Storyline re Ark is too well known & overplayed!! ( )

El padre Anthony Fowler, espía del servicio secreto del Vaticano, cumple el encargo de encontrar a un antiguo criminal nazi que ha permanecido oculto durante décadas. Debe recuperar un objeto que años atrás había pertenecido a una familia judía víctima del Holocausto. El hallazgo, no obstante, será el desencadenante de una aventura que le llevará hasta el desierto de Jordania.

Junto con un grupo de seleccionados (entre los que se encuentra Andrea Otero, periodista española y vieja conocida del padre) Fowler formará parte de la expedición Moisés, promovida por un misterioso millonario estadounidense. Su cometido no será otro que encontrar el Arca de la Alianza: una misión excitante en la que tendrán que lidiar con las inclemencias naturales del desierto, con los impedimentos gubernamentales y, sobre todo, con el traidor que se encuentra entre ellos.

La crítica ha dicho:
«Respira hondo antes de empezar a leer. No volverás a tener tiempo hasta el final».
Javier Sierra

«Un thriller cardíaco, repleto de dos mil años de intriga en Oriente Próximo».
Katherine Neville, autora de El Ocho

175-10

Father Anthony Fowler is on a mission: to find a candle stolen from a Jewish family that contains an ancient map of where the Ten Commandments are located. No sooner does he find it than he is swept up in an archeological expedition to find the lost Ark of the Covenant, and finds himself surrounded by archeologists, an out-of-work journalist whose life he once saved, a reclusive billionaire and bloodthirsty soldiers guarding the group while they work in a remote Jordanian valley. Among them is a traitor with ties to a terrorist group in the United States, patiently waiting for the perfect moment to destroy them all.

The book is intriguing, peopled with diverse people at war with one another, and the plot is fairly face paced. At points, it was difficult to remember who was who on the doomed expedition because of the large cast of characters. Fortunately, the author provided a cast listing in the back of the book, which helped immensely.

I also found some of the storytelling clunky. For example, after certain characters are introduced, there are large chunks of backstory given that seem unnecessary (though interesting) and slow the pace of the main plot. (I don't know if this is more standard in European thrillers than American ones; if so, that explains the issue.) I also found some of the prose to be awkward. However, this is a translation, which may explain some of the awkward wording.

Even with these weaknesses, I was engrossed in the story. Gomez-Jurado uses the thriller genre to portray the brutal face of prejudice, racism, and bigotry, deftly showing how humans create enemies. We strip others of their humanity, place our own inner evils upon them, and create a non-person that we can kill without reservation or remorse. He quotes Sam Keen's poem "How to Create an Enemy":

When your icon of the enemy is complete
you will be able to kill without guilt,
slaughter without shame.

The thing you destroy will have become
merely an enemy of God, an impediment
to the sacred dialectic of history.

Something to ponder when we hear news of wars, terrorist attacks, and the slaughter of innocent people. Something to ponder, too, when we find ourselves hating others and considering them to be the enemy.
( )

While not a book I would normally pick up I found this rather and interesting read. I enjoyed the characters quite a bit. The story was intriguing because of the different places the novel took me; from New York City, to Vienna, to Jordon. ( )