Pyramid

by Tom Martin

A heady mix of action-thriller and adventure featuring codes, cartography, and ancient civilizations In case I don’t return. Eureka 40 10 4 400 30 9 30 70 100 5 200 30 10 40 1 80 5 100 400 40 10 50 10 200 300 100 8 70 9 1 50 300 10 20 800 10 300 10 200 0051172543672 An eminent Oxford professor is murdered—but the authorities are calling it a suicide. Beautiful young don Catherine Donovan refuses to believe the official verdict, especially after she receives a cryptic note sent just before the professor's death, along with a collection of priceless antique maps. Teaming up with classicist James Rutherford, she embarks on a journey which takes them from the dreaming spires of Oxford to the ancient wonders of Peru and Egypt. With a deeply sinister organization determined to stop them, can Catherine and James unlock the mystery of the ancients before they become the killers' next victims? And can it really be possible that these clues are warning of an imminent cataclysm—one that puts even more than their lives in peril?

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Adventure, Mystery, Action, Historical, Suspense

440 pages, Paperback

First published December 7, 2007

Reviews

[Raluca Daniela · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was really bad, for several reasons.

First of all, the style in which the book was written was a really childish one, as if it was underestimating the reader's intelligence. There was a lot of beating around the bush, pretty obvious foreshadowing and tons of really badly or cliche constructed sentences (the last one might have been a bit due to the translation too, though). All clues were hinting to a certain direction, yet the action took quite some time to take off. The plot itself was quite simplistic and predictable. It sort of resembled that of a typical episode of the series Relic Hunter (which I used to love some years ago) - only it was much, much worse and felt suited for those action novels thirteen year-old kids who just discovered the joys of reading would read.

Second of all, the characters were really typical and bland. For some Oxford professors, both Catherine and James were terribly stupid. Whenever clues were presented, they went all 'Oh', 'Wow' and 'Amazing', believing everything blindly, without checking a second or third source, yet rarely being able to analyze the clues further (when you, as a reader, pretty much understood where they were leading to). The rest of the characters - Bezumov, Hernan, Poimandres, the secretary and the senator - were all one dimensional, stereotypical, lacked actual motives or had really weak ones and seemed there only to advance the plot. Poimandres especially felt like a Deux ex Machina device, since he came out of nowhere, explained a lot and then got out of the plot by becoming useless through his wounds.

Third of all, what this book both reeked with, yet lacked at the same time, was documentation. A lot of the data the author gathered seemed quite forced, tempered with and purely invented. Sure, I as a reader get the idea that all these pieces of information need to lead somewhere, yet it is still annoying when they are presented as pieces of absolute evidence and nobody ever questions them. If everything was so obvious and easy to discover (as easy as it was for Catherine and James, who really didn't seem like intelligent fellows) then why hadn't anyone except the Corporation and Bezumov & the Professor discovered them yet?

Fourth of all, there was sooo much talk about an ancient technology without actually explaining how that had been possible, that you could really feel that the author had absolutely no idea himself how that worked and simply avoided giving any details about it. This became terribly annoying whenever the idea that the Great Pyramid was an ancient machine popped up. What did that machine do? How was it controlled and which principles was it using? There were only vague answers to this. I would have preferred the author to have avoided the idea completely instead of doing it half-assed like this.

To conclude with, this book really isn't worth the time and effort. The ending pretty much proved that - no conclusion was reached, bad guys were destroyed, good guys won without actually having done anything. Oh yeah, and guy got the girl.

[K. E. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.7⭐
"Ama en önemlisi, hiçbiri eğitim almak zorunda değildi, her biri kendini seçimi doğrultusunda uzmanlaştığı alanda çığır açacak bir keşif yapmaya adıyordu."

