Tomb of the First Priest

A Lost Origins Novel, Book 1

De: Antony Davies

Narrado por: Rahshan Wall

The ancient world is not what we thought.

In the city of Prague, freelance treasure hunter Jules has finally located the bangle stolen from his dying mother, an artifact that may unravel a centuries-old secret: the location of an ancient tomb hidden from the world by one of Christ's disciples.

But when a reclusive, ruthless billionaire beats him to the artifact, Jules joins forces with an institute of unconventional archaeologists who reveal to him clues penned two thousand years ago. Clues that support the claim his mother's bangle holds properties that science cannot explain.

And Jules appears to be the only person who can activate them—a responsibility that will tempt him toward the dark path he has avoided all his life.

As both parties race to decipher the bangle's origins, they uncover a trail meant only for the holiest of men, leading to an apostle's manuscript, the hunt for a tomb alleged to conceal great power, and a breathless, globe-trotting adventure that threatens to destroy them all.

If you enjoy the Dirk Pitt novels by Clive Cussler, James Rollins' Sigma Force books, or the Ben Hope series by Scott Mariani, you'll love this new international action adventure thriller.

From Prague to London, Europe to Asia, Tomb of the First Priest launches the Lost Origins series, each book charting a new story exploring gaps in humanity's long history.

©2020 A. D. Davies (P)2023 W. F. Howes Ltd

Decent story, so-so narration

(Very mild spoilers)

This kind of story - historical mysteries, relics & treasures, lost tombs, and forgotten temples - is my jam.

The story is pretty good overall, and the writing was decent (not very amateurish). However, I struggled with 2 things:
1) I had difficulty relating to the main character, and 2) the narrator's performance was, for lack of a better term, uneven.

The main character, Jules, seems superhuman at first. He does complex "A Beautiful Mind" calculations instantly in his head, and seems to be an expert at almost everything, at age 23. I'm not a fan of this - it makes him seem unrealistic and unrelatable.

However, we eventually learn that Jules is on the autism spectrum, and struggles to connect and interact with people. That helps explain some things, but I don't know if it completely make up for everything, either.

Regarding the narrator, he does *some* voices very well, and seems to do best with dialogue. For example, Jules is a young black man from New York - he absolutely nails this voice... But another character, Bridget, is a Southern Belle, and he narrates her with the exact same voice as he does with Jules. It's impossible to tell them apart.

However, during segments of description/exposition, he seems to speak with an almost robotic cadence that was hard for me to follow, sometimes placing the emphasis in a sentence in a strange place.

Overall it's not bad, but this might be one of those books that would be better in print format.