The Ark by Boyd Morrison

In The Ark, Dilara Kenner, an archaeologist, is contacted by family friend Sam Watson with information regarding her missing father and his quest for Noah's Ark. He also mentions that the lives of millions of people are at stake. All of a sudden Watson takes ill and collapses. As he lays dying, he tells Dilara she must contact Tyler Locke before the world is destroyed. Dilara finds Locke on an oil rig and together they realize that they have just seven days to find the Ark and save civilization before it's wiped out again.

Great book! It's an action lover's dream. From the very first page to the last, it's wall-to-wall action. I barely had enough time to catch my breath in between action scenes. The book was so compelling, I really had a hard time putting it down. The most interesting parts for me were the sections specifically about Noah's Ark, the speculation surrounding it. and the Bible's version of the story. I think the author's theory regarding The Ark was interesting and mostly plausible.

Besides the Noah's Ark element, the book also contained a bizarre plot, a calculating madman, and some fascinating technologies that were fun to read about. The author detailed some of these objects in the afterword stating which are real and which are products of his imagination. To his credit, I would have been hard pressed to tell you which ones were which before I read that section.

I liked all of the characters (including the bad guys), but my favourite was definitely Tyler. He relied not only on his physical skills, but also on his keen sense of observation. His camaraderie with his buddy Grant provided some laugh-out-loud funny moments. I really enjoyed reading about the two of them.

New word:
klaxon (page 299): siren

Boyd Morrison, the author, appears to be a real renaissance man. Besides being an industrial engineer (Ph.D.) formerly employed by NASA, Microsoft and RCA, he's also a Jeopardy! champion, actor and writer. I hope he can find the time to write more books like this one.

Highly recommended. If you like the action and subjects in James Rollins's books, I'm sure you'll like this one, too.

For more information about this book or to browse inside, please visit Simon & Schuster's website.

For more information about the author and his other books, please visit Boyd Morrison's website.

I'd like to thank those nice people at Simon & Schuster for this review copy.

The Ark: A Novel by Boyd Morrison, Touchstone (Simon & Schuster), ©2009. ISBN 9781439198674(Trade Paperback), 420p.