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The Lost Tomb (Jack Howard #3)
For centuries, people have speculated about the fabled lost libraries of antiquity. If one were found, what marvels would it contain? Now a fearless team of adventurers is about to unearth that long-hidden secret, and it will lead them to the most astonishing discovery ever made.
In the treacherous waters off the rugged Sicilian coast, marine archaeologist Jack Howard and h...more
In the treacherous waters off the rugged Sicilian coast, marine archaeologist Jack Howard and h...more
Mass Market Paperback, 512 pages
Published
November 4th 2008
by Dell
(first published January 1st 2008)
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My rant...only read if you have time and patience :-)
Update - have completed and I think that, overall, it was enough to keep me entertained (somewhat) - but I am really starting to dislike these novels that feel like they part text book - I buy these books for enjoyment/entertainment - not because I wish to become an armchair expert in topic area. It forces the author to create a bumbling, sidekick character that is always having things explained to him/her in minute detail - plea...more
Update - have completed and I think that, overall, it was enough to keep me entertained (somewhat) - but I am really starting to dislike these novels that feel like they part text book - I buy these books for enjoyment/entertainment - not because I wish to become an armchair expert in topic area. It forces the author to create a bumbling, sidekick character that is always having things explained to him/her in minute detail - plea...more
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The blurb on the back says "think Indiana Jones crossed with Dan Brown." I appreciate not everyone would see this as praise, and I know it is one of many "artefact-hunt" type books that have sprung up since The Da Vinci code. However, for me the difference here is the subject matter, dealing with the Roman Empire, specifically around the time of Claudius and the Birth of Jesus - the Last Gospel being reputedly a scroll written by Jesus himself, and the author's knowledge of h...more
Linn
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Everyone interesting in these sorts of books
Recommended to Linn by:
No one
This book is one of his best that I’ve read so far. Once I started reading it I just couldn’t put it away.
I have to admit though that it almost took me a year before I even started reading it due to loads of things to do in no time at all.
Through the years, or books, you’ve gotten to know the characters quite well. You have started to see yourself as one of them and really live with them. At least that’s what I did. For the past 13 years I’ve wanted to become an archaeologist...more
I have to admit though that it almost took me a year before I even started reading it due to loads of things to do in no time at all.
Through the years, or books, you’ve gotten to know the characters quite well. You have started to see yourself as one of them and really live with them. At least that’s what I did. For the past 13 years I’ve wanted to become an archaeologist...more
With this book, its the author that brings the story down. It tries to imitate works by Dan Brown but falls short in many aspects. The ideas were fascinating, the plot intriguing, but I think it would have been told better in the hands of another author (like Dan Brown). The book never really came to life.
1. Characters: All characters were lacking in any depth or charisma. Plus the characters all seemed to have the same voice. Long conversations got confusing to try and figure o...more
1. Characters: All characters were lacking in any depth or charisma. Plus the characters all seemed to have the same voice. Long conversations got confusing to try and figure o...more
If you have a penchant for diving, archeology and the Ancient this is probably a book you would enjoy. I didn't find myself particularly caring about the characters or what would happen to them. It's an ok read, but didn't find myself particular eager to find out what would happen in the story. The story is essentially about the importance of networking and it does seem somewhat formulaic with the plot. You can't really compare it to Dan Brown at all, as you don't feel the suspense or really on ...more
Ridiculous! As an essay on an alternative early history of Christianity it is quite interesting but as a novel it's just silly. There are so many plainly ludicrous things that "may have happened" that it's hard to tell if the more believable things are true or also made up by the author. The whole Catholic church conspiracy theory thing is not exactly original these days either. The other problem with this book as a novel is that there are no twists or surprises at all. From the title ...more
Lost Tomb has the generic thriller formula. Avid explorers find a hidden clue in history that leads them on a chase around the world hoping to find an answer to the mystery. The difference with this book is that it is much more like a history lesson than a thriller. The main character, Jack, spends too much time seeing history pass in front of his eyes as he stands in a historical place and explaining the history to his partner Costas. Costas' main purpose seems to be to ask questions to prompt ...more
There is a tried and true formula to these types of books: A clue reveals the possibility of some ancient artifact or truth that will change the world, but to find this most-sought after item will require a group of intrepid explorers and scientists to find the next clue(s) in remote locations around the globe. To get these clues involves thrilling, near death escapes and the genius ability to piece together obscure clues. These teams are also being pursued by violent cabals who have for hundred...more
Like the quote on the front says, it is a combination of Indiana Jones and Dan Brown. It showed me that I need to learn more about Roman/Greek history...
