Book Review - The Moses Expedition by Juan Gómez-Jurado

The Moses Expedition

The audio review:




    

On the surface, The Moses Expedition is about recovering the Biblical Ark of the Covenant, an idea that has become considerably old hat over the years thanks to numerous quest stories and Dan Brown's mammoth bestseller The Da Vinci Code. Thankfully, author Juan Gómez-Jurado's novel doesn't stick to this plot convention, instead branching out to develop Father Anthony Fowler, Gómez-Jurado's long-term protagonist, along with a topical depiction of Islamic terrorist groups fueled by religious hatred.

While a quest for the Ark might seem unoriginal, The Moses Expedition builds the idea very well. Roping in third-rate reporter Andrea as a way to get Father Fowler to join the Ark expedition is the Vatican's special forces department, a secret group dedicated to protecting the Ark from religious dispute. However, Raymond Kayn, a rich man whose lifelong dream was to find the Ark, has been deluded into thinking that it is his duty to find the Ark at whatever cost. Gómez-Jurado weaves a taut storyline of deception and danger, continually surprising the reader with new suspects who seem to have motive to steal the Ark and sabotage the mission.

The book's pace is swift, moving the reader quickly into the Jordanian desert where the Ark is thought to be buried. The novel quickly jumps into the action, planting the first seeds of sabotage early in the novel. Yet the perpetrators remain elusive throughout the narrative, and Gómez-Jurado is cautious to reveal any details about  the final twists.

But what stands out more than the action-packed plot is the development of character and the themes of terrorism throughout the novel. At times, Gómez-Jurado places us in the mind of a budding terrorist, a well-researched jaunt through religious manipulation that successfully challenges the reader's view of what an enemy really is. It's unfortunate we cannot stay in the mind of the terrorist long, because The Moses Expedition packs quite an emotional punch when the reader is able to sympathize with the young boy who is being brainwashed to believe one religion is greater than another.

Andrea, however, is not as simple to relate to, as her character remains out of reach through most of the novel. At the outset, she is slightly unlikable, a whining and outspoken woman who wears on the nerves with her boisterous attitude. Fortunately, Gómez-Jurado tones down Andrea's more belligerent moments as the search for the Ark becomes more dangerous, allowing Andrea to mature naturally through the suffering she faces.

Slash to the Point: Take this trip to Jordan with Gómez-Jurado. Like the desert of the novel, the action is sweltering and fans of suspense stories will find themselves sucked into the pages like quicksand. Overall, the sand of The Moses Expedition is pretty smooth riding (ahem, reading).