Customer Reviews

The Moses Stone (Chris Bronson)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Last year I picked up a copy of The First Apostle, the first novel by James Becker, and was pleasantly surprised. The book was well written, with an exciting story, interesting characters and lots of interesting historical details. So, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Becker had written another novel about Chris Bronson. I just finished reading it and liked it even better than the first one. There is more interesting historical background (with lots of additional information at the end of the book) and again the story really drives the book along. Of course the story seems a bit familiar and of course there are all kinds of coincidences and the two main characters manage to escape death again and again. But, hey, it's a thriller!! And it's refreshing to hear the main character mentioning a couple of times that it's not all worth the effort and maybe they should forget about the chase...

Anyway, I found myself racing through the book and looking up more information on the internet about the sites and artifacts mentioned in the book. So, if you liked The DaVinci Code and are looking for another exciting thriller, you should definitely give this one a try. And the best news? In December the third novel will be published and I can't wait to get my hands on that one!!

A couple is killed after finding a tablet that is a piece of the world's history. When a detective named Chris investigates, he realizes that his job is asking him to bite off a lot more than he can chew. He is forced to delve into the past and try to solve a mystery that pre-dates biblical times. Will he be able to crack the case or will this mystery go unsolved for the rest of time?

This is a thriller through and through! If you like a good mystery with a great plot and likable characters, you will happily drown yourself in this book from beginning to end.

We were on vacation.. and I had forgotten to bring something to read. The synopsis sounded intriguing.. so, I bought it! What a lovely introduction to James Becker's writings! The suspense grabs you in the beginning.. and takes you on one heckuva a ride!

I haven't looked yet.. but, I'm REALLY hoping.. that there are a whole batch of his books that I've not read. On my way to look and buy!

This is another of those Dan Brown wannabees that falls short. While the basic premise has some promise, and the historical beginning creates interest, once the chase is on you will find the story formulaic and occasionally even boring, the villains one dimensional and predictable, the story driven by unlikely coincidences, the hero and heroine pretty much the luckiest two people on Earth in escaping death, and no discernible mystery to speak of as that is dealt with much too early in the narrative.

While there is some interesting historical/Biblical information strewn throughout, this is nowhere near sufficient to make amends for the several shortcomings, or justify the time spent reading this other than as a very quick diversion from more challenging or engaging material. The DaVinci Code not withstanding, it takes a lot more than just an historical mystery to create a good novel, and this book proves it.

As with most folks, I read the reviews first before buying and I have to say for the most part they were spot on. The story was exciting; full of adventure, mystery, and intrigue. The characters were well defined although I do think there were one too many "teams" pursuing the "items" but that is being nit picky. Unlike Dan Brown's books where the man, usually Robert Langdon, is the all knowing one in regards to ancient history, symbols and religion. In this book it's the heroine, Angela, who is the all knowing archeologist who coaches Chris on the finer points of religious history. Overall I really enjoyed this book. Pretty fast paced, good story line, lots of twists and turns, decent ending. The only criticism I have about the ending is that I wish it left something unanswered. I wanted more, I wanted there to be a twist at the end. Maybe something along the lines of the Da Vinci Code with the pyramid. Regardless of the ending, it is still a very good book. One thing that Becker and Brown do better than others is their research. The way they go into great detail to describe people, places and things really brings the story to life. Other similar authors need to do more of this. I felt this was definitely lacking in the Exodus Quest. I also read a bit from James Becker's new book, The Messiah, that is provided in the back of The Moses Stone. That prologue is interesting as well. I will definitely be buying that one come December.

I would definitely recommend this book to others who like these types of religious mysteries. Next up....The Sanctuary by Raymond Khoury. The Last Templar was FANTASTIC, I hope The Sanctuary is as good. Of course they ruined The Last Templar with the mini-series which wasn't even in the same league as the book. Read The Moses Stone, read Dan Brown's last three books (Angels and Demons, Da Vinci and The Lost Symbol), and read The Last Templar!

This sophomore work is very similar in theme ,and in its overall merits ,to Mr Becker's debut novel "The First Apostle"and features the same protagonists.These are British cop Bronson and his ex wife ,museuem worker Angela, and as before they are on the track of an ancient artefact with the power to cause major disruption to the political situation of today.In this case it is an item smuggled out of Masada in the hours before the citadel fell to the besieging Romans in AD 70.It purports to point the way to the locataion of significant treasures ,of great monetary value but also political and religious significance to the various religionists of the Middle East .

Bronson first becomes involved in the case when sent to Morocco to look into the seemingly accidental death of two middle aged British tourists ,who have actually been murdered because they stumbled onto the location of a significant clue to the whereabouts of the treasure .Naturally other groups are keeen to lay their hands on the item,and these include Mossad ,Islamic fundamentalists ,a London criminal gang and a corrupt academic .The pursuit takes them to the tunnels under Jerusalem,the caves of Qumran and climaxes at Har Megiddo (Armageddon).

The pace is lively but Mr Becker has still not mastered the art of interpolating substantial and accurate historical research into his books without slowing down the pace and coming over as pedantic and "lecturely".The passages of pedagoguey are clunky and detract from its overall impact.

The book is an enjoyable read and will give enjoyment but is not in the top drawer of its genre

I really enjoy a good action/adventure/mystery, but they've been hard to find of late. If it adds in archeological elements, even better. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I found that I didn't mind the exposition, and felt it was done gracefully. The two groups of villains that were after the stones were a little weak. A little thin and cookie-cutter, but not to the point of distraction.

The ONE THING that bothered me in the end was how the author put great effort in differentiating what beliefs were Jewish, Christian and Muslim and appropriate for the knowledge of the Jews who hid the stones. Then, he turns around and has them find them in a place thru a New Testament, (read Christian) reference. Really? That's the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars. 5 stars for the genre, not for all books in general.

I agree that this is a book which might have been better had it been edited properly and the plot been more adventurous. All-in-all, when I finished reading this story I had a feeling of "Is that all there is?" It was like a hastily made TV movie with little substance with an uninteresting ending.

I really enjoyed reading this novel. The storyline was catchy and intense, pulled me in and kept me wondering and guessing throughout the experience. The story was very well written and I felt like I was running through tunnels with Bronson and Angela on the hunt always narrowly escaping with my life. The one aspect I disliked at no fault to the author was the amount of spelling and grammatical errors that seemed to make it through the editing and publishing process. At any rate I have started reading another book by James Becker and I am sure it will be just as much of a thrill. If you like books by Dan Brown (my favorite author) you will really enjoy this reading.

an overall very good story line - a little slow in places. Good historical content, but the characters were not well developed.