I think the story line was pretty good, and it was nice to read an adventure story without a lot of cussing and sex.
I saw that a lot of the reviewers here kept picking on the amount of detail in the book. I think a lot of it was necessary, especially for people like me who are not as familiar with Greek/Roman history....more
I think the story line was pretty good, and it was nice to read an adventure story without a lot of cussing and sex.
I saw that a lot of the reviewers here kept picking on the amount of detail in the book. I think a lot of it was necessary, especially for people like me who are not as familiar with Greek/Roman history....more
The basic premise (and I’m not giving anything away here) is that the roman emperor Claudius faked his death to escape the torment of being a disabled roman emperor and lived his later years in secret writing books about various things including his conquest of Britain. Well it was his scribe, narcissus, that wrote them and he also faked his own death to be with his master. Claudius was in Herculaneum at the time of the Vesuvius eruption (nice segway from the last book I read - and that was not ...more
There is an interesting adventure story at the heart of this book, but the writing is tedious. The many long, descriptive passages made this book difficult to read. This is the 2nd Jack Howard book I have read by this author, and this one was an easier read than the first one. Atlantis had so many complicated descriptions that I couldn't even begin to picture what the author was talking about at several points. The Lost Tomb wasn't quite as wordy, but I feel that it still could have done with...more
First, the title is incorrect in the GoodReads list. It is The Lost Tomb, not The Last Gospel.
Second, it was a mediocre book. I will limit my rants to a couple of key factors; there are too numerous to really list here. My biggest problem with it is that the main character, Jack Howard, arrived at so many conclusions based on nothing more than conjecture. "Claudius could have done this" and "Boudica might have heard of that" and the like. He discovered things...more
Second, it was a mediocre book. I will limit my rants to a couple of key factors; there are too numerous to really list here. My biggest problem with it is that the main character, Jack Howard, arrived at so many conclusions based on nothing more than conjecture. "Claudius could have done this" and "Boudica might have heard of that" and the like. He discovered things...more
C2008. With my penchant for fantasy and science fiction, one would not think that I would dislike a plot due to its blatant impossibility. First couple of chapters were good and well written but as soon as the "secret"/"mystery" started to be brought into it - well.....literally "lost the plot". As stated in the author' notes "The idea that Claudius should have faked his own death, disappeared with his freedman Narcissus and survived in secret for all those yea...more
Unfortunately this book was bogged down with too much history Fact/Fiction. The idea was very good but at times it was too much like a lecture with a thin line of action linking it together. There is no doubt he is a clever writer however he does need to think who he is writing for and what genre the book should be. The book could have been so much better. Disappointing not an easy read.
WOw! WHat a poor read this was. The author had the most awkward style of writing that I almost quit reading. TOo bad I didn't quit, as it went downhill from there. Implausabilities abound. Loose ends by the bushel. Would rather have a bone marrow biopsy than fight through another one like this.
Never quite gripping and the global travelogue (over apparently a couple of days) smacks of severe contrivance. That, plus the extended city guides and archeological/ancient historical lecturing gets to you quite quickly - not sure whether it is factual or not(?). The diea isn't bad and the religious angle is handled relatively sensitively.
