My blurb …
| Series | Dead Sea Chronicles, #2 |
| Genre | Christian, Mystery |
| Pub. Date | 23 Aug 2022 |
| Pages | 321 |
| Publisher | Worthy Publishing, Worthy Books |
| Cover | Eye-catching |
| Rating | 3.5 stars |
Archaeologist Nicole Berman is the first woman to be granted a permit to lead a dig in Saudi Arabia. She leaves America not long after her mother died. Or was it a natural death?
The team assembled has two new members after sudden last-minute withdrawals. One she knows well. She hopes the dig will prove that a Biblical figure lived in this location. If proven, it would seriously affect several major religions.
A parallel story is one of the young Abram (he would become Abraham) and begins in the ancient city of Ur. His ancestors, still living, were on Noah’s Ark.
My review …
I read and have in my library the complete “Left Behind” series, so I expected to really like this book.
A lot.
It’s a bummer I didn’t.
The chapters are short and most of the first half has one chapter in 2019 and the next occurs four millennia earlier; i.e., 4,000 years ago. The short chapters make it easy to keep track of what is happening in both periods.
The characters in what I’ll call the “Ur Period” were based on the Bible. Abraham is a key figure in religions for the Christians, Jews, and Muslims. And the story begins when Abram is a young boy hiding with his mother in a cave because King Nimrod wants him dead believing the child is a threat to his throne. This is also the same time period the Tower of Babel was being constructed.
I loved the “Ur” sections of the book. To be reminded of Abram’s early life. He was a miracle baby for his parents. But … his father was a maker of idols although he had been raised to believe in and honor the One True God. And he was also one of King Nimrod’s right-hand men.
So what’s the problem …
The chapters taking place in 2019 before and during the dig … well, I found Nicole to be rather one-dimensional. Her mother has just died and the circumstances are dubious. An NYC police detective travels with her to the dig as her bodyguard. THAT should have told her to be wary but she is terribly naive. The acceptance of a woman leading a dig in Saudi Arabia? Even when a person has been found to have lied about their credentials, Nicole still doesn’t “get it” that she is in danger and so is the dig. One Saudi official (the kind you’d *never* buy a used car from) — she thinks is handsome. Really?
Mr. Jenkins provides the clues to the reader so that WE are suspicious of people, events, et al. But Nicole never clues in. I found myself reading faster during the modern period and relishing the 4,000 years ago era.
The current era plot was believable. It was interesting reading how a new dig begins. Are the characters believable? Some were, some weren’t. Why were project assignments not determined until at the dig site? She arrives at the dig and a “computer” tech hasn’t been assigned. And computers are very much needed in today’s digs. Was she just assuming someone would “know” computers?
Dead Sea Conspiracy can be standalone although it is #2 in the Dead Sea Chronicles series. I have the first book, “Dead Sea Rising” but being behind in reviews I did not read it first. The short description for that book reads “Nicole Berman is an archaeologist on the brink of a world-changing discovery. Preparing for her first dig in Jordan, she believes she has found concrete evidence of a biblical patriarch that could change history books forever. But someone doesn’t want the truth revealed. While urgently trying to connect pieces of an ancient puzzle, a dangerous enemy is out to stop her.” Not that much different from book #2’s description. I will eventually read book #1 and hopefully like her character better.
I received a complimentary e-ARC copy of Dead Sea Conspiracy via NetGalley from the publisher, Worthy Publishing, Worthy Books. A positive review was not required; the opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
Rating: 3.5 stars rounded to 3 stars for sites using only whole numbers.
#DeadSeaConspiracy #NetGalley #JerryBJenkins
