historical-thriller genre. This is the author’s seventh novel, following his three-volume series set during the First Crusade and three Napoléon-era novels written as Edwin Thomas. It’s a stand-alone, apparently, although readers will no doubt finish this one and immediately begin clamoring for a series. --David Pitt

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; 1st edition (October 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312380607
• ISBN-13: 978-0312380601
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #804,411 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Indiana Stones style story tackles greatest legend of all time!, January 29, 2008

By 

Joshua T. Cohen (Hong Kong) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lost Temple (Mass Market Paperback)

Tom Harper has written some really amazing and fascinating adventures, in the "historical fiction" genre. Starting with his great series with Demetrious Askiates in Byzantium during the first crusades, Tom Harper continues his writing, with a story taking place shortly after WWII.

The Lost Temple opens up on the invasion of Greece by the Nazi's in the beginning of WWII. We are introduced into our cunning main character, Grant. As a disgraced ex-special solider, he eventually turned to gun running for the Jews before there was a state of Israel. He had been giving a mysterious tablet, with a language not yet deciphered, and dating back to over 3000yrs ago. Uncoded, this language, Linear B (a real language which was deciphered in the 1950's), would be a map leading to not only the worlds most historical and mythical treasure, but something that could change the future for all human kind.

Grant finds himself in the company of a British "spook," an Oxford professor, a CIA man who only goes by the name of "Jackson," and a former lover and patriot of Greece, Marina. Hot on their trails are the Russians, former Nazi's, and a wild adventure leading them across the middle east, and all around the Mediterean Sea and the Black Sea.

Now, before saying, "Yeah, i've heard this one before," I don't think comparing this book to the "Da Vinci Code," is the best comparison. It is closer tied to the Indiana Jones series. Tom Harper's writing is very sharp, and you can tell he took great pains to do the immense amount of research for this novel. Not at one point did I ever feel that I was reading a text book, the history flowed naturally from the characters, and seemed real.

You might as well call his a 1940's historical action novel, because that is exactly what it is. Through the almost non-stop action, we learn about what our hero's and "gods" were, or could've been like, all while on the race to find our most precious treasure, of a man that will forever live on in name, no matter how long.

Readers who enjoy history, historical fiction, puzzles and adventure are sure to Enjoy Tom Harpers, "The Lost Temple!"

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I REALLY wanted to like this book, November 4, 2009

By 

Gabriel - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lost Temple (Mass Market Paperback)

Now I'm not one to quit a book in the middle of reading it, but if I were, I would have quit this one. There are some glaring omissions firstly. The blurbs on the front and back covers make numerous references to certain things - on the front "...the world's deadliest treasure," "Fans of thrillers with an Indiana Jones angle...", and the back "The secrets of the distant past may hold the key to the newest threats of the modern world..." (I guess the operative word there is MAY) and actually the summary on the back references "a dangerous prophecy...drawing near."

I'm a pretty generous and forgiving reader, HOWEVER, this book suffers from an extremely weak plot and wooden characters. The main character, Sam Grant, has very little depth to him and is quite shallow, as are the rest of the group who the author assembled for no good reason. There's Jackson the American who is there simply to curse and be stereotypically "American," (thank you British author), there's the obvious love interest Marina, Reed - the only character who actually causes the plot to advance, Muir, another angry cursing type, British this time.

I felt like I did after watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, in a sense, "ehhhhh."

There is no mention of any prophecy in the book, not really as interesting or exciting as an Indiana Jones entry (SPOILER - I'm really disappointed in the treasure that they are after, I mean, REALLY? It's kind of stupid and has no real impact on the world - as the blurbs would lead you to believe. In sum, the object of their quest is just plain silly and stupid, however I compliment the author on his research.)

I've no idea why the author did this, and maybe only I care, but for a book that sticks closely to Grant's perspective, the illogical switching about 2/3 into the book makes no sense. Why after 250 pages did he feel like the random Russian soldier gets to be the focal point? Or why after following Grant's perspective nearly the entire time do we jarringly switch to Marina? It just doesn't make sense. Also on an editorial note, there were instances in the middle of a large conversation where the author doesn't clearly state who is speaking - now maybe this is just my gripe, but I actually found myself on more than a few occassions not really certain who was speaking. When everyone in the group is talking, and there is a clear indication of a new person saying something, but no indication of who it was, not even by inference on the reader's part, that's just annoying.

So in sum, I would probably not recommend this book, given the number of really good adventure novels out there. I had hopes for The Lost Temple...but it isn't compelling in any way. I honestly just don't care if they find the Temple or not, or the silly and stupid treasure for which they are nonsensically seeking. Again, great research and I did like that this was about Greek history...but come on wasn't there anything more interesting for the group to go after?

Did there really need to be a semi-graphic sex scene 2/3 through? Really?

I had a lot of those moments while reading this book, where I just sat back and thought, "Mr. Harper, really? Was that totally necessary? (or) Couldn't you think of something more interesting???"

Unless you REALLY have no options, and I doubt that possibility, I would stay away from this book...it just isn't interesting at all.

Find the treasure or not, I'm not really compelled to care...and that is the death of any adventure novel.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Lost Temple, November 24, 2010

By 

Annie - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Lost Temple (Mass Market Paperback)

This is an amazing book, well written . My only critisism is that I couldn't put it down. I am relly looking forward to reading more of his books.