[Teodora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sincera sa fiu, când am început aceasta carte nu aveam așteptări mari. Ma gândeam ca o sa fie o lectura usoara dar a fost exact opusul :))).
Am aflat multe lucruri din istoria omenirii care m-au lăsat masca. Am descoperit ce înseamnă gematria și precesia, iar harta Piri Reis mi-a stârnit curiozitatea. Informațiile sunt bine explicate fiind ușor sa înțelegi povestea cum trebuie.
A fost atat de multă acțiune, încât nu am putut-o lasă din mana pana nu am terminat-o. Finalul a fost pe gustul meu, și cu siguranță o sa mai citesc cărți scrise de acest autor.
Eu va recomand cartea cu caldura, merita sa o încercati!

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I learned from this book? The question to ask of Tom Martin is not what you learn from him, but what you don't. Better yet, the question is whether it is conceivable that there might be enough in common between your pre- and post-having-tom-martin states that you could truthfully describe the transition between the two as a process of "learning", rather than, say, "birth". And the answer is "No".

[Claudiu · Rating 2 out of 5]

epigonii lui Dan Brown.
un roman de aventuri/conspiratii de vreo 300 de pagini, scris ca pentru clasa a saptea, cu multe episoade prea putin dezolvate. un roman care se vrea, dar nu este.

[Plum-crazy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly entertaining tale that zips along at a brisk pace, which sees beautiful young (aren't they always - couldn't we have a fat plain heroine for once?!!!) don Catherine Donovan teaming up with classicist James Rutherford (handsome? of course he is!). Solving the mystery of Professor Kent's cryptic note take the intrepid duo on a race round the world taking in Peru & Egypt on their travels.

While I did enjoy this story it follows the tried & tested formula of so many of this genre so there's no surprises here & once again I felt a bit let down by the ending.

However, Peru has always fascinated me & that made the book more appealing to me. I'd heard of the Nazca lines before but thought they were worth further investigation - & they certainly are amazing. See here- incredible eh?

[Kara Jorges · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oxford professor Catherine Donovan finds herself chasing around the globe trying to save the earth from certain destruction after her best friend, Professor Kent, is murdered in Peru. The authorities call it suicide, but it’s so unlike the professor, she is easily pulled into an investigation into what he was researching just before his death. Also drawn into the globe-hopping melee is James Rutherford, an expert on world mythology who had met the dead professor at a dinner party. Catherine and James’s quest takes them first to Peru and then on to the sands of Egypt, as they follow the clues in a set of old maps Professor Kent left behind. Catherine and James must run for their lives, as well, when two different enemies would do them in as they uncover the secrets of the ancients.

This book sounds like a decent adventure but falls far short of the mark. While the story moved along well enough to keep the pages turning, in the eleventh hour the whole thing simply fell apart. The entire adventure was completely pointless and the villains were downright laughable. There were also a number of glaring inconsistencies, such as two penny-watching academics who find a taxicab extravagant but think nothing of jetting off to first Peru and then Egypt on a whim. For a pair of learned individuals, they were woefully ignorant of a number of historical details any casual cable TV-watcher would know, as well. The whole effort had a rather careless, juvenile feel which would have been excusable had the ending delivered anything but head-scratching disappointment. The author simply gave up rather than follow through on several promises, and the attempt at irony at the end went over like a lump of lead. I might be able to recommend this book to a juvenile audience, but only after a long line of more worthy titles.

[Dora Okeyo · Rating 2 out of 5]

'So they have finally come for me after all these years.'

These are the only lines from the prologue that I believe would have made a great story.

I was disappointed by this book.
The plot got weakened by the characters, aside from Bezumov, none of the other characters have vitality. It's as though everything takes them by surprise.

So, before I continue whining, here's a short take of the story: Professor Kent is found dead, the authorities rule it as suicide, except for Catherine, who receives maps and a note from him saying 'In case I don't return, Eureka.'
So the hunt for the truth begins.

I believe that this book would have been more thrilling, if there was more to the characters, because though Catherine sets out on the journey to uncover the truth about Kent's death, she comes off as a air-head. James on the other hand, does seem more suited to giving lectures than listening closely, and what's it with their sudden romance and engagement? I didn't see that coming at all.

