“Action Adventure that packs a punch!”

Regular readers of this blog will know that I love a book that can transport you away to a far-off land or make-believe world. I also love a book that is well written and engaging, with believable characters and a fast plot. I also enjoy discovering a new author and devouring their work!

Exodus fulfils everything I look for in a book! As the engaging strap-line on the author’s website says – the book is “A desperate race to find the Ark of the Covenant – and save the world from a devastating Holy War”

Exodus follows the ARKANE agent and psychologist Dr Morgan Sierra, as she races to find the real Ark of the Covenant before her nemesis, the mercenary Natasha can uncover it. The ‘good versus evil’ theme rampages through the book at a fast pace and draws you in – I found myself staying up late to read ‘one more chapter’ in the desire to find out what happened next!

The book has quite an ‘adult’ content in terms of the ritual killings and sacrifices that are described in quite gory detail – which for me only added to the ‘reality’ of the book and its storyline.

One of the author’s real skills lies in her ability to paint a wonderful picture of the many locations and settings of the book – rich details and intricate observations bring the story to life – you can really believe that this author has visited Sigmund Freud’s house and the ancient temples and city of Petra, and of course Jerusalem itself. The book is well researched and cleverly compiled, facts about Freemasonry and clever Biblical references intermingle with a fictitious storyline to great effect. The author seems to have a genuine respect and understanding of history and culture rarely exhibited in a novel of this type:

“Avi wondered whether the final allegiance must be to the city itself, which stood above and beyond faith, for there could be no absolute truth when the layers of history and culture mingled so deeply. The city was built on death, cutting into its own body and self-harming until the blood of generations seeped into the earth.”

The main character is a believable heroine, complete with doubts, bruises and determination. You find yourself really warming to her plight and cheering her on as she travels doggedly across an ancient landscape engaged in halting a modern day holy war.

The book is the third in the Arkane series by J F Penn – or Joanna Penn as we know her on her excellent The Creative Penn site – and I can highly recommend the first two books in the series too:

So if you want a fast-paced and enjoyable set of books to read this Christmas – look no further!

You can find out more about the author on her website J F Penn Ancient Mystery, Modern Thrill

(This book was sent to me by the author – but my review and comments are entirely my own and I have thoroughly enjoyed all three of the Arkane series of books)

I can also recommend the author’s website The Creative Penn for no nonsense advice and guidance on writing, publishing and marketing your own book. Who knows – maybe 2013 will be the year you write your own bestseller!