The Ark

By: Boyd Morrison

Narrated by: Boyd Gaines

Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's Summary

When brilliant archaeologist Dilara Kenner is contacted by Sam Watson, an old family friend who says that he has crucial information about her missing father, Dilara abandons her Peruvian dig and rushes to Los Angeles to meet him. But at the airport, Sam speaks instead of Noah’s Ark—the artifact her father had long been searching for—and the possible death of billions. Before Sam can explain, he collapses. With his dying breath, he urges Dilara to find Tyler Locke—a man she’s never heard of.

Two days later Dilara manages to track down former combat engineer Tyler Locke on an oil rig off Newfoundland. Her helicopter transport goes down well short of the oil rig’s landing pad and Dilara and those aboard nearly drown. No sooner is Dilara safely on the rig than she convinces Tyler the crash was no accident. Tyler agrees to help her uncover the secret behind Noah's Ark and, more important, her father's disappearance. As the picture begins to come into focus, they realize they have just seven days to find the Ark before its secret is used to wipe out civilization once again.

With a chilling premise and a blistering pace, Boyd Morrison combines all the best elements of a blockbuster thriller with an intelligent and fascinating exploration of one of the Old Testament’s great mysteries.

©2010 Boyd Morrison (P)2010 Simon & Schuster

great summer read

I enjoyed this book, as did my two daughters. The story was taut and exciting - the characters engaging; Tyler Locke reminded me a lot of Cussler"s Dirk Pitt, but since I love Pitt I don't mind the resemblance if Clive doesn't.
I also enjoyed the twist on Noah's Ark and the flood, strange, yet as plausible as any of the current theories out there.
I found this a perfect summer read - not too light,not too heavy - just right.

24 of 24 people found this review helpful

Really cool!!!

Any additional comments?

Really cool. Right up there with Clive Cussler, James Rollins and Matthew Reilly. Love the twist on the Noah's Ark story. Tyler Locke is a great protag and I'm looking forward to his next adventure

Gaines does a fine job narrating. I really enjoyed this book. Next please.

11 of 11 people found this review helpful

Noah's Ark Meet Da Vinci's Code

Similar to the Dan Brown book. The Ark contains fairly cinematic writing. You can see how this could be made into a movie either for TV of the theater. The tale is engaging and contains some of the trademark trivia minutiae that Dan Brown wows us with in his books. If you are fan of the Dan Brown books, you will like this. If you are not, it's still worth a listen.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

okay but not great

Pretty good overall concept, but as USUUAL, the military folks were stereotypical, and the egghead types were either evil geniuses or high minded academics. Could have been much better. I'm tired of "delta force" being portrayed as robots, etc. I'm not saying the authors have to be military experts BUT if they're going to make it part of the story they should be accurate, ex. over reliance on this or that kind of weapon that we ALL know about and comic book dialog between the soldiers, etc. Narration was fine, but I never let the narraration ruin a book for me.

10 of 12 people found this review helpful

Neat idea, but story was disappointing.

What disappointed you about The Ark?

A globe trotting adventure story where the hero saves the world and gets the girl? Nothing wrong with this genre, in fact I'm a big fan of this type of story. But The Ark, which seemed like a really great idea as a premise, was lacking in execution.

I know these books can be great without having to be a literary masterpiece, but the author's complete reliance on blind luck to get our heroes out of any jam was quite annoying.

...a scholar who just happened to take hand to hand combat and weapons training, accessing weapons that are always found when she really needed them.
...Multiple ambushes averted because of a lucky glance in the right direction.
... Truth serum used on someone that just happens to be in the 5% of people unaffected.
...A backpack that performed more like a magicians hat and always seemed to have the one unique object to foil the bad guys plans?

The coincidence and luck required to propel this story forward went beyond the suspension of belief.

What was most disappointing about Boyd Morrison’s story?

I think the inclusion of the main protagonist into the story was forced. Our hero originally had no idea what was going on, was in fact clueless. Only after attempts on his life (ordered because he knew to much) did he decide to get involved and discover who was behind this. I'm still trying to understand that logic.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

I actually enjoyed the narration, the multiple dialects made the conversation easy and enjoyable to follow.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Overall, I was disappointed because the story idea was great. This is the start of a series, and I hope the author's storytelling will continue to improve throughout his novels because as much as I disliked this first effort, I'm liking the ideas enough to give his second novel a shot.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Really needs an ABRIDGED version.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The story was good, but it went on and on and on... You get the picture.

What could Boyd Morrison have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

This book had way too much back story that didn't seem necessary to me. The ark is mentioned throughout, but only explored at the very end. Too much going on.

Which scene was your favorite?

When the found the jewel room on the arc.

Do you think The Ark needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No.

Any additional comments?

Good book, but way too much back story that didn't seem necessary to me.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Trying to be something it's not

What disappointed you about The Ark?

It seemed to drag on and on unnecessarily.

Would you ever listen to anything by Boyd Morrison again?

Uncertain

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Not very dynamic

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment

Any additional comments?

I would recommend James Rollins for anyone interested in this type of book. Much better author.

4 of 6 people found this review helpful

Too Predictable

What disappointed you about The Ark?

The characters were too perfect. Everything came too easy to them.

Has The Ark turned you off from other books in this genre?

No

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Boyd Gaines?

Anybody who could read a little faster.

What character would you cut from The Ark?

The Russian female bad girl

Any additional comments?

All in all, I found myself preferring to listen to the news on the radio rather than plug in my iPod and listen to this book. I make myself listen to everyhing I pay for even if it is bad but it was not easy with this book. I read all the reviews before purchasing and thought that some of the people who reviewed it were being overly critical so I clicked 'Buy' anyway. Guess I should have paid more attention to those reviews.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Here comes the ARK, again

It was really well written and performed, however, I personally thought the ending was lame. To me the author simply didn't allow the characters that had been developed into strong individuals who became stronger working together, said: "well, that was 'nice' but I would rather wander aimlessly. I would rather not continue through life as a working, loving team effort - see ya!"

The Ark

I found this story to be really good and very well read. It keeps you hanging in there to see what happens next all through the whole story. Well done thank you .