But, to look on the somehow bright side, with more time and editing, I reckon this story would make a great impression on me, and a very positive one as such, because there's nothing as thrilling as an adventure that's well laid out. A good plot can do wonders to a story.

So, it's 2 stars for the story idea and for seeing it through to publication.

[Zane · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pilnīgs sūds.

[Dave Livesey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good conspiracy book.
Lots of clever ideas.

[Eduan Slabbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I'm not sure what to say...

There's definitely a story there, and some interesting info, but this was definitely not enjoyable writing, not for me at least.

The clichés are too much, the pacing feels off, academics are geniuses and then suddenly toddlers...

I know this genre gets more than its fair share of critique, but this feels like it deserves a decent amount of it.

[Kozmokitap · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bu araştırmalar bizi Piri Reisin haritasına, Machu Picchu'ya, Inkalardan Piramitlere götürüyor. Dünyanın geçmişi ve geleceği, mitolojik ve dinsel efsaneler, astronomik ve bilimsel gerçekler çevresinde dönen harika , gizem dolu aksiyon -gerilim okuyoruz kitapta. Kesinlikle kitap okumak için harcadığım vakte ve emeğe değdi. Bana göre muhteşemdi .

https://kozmokitap.blogspot.com.tr/20...

[Sharon Hackett · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have never given a bad review of a book until now.
This has got to be the most badly written book I have ever read. It feels like it was written by a school boy trying to use as many adjectives as possible.
When the characters were thinking something it just seemed so childish.
There seem to be continuity errors such as when they left Peru with just passports and money and yet got out of the taxi in England with ruck sacks.
The story seems to take place over a period of 1 to 2 weeks and yet the characters who were complete strangers at the beginning get engaged at the end.
The book also seemed to be a series of lectures by the characters on how much they know about particular subjects.
The end seemed very rushed and I still don’t really know what it was really about.
It could have been a really good book.
I know I could definitely not do any better and so I don’t like to criticise but this is definitely one to miss.

[Martin Belcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very easy book to read, not too over complicated and builds a good tense thriller of a storyline from the very beginning, making you want to not put it down!

The story stretches from Oxford, England to South America and then to Egypt. The climax of the story in the great pyramid at Giza is just incredible and its just a shame that the author didn;t elaborate a bit more on the secrets kept under the pyramid.

A great book and I would definitely recommend it.

[Zac · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting idea and I love the theories that bind this story together, but the characters are drawn on a piece of A5 paper and do not speak truthfully about themselves. The ending, all I can say about the ending is that it is all over far too quickly after so much build-up. A valiant attempt, just not quite there.

[Rogerio Lopes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Histórico de leitura
11/10/2010
100% (304 de 304)
"Tá devo confessar que é mais legal que Código da Vince, com falhas e tudo, o problema é que o autor lançou muitos temas e na hora de desenvolve-los, bem o livro já tava longo demais.. Tb levemente ufanista e preconceituoso.. ah e de fato primeiro salvamos o mundo depois o affair rss mas foi mau desenvolvido..ou melhor muito certinho, pelo menos pros tempos modernos..Talvez o autor seja um tanto moralista.. Bem a mensagem anti-consumismo e materialismo é muito clara. Mas é uma leitura agradável, tanto que rss não larguei até acabar ontem as 3:20 da madruga.."
10/10/2010
66% (202 de 304)
"Melhorando, apesar de ainda soar clichê, mas o autor fez um picadinho de conspiração mundial, religiosa e apelo ecológico.. Até que está bem consistente..E apesar do affair dado a entender no inicio o casal tem se mantido na linha, parece que não vamos cair no romance barato.. primeiro salvar o mundo depois o resto de nossas vidas..rs"
10/10/2010
13% (40 de 304)
"Ughh nem 40 fls e já temos o romance água com açúcar montado??? Bem parece que homens quando escrevem romances são mais apressados, pq num livro similar escrito por uma mulher, bem, a heroína não se deixou seduzir no primeiro encontro rss"
10/10/2010
11% (33 de 304)
"Para uma história a lá Código Da Vince, bem clichê, até que tem umas tiradas interessantes..Não chega a dar desgosto de ler.. ritmo legal, formulinha básica, nossa linda heroína e em, breve o galã de meia idade, um certo preconceito contra os mais jovens rss mas vende.."

