One last dig. One final descent into the twisted tunnels of ancient Jerusalem. Will the truth be found among the treasures that lie beneath the holy city?
Treasure, the dangerous Middle East, romance, jet setting. If you set writing a book with these elements, you are raising the bar of expectations to the maximum but Indiana Jones it ain't.
So to answer the original question, yes the truth was found.... that this book does not deliver what it promises.
The background of the authors (Grant R. Jeffery & Alton L. Gansky) are that they are biblical scholars.
(Alarm bells should be ringing because biblical scholars and fiction writing usually do not mix ....expect for Son of Perdition by Wendy Alec, I whole hearty recommend you read that book)
Grant R. Jeffery has sold millions of books worldwide honing in on people's fascination with the prophecy's that lie in the Bible, end times and the hysteria over the year 2012.
Jeffery should stay with writing his texts about biblical archaeological theories and definitely not placing them into his novels. It just does not work. It cheapens them.
Back to The Scroll, it is not well written or well presented. You just do not believe in the characters, you can tell that the author is using them as a tool to explain his theories about the Bible. For example, when a character who is introduced that knows nothing about either, archaeology or the Bible queue page after page of the 'intellgent' archaeologist explaining (patronising) the reader and the poor newbie character by revealing everything in detail. Boring.
The subject matter did not bore me as I have studied archaeology in the past, it is actually the method that the author has used that grates on me.
Either write a book about your theories about bible prophecy with side notes for evidence, or write a novel that is constructed in a way that you can believe the story first and let the reader muse about the archaeological findings or possible hidden theories later.
Good points: The Scroll is short ... oh ok...something positive... it has a flashes of strong points where you start to believe the main characters' (Dr. David Chambers) struggle about losing his faith in God however the like ability is dashed the moment Chambers expands his theories on archaeology and there is no sympathy for him because of his bitterness about his fiance leaving him. I personally think she had a lucky escape!
Bad points: There is no humour in the book. It's predictable, tame and the price of £8.01 (Kindle edition) is far too much to ask.
In summary: There are some twists and turns but all are predictable. I was very disappointed. I wanted to like the book but the main character is arrogant, argumentative and bitter towards rival archaeologists (which made me laugh ironically) and ex-lovers. The Scroll is a monotone story blurted out over a couple two dozen chapters failing to deliver on its promise of gold, guns and glamour. A poor 1/5.
No comments:
Post a Comment