The Ark

A Novel

In nationally bestselling author Boyd Morrison’s debut, the unraveling of one of the greatest archeological mysteries from the bible—Noah’s Ark—could threaten civilization itself in this blockbuster hailed by James Rollins as “a stunning thriller.”

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.

Long on action fighting, short on story

Two dimensional characters, no depth, very much stereotyped. Handsome hero, beautiful archeologist, diversity covered sidekick. Lots of fighting, hero always escaping. Once in awhile the author remembers this is supposed to be about the ark and saving the world.

Pretty Good For What It Is...

I have to preface this by saying I very rarely listen to or read fiction. So this was a change for me to begin with and I was hesitant for that reason. But I needed a break from my usual serious non-fiction topics. I guess I would describe this as "ear-candy". By that I mean it's an enjoyable listen but I didn't expect it to be very deep, and it wasn't. I'm a little surprised at some reviews that seem shocked and disappointed at how unrealistic aspects of this are; just read the description, are we really expecting realism in a "thriller novel" about a Bible story? I would think anyone wanting realism might try the non-fiction section. But again, I admit that I don't typically read fiction, so maybe there IS realistic fiction out there, although I'd be slightly surprised if it exists on this sort of topic.

I suppose my lack of disappointment is in part due to the lack of high expectations I had regarding the realism in the story. Having said that, it certainly is unrealistic! Much of it had me thinking "yeah right" or "as if" in my head, but the storytelling was good and the story was still fun, so I enjoyed it nonetheless. The narrator was very good, he had a lot of voices and accents to juggle and I didn't find anything in that regard lacking. I do feel the author got too far off-track from the "Ark" storyline, but it would have been a very short, pointless story otherwise. The main idea of the storyline I think was the "mystery" of the ark claim, and so the characters really had to do a bunch of running around to solve it, otherwise it wouldn't really be a story, would it? The "twist" wasn't much of a twist, I saw most of it coming save a few details, but not to the extent that it ruined the listen for me.

One thing I disliked was the inevitable romance factor; that just annoys me and it ultimately served no real purpose to the story.

One important note; I probably would be annoyed had I paid the full price amount for this book. I got it for MUCH less on sale so I felt it was worthwhile, especially given the length of it. Overall I think it was a fun listen as long as you aren't expecting a literary masterpiece. "Ear-Candy", I maintain.

Action Packed!

This book was full of action from start to finish. I enjoyed listening to the narrator.

Great story; not so great narrator.

Would you consider the audio edition of The Ark to be better than the print version?

Love the story; lots of action, interesting characters, exotic places. However, I was not thrilled with the narrator. Had to increase the speed of narration just to get it to a normal listening mode. He spoke every word as if it were the most important word of the book. That gets old fast.

Worth buying.

Fast paced storyline that keeps your interest. No slow parts of the story, but not no stop action either. Likable characters that feel real and are well developed. Satisfying ending, none of "leave you hanging to interpret on ypur own".