For local guide Feyiz and his extended family, leading groups of climbers up Mount Ararat in Turkey is their business - from the gentler summer months of tramps, through to the more dangerous winter months they know the mountain and her secrets. When an earthquake storms across the mountain it causes an avalanche that smashes into Feyiz's village, and uncovers a secret that was buried under the snow and ice. In the aftermath of the earthquake it is a race against time for climbers and scholars to reach the earthquake site first, because the first people to arrive will be able to lay claim to the greatest archaeological find in modern history - a wooden vessel buried on Mount Ararat, a vessel that many believe may be Noah's Ark.
Everyone who rushed to the mountain has their own motives for being there - and not all of them are as pure as the white snow that coats the mountain. Ben Walker has been sent to Mount Ararat along with a scholar priest and a UN observer, and none of them are particularly welcome. The mountain is a hive of activity with people from all fields of science eager to see the wooden structure and any treasures it may hold - but Walker and his team arrive not long after the remains in the coffin are found. The leaders of the team are keen to keep the remains under wraps, including from most of the team, and once Walker sees the remains he can understand why - they don't look human.
As the weather closes in the group finds themselves trapped on the mountain. It's not so bad at first, despite the freezing conditions they can carry on with their work - but then the first people disappear. The first can be explained away as people wanting to leave and taking their chance despite the storm, but then others disappear. As tensions rise and people start acting with desperation the team starts running out of choices, and clutches at any hope of escape from the increasingly creepy and dangerous mountain. Can Walker and the rest of the team make it off the mountain safely, or will they be picked off one-by-one until there is no one left?
2020 has been a pretty solid year of reading crime and rereading favourites for me, so I thought I would branch out a little and read an author I used to read - and after years of reading his Buffy the Vampire Slayer novels, Christopher Golden seemed like a good choice. When I borrowed it from the local library I almost didn't read it after all because it had a horror label on it - but I am very glad I persevered. This was one of the few novels I have read this year where I did not want to put it down, wanting to read it in one sitting as it was so addictive.
This is one of those books where reviewing too much ruins the little twists and surprises that make it such a good book. The mythology is well thought out and described, and the characters are well developed and well rounded - easy to see as people rather than just characters on a page. A great read, and I am looking forward to reading more like it from Christopher Golden.
If you like this book then try:
Reviewed by Brilla
- Deceptions by Kelley Armstrong
- Eight million gods by Wen Spencer
- Dark descendant by Jenna Black
- Moon called by Patricia Briggs
- Spiders bite by Jennifer Estep
- Prowlers by Christopher Golden
- Dead witch walking by Kim Harrison
- Blood price by Tanya Huff
- Children of the night by Mercedes Lackey
- Cast in shadow by Michelle Sagara
Reviewed by Brilla
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