Fortress of the Lost Amulet

Treasure Hunters Alliance, Book 1

By: Michael Webb

Narrated by: Tim Campbell

Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

Part Indiana Jones. Part Percy Jackson. All fantasy adventure.

Peter cares about three things: his family, his friends, and escaping an apprenticeship he hates. He works to appease his parents, but bides his time until he can adventure on his own.

Rumors surface of a legendary treasure, the Amulet of Power, that’s been lost for centuries. When a clue to the artifact’s location falls in their laps, Peter and his friends embark on a quest to uncover the long-forgotten mysteries of the fabled prize.

Unfortunately, the group of friends aren’t the only ones seeking it. An enemy will stop at nothing to receive the limitless power the Amulet supplies. The closer Peter gets, the higher the stakes become. Not only is his city threatened, but the lives of his friends and family hang in the balance, and the only way to save them is to find the treasure first.

From the hot, new, young-adult fantasy author Michael Webb comes an epic adventure of treasure, danger, incredible powers, betrayal, and found family.

©2023 Michael Webb (P)2023 Michael Webb

Great new series

Great new series and the narrator brings the story to life and does an excellent job!

Very promising series

Clean, original, definitely for the same age group of Harry Potter (7 to 77)
I enjoyed it a lot, it filled the gap of long days alone and gave me just the amount of thrills to keep on reading…
Nothing gory or long bloody battles, i appreciated that.
Family and friendship are over present, important
If you like the fantasy genre, there’s everything to gain and nothing to lose in buying this book

Great adventure!

good old-fashion adventure. can't wait till the next books. Keep it up!. More treasures

A well-devised questic heist of epic fantasy

This was my introduction to Michael Webb’s writing, though I’ve seen his work numerous times and have wanted to read his incredibly popular Shadow Knights Trilogy for a while. After reading this, the priority to do so has increased, except—wait, the next book in his Treasure Hunters Alliance comes out in just a few weeks so I guess I’m doing that first!

So what makes this book special? Well, it begins with some classic fantasy tropes such as, poor farm boy, a local bully born to power, and an unlikely group of friends who must rely on each other’s strengths to survive. Everything about this will feel rather familiar, and I say this as a compliment to the writing and the ease with which I was able to immediately invest. The harassment Peter experiences from the rich whelp is so relatable it brings about immediate feelings of compassion for Peter, and distain for the bully. It was an excellent way to introduce the setting, the loyalty of friends, and that initial desire to see our protagonist succeed. I’m a patient reader and sometimes it takes a while for me to feel fully invested in a story, and I’m okay with that. This story did not test my patience at all.

Once the characters are introduced, Webb increases the intrigue by adding in tales of a powerful amulet that could change Peter’s and his friends’ status forever, but few believe it actually exists. Then the tax collector comes to collect what is due and Peter’s father can’t pay, so the need to help out his family drives Peter to seek the amulet. He needs it to be real. Peter and his diverse group of friends (Kiara, Rylan, & Sopheri—sp?) spend the rest of the book unraveling mystery after mystery as they come closer to discovering the truth about the amulet of power. And in so doing, catch the attention of the viper syndicate, a criminal enterprise that is seeking the very same object of power. The stakes remain high for Peter’s family farm, but there is also a very real fear that if Razor comes to possess the amulet, things will become very bad for everyone in the city, not just Peter’s family.

There were very few places in this story where I became bored, and by very few, I mean none. In fact, I definitely mowed a few places on my lawn this week over again in order to get a little further into the story before coming inside (don’t tell my wife).

The description calls this “Part Indiana Jones. Part Percy Jackson. All fantasy adventure.” I wholeheartedly agree.

*Lastly, I listened to this on Audible so I must acknowledge the narration since I have been known to not listen to a book if I didn’t think I could spend 10+ hours with the voice actor in my ear. Tim Campbell’s performance here made the decision to keep listening very easy. This was my first introduction to his work as well, and I found it to be excellent. He managed a multitude of distinct voices that added depth and authenticity to the listening experience. His voice, a deep baritone, reminded me a little bit of Adam Gold who did the Threadlight trilogy, which I loved.

In summary, read or listen to this story!

Good story; okay narrator.

Overall, the story was decent, and it takes place in the same world as the Shadow Knights, though I think this one is written for kids younger than Webb's previous series was for. The narrator has a nice voice, but I had some issues. The main characters are two males and two females. Tim Campbell's voices for the boys are very similar, and his female ones are completely indistinguishable. However, many times the story tells you which girl is talking, so it isn't a big deal. The only other problem I had is that his exclamations are pretty cheesy, but he was still a decent narrator.

Great way to get hooked on Adventure

I ended up finding Michael Webb by accident. Best accident ever. I wanted to find a book with adventures and fantasy. Something that didn't take things over the top but still felt real. I can't wait for the next book in the series and see what new adventures await.

great read

I love the story. I love the characters. however I did not care for the narrator. All the characters sounded alike there was no variation to his voice and his British accent was so strong that it was hard for anybody American to understand what he was saying. I would say get a new narrator You're going to have a hit on your hands

Disappointed

Very little thrill, characters are typical and similar to many other stores. Pass next the rest of the series