[Zeynep Gunduz Seyhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

🗿 yine aksiyon dolu bir @arkadyapolisiye kitabı ile karşınızdayım. Dan Brown sevenler #ölümcülşifre ye bayılacaktır 👌🏻 bende “da Vinci’nin şifresi”nden sonra bu tarz kitaplar bir Tutku halini aldı. Okurken bilmediğim bir çok şey öğrendim. Onları araştırırken daha da derinlere indim. Benim için tarifsiz bir haz oldu. Bir elimde kitap, diğerinde Google ile bitirdim kitabı. Doğal olarak biraz zaman aldı 🙈 aynı şeyi “lanet” kitabını okurken de yaşamıştım. .
🗿 gel gelelim kitaba. Profesör Catharine Oxford’da dönemin son dersini verirken, üzücü bir haber alır. Hem meslektaşı hem aile dostu olan profesör Kent , bir gezi sırasında ölmüştür. Yetkililer bunun bir intihar olduğunu söylese de Catherine buna pek ihtimal vermez. Çünkü elinde önemli bir kanıtı vardır: Profesör Kent’in kendisine gönderdiği not. Peki ama bunu nasıl ispat edecektir? Profesörün öldürülmesine sebep olacak büyük buluşu nedir? Başka kimler bu araştırmanın peşinde? . .
🗿 kitapta yolculuğum İnkalar ile başlayıp, piramitlerde son buldu. Piri reisin haritasından eski ahite kadar bir çok şey hakkında bilgi edindim. Ve gördüm ki tüm efsaneler aynı kaynaktan besleniyor. Bize ait sandığımız mitler her coğrafyada farklı isimler ile anlatılageliyor. .

[Swarna Meenaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pyramid by Tom MartinWhen the news of her dear friend, Prof Kent's death reaches Dr. Catherine Donovan, she is convinced there is more to it than she is told.As if by destiny, she meets Dr. Rutherford, a classicist, and together they chase the late professor's death trail, led by gematric clues.It takes them across continents- from the plush greens of the Oxford to the crowded streets of Peru to the sand dunes of the Saharan desert- running against time and invisible conspirators who don't hesitate to strike.They realize the depth of the professor's research on the existence of a greater civilization muchcontrasted by our orthodox history even as the insatiable desire for power drives the vested conspirators to Armageddon. Will Catherine and Rutherford avert the apocalypse that waits to strike humanity on the equinox?Martin gives the reader bounties of knowledge with a different perception. His stunning revelations make this historical thriller a page turner.

[Sharon Gallup · Rating 5 out of 5]

A professor is murdered and a young lady professor , who is a really good friend ,receives the news of the murder. The verdict is that the professor had committed suicide and she doesn't believe it. a little while later she receives a envelope of old maps and she decides to find out what the old maps mean that caused the professor to be murdered. She enlists another male professor to go with her. they travel through old countries that leads her to being chased and someone trying to kill her and her friend.
I found this book very interesting and at times i had to reread pages to get the full understanding of what was happening. the story line was excellent and the ending was a breath of fresh air.

[Urszula · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a very quick read. The story was progressing very nicely without any boring and drawn out parts.

