Nicholas Pedrosa leaps at the chance to
join an archaeological dig on Santorini although he is only marginally
qualified for the position. It appears to be the experience of a life
time, but when he arrives things are more complex than he envisioned.
His first encounter on the island with his new colleagues is at the
funeral of his predecessor, Benja. His death appears to be an
accident, but was it?
Nicholas is both drawn to and repelled
by his boss, Marcus Huxley. He can't figure out who Huxley is and why
he selected him as a replacement for Benja before Benja died. The
archaeological dig is going slowly. There is opposition from outside archaeological sources, the military government and the local
people. The workers have a love hate relationship with the dig. They
want the work, but fear uncovering the lost city.
Nicholas can't escape the parallels
between the lost island of Atlantis and the city they are uncovering,
but is it only his imagination? Huxley won't give him a straight
answer and his distrust grows daily.
This is an engaging book although the
plot seems rather fragmented. We start the book thinking we're
dealing with a murder mystery, then the book veers toward the growing
distrust between Nicholas and Huxley and the way the other staff
members seem mesmerized him. Finally the book makes a third turn and
we're drawn further into the Atlantis myth.
Unless you enjoy philosophy and
character exploration, you may find this one tough going. I enjoyed
the discussions of the Atlantis myth and found the ending
fascinating. However, the middle of the book was mired in the
deteriorating relationship between Nicholas and Huxley. It takes some
perseverance to get though it. However, the ending is fascinating and
does pull together the themes of the book.
I reviewed this book for Net Galley.
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