The Lost Relic

ENIGMA Files, Book 1

By: Joshua James

Narrated by: Paul Heitsch

HISTORY'S GREATEST INVENTIONS HAVE BEEN HIDDEN.

UNTIL NOW.

Indiana Jones meets The X-Files in this thrilling, globe-spanning adventure about the greatest treasure hunt of all time—where ancient secrets collide with cutting-edge technology.

In the high-stakes world of ancient artifacts and clandestine organizations, a trio of unlikely misfits are drafted into a desperate race to prevent the assembly of a long lost device.

Rhett, the stoic ex-military leader haunted by his past Dinah, the conflicted academic with a penchant for solving ancient puzzles Fabien, a dangerous man driven by a personal quest.

All are bound together by a cause bigger than any of them.

With the aid of some of the most powerful inventions of antiquity, they journey from the peaks of the Himalayas to the heart of war-torn Ethiopia, and from the depths of the rainforest to the unexplored realms of spacetime.

But what they seek might be more powerful than they were led to believe, it's origins more mysterious, and their enemies more numerous. An ancient force waits in the shadows, threatening to unravel the fabric of existence.

How far will they go to save a world on the brink of ruin?

The Lost Relic is the heart-pounding first installment of the ENIGMA Files series, where every relic unearthed can change history, or destroy it.

©2023 Joshua James (P)2024 Joshua James

Entertaining but a bit shallow

The Relic is an entertaining novel and is a good choice when you want a light and simple read, say over a weekend beach trip. While we do get some back story on the main characters, they never quite evolve beyond cookie cutter and often seem cliche. The plot is very interesting, activating daydreamed thoughts of “what if” and dystopian fears of secret societies building power and manipulating the world from the shadows. I hope to see this author evolve from mass market paperback style writing to character and plot development like Ken Follett or science fiction that approaches prophetic or realm of the possible like Isaac Asimov or Michael Crichton. I did not enjoy the reader of the audiobook. He read many of the lines whimsically with a forced lightheartedness that did not at all seem to match the tone of the situation in the story.

Borderline Youth Fiction & All Accents Are French

This belongs on a Youth Fiction list.

The plot is both predictable (an international team with a cranky Frenchman) and a never-ending series of deus ex machinas.

Despite the multiple nationalities of the team and the books characters, they all sound like Peter Sellers version of a French accent.

I almost didn't finish it.

I enjoyed how three very different characters were able to come together to form a very competent team

This was an enjoyable book with a good narrator and a fairly intriguing plot.

excellent thriller

I liked the coming together of the team and their differences.
The narrator did a great job of conveying the story. I had started the book but found the audio version more compelling than just the print version

I am looking forward to following the next novel

Great potential

The story concept is a great one, but I was hoping for more. This narrator is not great at female voices.