The Orpheus Descent: A Novel
Archaeologist Lily Barnes might not fully appreciate how important a newly discovered golden tablet—more of a wafer-thin gold foil, with ancient writing on it—is to some people. Soon after she begins her examination of the millennia-old artifact, she disappears. Her husband, Jonah, a guitarist in a rock band, receives text messages that are ostensibly from Lily, but they don’t make much sense. Soon Jonah comes to realize his wife is in grave danger; but can he find her before she’s lost forever? This exciting, fast-paced thriller boasts some well-drawn characters, an involving plot, and some seriously interesting speculation about the nature of hell. Interspersed with Jonah’s story is a first-person narrative recounting the ancient Greek philosopher Plato’s own quest for the truth about hell; as the book nears its conclusion, the two stories, Jonah’s and Plato’s, seem to come together, with the long-ago past and the present appearing to be the same. It’s an ambitious book—not many novelists would send a rock star on a journey to hell—and fans of the author’s previous, history-based thrillers (The Lost Temple, 2008) will have a great time. --David Pitt