The Emperor's Tomb

De: Steve Berry

Narrado por: Scott Brick

The tomb of China’s First Emperor, guarded by an underground army of terra-cotta warriors, has remained sealed for more than 2,000 years. Though it’s regarded as one of the greatest archaeological sites in the world, the Chinese government won’t allow anyone to open it. Why? That question is at the heart of a dilemma faced by former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone, whose life is shattered when he receives an anonymous note carrying an unfamiliar Web address. Logging on, he sees Cassiopeia Vitt, a woman who’s saved his life more than once, being tortured at the hands of a mysterious man who has a single demand: Bring me the artifact she’s asked you to keep safe. The only problem is, Malone doesn’t have a clue what the man is talking about, since Cassiopeia has left nothing with him. So begins Malone’s most harrowing adventure to date—one that offers up astounding historical revelations, pits him against a ruthless ancient brotherhood, and sends him from Denmark to Belgium to Vietnam then on to China, a vast and mysterious land where danger lurks at every turn.

©2010 Scott Berry (P)2010 Random House Audio

Boring.

Not his best work. Slow and hard to follow. Too confusing at times and easy to lose interest. Probably won't read another Cotton Malone book. All are too similar.

one long chase scene

Could not wait for the book to end, found the facts about chinese history very interesting,but the action became very boring.

obtuse story - very unbelievable

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I usually love Cotton Malone stories but this was awful. the story was very repetitive and so far out there that it was laughable.

What could Steve Berry have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

a more believable story line and not nearly so much repetition.

What about Scott Brick’s performance did you like?

Scott Brick was fantastic as always

Disappointing

I have not read/listened to much that is called "Thrillers". But I did enjoy a few this summer and thought that I might give some more a try. This book never caught me. There was just too much action and not enough character development. Maybe this is some people's cup of tea, but for a person new to this kind of fiction, it was a real disappointment.

Below average Berry Story

This is another Cotton Malone story involving ancient artifacts as keys to modern day political intrigue. This book is centered around China back to the time of the first emperor.Qin Shi and how artifracts are key to the succession to the leadership of China. As usual, Berry provides interesting historical facts about ancient China as well as the contributions of the Chinese to the world, the compass, printing, the zero, the compass, the stirrup, the abacus, the seismograph, the rudder, the parachute, and masts and sails to name just a few.

Cotton Malone is a former government agent turned bookseller. He and his companion Cassiopeia Vitt get involved in the battle for succession that takes from Europe to the tomb of the first emperor. However, the story is beyond belief, even for this genre. The story has the candidates for being the new China premiere travelling the world themselves and participating in break ins, thefts, shooting, murder, using government assets to kill civitilians etc...I love these political mysteries because I can suspend belief to get drawn tinto the story - but this story goes way too far...at thend there are a lot of dead people in Europe and Asia and it's hard to figure out how anyone explains any of it...

The other annoying feature was that most of the main characters were chinese, but there were few times that any of them spoke chinese...or at least it was not clear to me. Also, the narrator indicated he was speaking chinese (or english with a chinese accent?) but speaking slowly and haltingly...you may take offense at this characterization if you are asian...

Not good

Oddly a very negative feeling towards China from people who have never been. The whole story is not very realistic or believable and the characters don't stick in the mind. Overall a weak book.

Same old, same old

What would have made The Emperor's Tomb better?

plot is old Only different places and names So simplistic

Would you listen to another book narrated by Scott Brick?

Yes

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

If in paper, good for recycling bin

boring, boring, boring

i normally love steve berry and am usually fascinated by anything to do with china. but for some reason could not get into this book. it was so boring. i kept losing the plot... thinking about shopping, what to cook for dinner, have the kids done their homework?

this book fails in its basic job: namely to entertain. i got about 4 hours in and then decided not to waste any more of my time on it. got a lee child instead. feel cross about the loss of a credit.

AVOID!!!!!

Too much history not enough mystery.

Every time they gave more and more background on someone or something that happened that got repetitive I wanted to scream! You got the idea of the backstory without needing it being so detailed. I get it!!! Now stop! Description made it sound like it was going to be some great treasure hunt mystery. I wasted a VERY EXPENSIVE credit. I loved the Amber Room book but this was HORRIBLE!!! Love Scott Brick as a narrator of ANY book. He was all that got me through this book!

I almost liked it

This title has a few things going for it - reasonably good plot, and EXCELLENT villains. However, the protagonists, all two or three of them, are both boring and implausible. I soldiered on as long as I could, bolstered by long views of the bad guys' side, but I finally had to remind myself that I would only waste a few dollars by forgetting the story and turning to some other book.

I generally like Scott Brick as a reader, but this wasn't the kind of script that was good for him, even if the script was any darn good.