Friday, March 14, 2014

Review | "Cauldron of the Lost Ancestors" by Tom Bane

Cauldron of the Lost Ancsetors by Tom Bane
Action/Adventure published March 14, 2014
Tom Bane Publishing
Author's website  |  Goodreads  |  Buy the Book on Amazon

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Following the audacious theft of the world's most precious diamond, Suzy da Silva becomes entangled in an epic struggle against the forces of evil, as she attempts to unlock the code to a spellbinding mystery that connects the grail romances of Avalon, the enigmatic Shroud of Turin and the pagan beliefs of the ancient Celtic Druids. Suzy da Silva and her trusty sidekick, astrophysicist Tom Brooking are swept into a deadly game of cat and mouse, as they fight against the forces of military cyber warfare, martial assassins and a shadowy religious sect with access to immense power and untold resources.


My Thoughts...
It's been probably about a year and a half since I reviewed the first book in this series, Masks of the Lost Kings.  I really enjoyed that book primarily because Suzy is an archaeologist and that's always been a subject that fascinates me.  Even though the story in that book veered from archaeology I still enjoyed it because it wasn't so far off the mark.  I was expecting, by reading the title of this book, that this one would follow more along with Suzy's chosen profession....not so at all.  The only bit of archaeology we get in this book is in the first tiny bit where she is working in the field and gets a call to meet Professor Piper.

This book is certainly a whirlwind adventure for Suzy and Tom who is called in for some reason, but it's not at all what I expected.  At this point in time Suzy and Tom are no longer seeing each other due to the University telling them they can have no contact with each other.  This made no sense to me, but maybe it's something they can do at Oxford.  Essentially they have told Suzy that she won't be able to complete her doctoral program if they are even seen with each other.  Anyway, that's a non issue at this point, I guess.  So Piper pulls them both into this whole ordeal.  The only reason I could see for bringing Tom in was to get Suzy to do what they want her to.

Basically this whole story is fantastic.  Meaning, in this case, that it was very hard for me to swallow.  It's full of action and intrigue, but it's wholly unbelievable and gets even more so as it progresses. There are long action sequences and even longer scientific explanations for what's going on.  It's clear that some research has gone into the whole theory, but it's a little too fantastical for me I guess.  I had issues with the pacing and time lapse or what seemed like a lack of sufficient time for all these things to be happening. 

Overall, I liked the action and I think it had real potential, but there was just way too much going on.  So much of it didn't make enough sense for me to be fully engaged in the story.  Even now, I am finding it difficult to explain what the story was about because it's hard to pin point what exactly the plot was.  I found the idea of an archaeology doctoral candidate doing all of these things to be just a bit too much.  While I did enjoy Suzy's first adventure, this one just wasn't for me.

XOXO, Shelly

*Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of this book courtesy of the author in exchange for my honest review.*

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