This was another of those adventure novels that is set part present day, part in the distant past, that have become popular in recent years. It is a reasonable tale set among quite a lot of waffle. I'm not a massive fan of this genre, but if you are you may like it.
Nikki
rated it
So, I was not able to complete this historically based class I did not sign up for. Info dump based, I'm assuming, on this authors personal knowledge. Way too much telling. Not for me~ Other 2 and 1 star reviewers say it all. I didn't like it~
While an interesting premise, as other reviewers have said the author tends to lecture on areas that the reader needs to know to follow the conspiracy. I enjoy the characters in these novels, and will definitely read the next book in the series, whenever it is released.
A more sophisticated Dan Brown-type story. Again we follow the clues from Naples to Rome to London to California and then the Holy Land.... and avoid the 'baddies' lurking somewhere in the Vatican. The Emperor Claudius, Pliny, King Herod and Jesus all star in this very plausible tale. And when you study the credentials of the author, it is little wonder that the story sounds viable. A PhD from Cambridge University and a world authority on undersea archeology, David Gibbins is able to produce rea...more
A good read with some interesting facts incorporated within. Did drag in some places though and wasn't an easy read throughout. Dan Brown mystery vs Harrison Ford action would best describe it.
This is pure fun. I like the idea that the author actually is an archeologist and this is the fun side... making up pieces from a grain of truth! The writing is clean and easy to follow. I would call this a summer beach book.
I am a fan of historical fiction, but this book was a little heavy on the historical for me. Gibbons makes interesting connections between myth and fact in his stories, but I found myself flipping through more pages than I was reading. I still enjoyed the book, but I much prefer his earlier novel Atlantis.
too much 'history' not enough action or tension for my liking. Crusader Gold was much better and I still want to get my hands on Atlantis but I don't think I would recommend this
Critics claimed it was something like Dan Brown books... but with a mix of Indiana Jones...
This is the third book of a series in which and arecheologist / scientist goes around the globe trying to solve the quest...
This book was better than the first two books of the "series"
On this book they are looking for a manuscript that claimed to be dictated by Jesus himself...
The author appears to be very knowledgable about archeological terms... ...more
This is the third book of a series in which and arecheologist / scientist goes around the globe trying to solve the quest...
This book was better than the first two books of the "series"
On this book they are looking for a manuscript that claimed to be dictated by Jesus himself...
The author appears to be very knowledgable about archeological terms... ...more
Another interesting book from this author. I love the way he manages to link Claudius, the Roman emperor with early Christianity.
Lugubrious and sometimes tedious—there are still enough interesting ideas and ‘good parts’ to get you to the end. There are very long sections of history lesson and bogus (I think) mythology, but some of the ideas are interesting. Gibbins is obviously a diver and loves the sport. In his books, he gets carried away with the techno-babble to a point where you will find yourself skipping ahead. As for writing action sequences—no one tops Clive Cussler. Come on . . . you know I’m right. I love archa...more
historical fiction about the search for the lost gospel of st. paul and jesus' own writing
I am a very real patient reader. But, after three novels for Divid Gibbens I have to confess that Gibbens need more than patience to read his novels. Each novel includes about 1/3 its volume about the diving and how to dive in uncommon places under irregular conditions. Sometimes, I fill that Gibbens wrote "Archeological Diving for Dummies".
The worst is that, a novel about the lost Gosbel without any discussion for the Gosbel development or how it came to us.
I have to think...more
The worst is that, a novel about the lost Gosbel without any discussion for the Gosbel development or how it came to us.
I have to think...more
It was an interesting read-but had some parts that were hard to keep track of.
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Canadian-born underwater archaeologist and novelist. Gibbins learned to scuba dive at the age of 15 in Canada, and dived under ice, on shipwrecks and in caves while he was still at school. He has led numerous underwater archaeology expeditions around the world, including five seasons excavating ancient Roman shipwrecks off Sicily and a survey of the submerged harbour of ancient Carthage. In 1999-...more
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