I like all the characters - the good guys and the villains. There was good balance between all of them

So who build the pyramids? One school will say "the aliens of course!" :-) the other will say "the ancient civilization, which lived during the great flood and before the ice age" :-) Both could be true and both are impossible at this moment to prove

Either way, both make a great base for a story. So if you like the idea of an ancient, very advanced civilization, you will definitely enjoy this book

I have enjoyed this story from cover to cover

[Hristo Iliev · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always admired books which you can learn a lot of interesting information from and you can do so from Pyramid by Tom Martin. You dive into egiptology and the misteries of the Egyptian pyramids, and become aware of interesting coincidences with their measures and the measures of other destinations and monuments in the world. All that combined with thrilling crime scenes and much tensions and breath-taking moments! Having said that, Pyramid By Tom Martin offers an amazing plot rich in history and suspension, and is definitely worth it. Highly recommended! Would love to read it again!

[Bear · Rating 2 out of 5]

P. 264 “their rucksacks were gone - all they had with them now were their passports and their money.”
P. 276 “Opening the door for Catherine, and grabbing their rucksacks…”
WTF. Not sure how they magically retrieved their bags, which they lost in another country, in 12 pages.

This book is ridiculous. I read fantasy so I can suspend my disbelief; but this is just way too absurd even for me.
And the inconsistencies (such as the one above) just made it harder to keep going.
Ended up DNFing at 80%. I just didn’t care how it all ended.

[Gengis Kamimura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, mirabolante! Ótimo livro, me lembrou bastante Dan Brown, com muita ação, teorias fantásticas baseadas em muita pesquisa e conhecimento científico. Pra quem, como eu é cientista e fã de ficção (ficção, será?) é um prato cheio, aromático e apetitoso.
Alguns mistérios apresentados são realmente muito intrigantes e reais, fica difícil separar realidade e fantasia, por isso apesar do finalzinho meio bocó, é bem estimulante!

[Beatrice · Rating 1 out of 5]

What is the link between the death of an Oxford professor in Macchu Pichu and the pyramids of Giza? Catherine Donovan, the professor's protege, and another professor set off in hopes of resolving the mystery.

This is an incredibly poorly written novel, with a mishmash of mathematics, ancient legends and gratuitous violence. Very little suspense and badly resolved. Don't waste your time.

[Hilary Mccarthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining book that is easy to follow -apart from some of the theories .
A little predictable at times particularly the relationship between Catherine and James .
A typical book in the "we must find X and save the world " genre .
An undemanding adventure book which does keep the reader engaged .

[محمد هلال · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was taken by the cover and the title
I liked the speed of the events
Without any unneeded details
I liked the idea which was a question I asked my self long time ago when I realized the commen details between other ancient civilizations
But it was also a little bit weird when I got to the final scene at the great Pyramid
In general....... I enjoyed its informations.... And details

[Michael Morrison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairly inventive, but I do get tired of stories where the bad guys seem to be able to read minds and know everything the good guys are planning.
As bad is the frequent reference to the "Book of Revelations."
Yes, even some church signs get that wrong, but good writers and good editors know it is the "Book of Revelation," singular.
And the ending was rather corny.

[Maaya · Rating 1 out of 5]

At first the books was interesting, even if quite far fetched and cliche. I did enjoy the history and explanation of historical data, but the ending was so disappointing I can hardly believe it. All the ground set for the antagonist(s) was made redundant in half of a page and with such anticlimactic method! Truly disappointed.

[GiuliainParis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terribile, dalla scrittura alla trama. Una cacofonia di idee che fanno girare la testa. Troppa carne al fuoco per arrivare ad un unico risultato, scontato ed esagerato che si risolve anche troppo velocemente (dopo una preparazione di 300 pagine 😅) in 34 pagine finali. Una perdita di tempo colossale.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thie has been a slow read due to me being unwell abd not able to concentrate for a few days.
Ive liked the two main characters Catherine and James, but i wish this book had been more suspenseful.
It started well with the murder of an eminent oxford professor that Catherine knew , but it was very academic in its telling though i loved the historical
Side of the story.