Booklist Review

Brokaw follows up his debut, The Atlantis Code (2009), with an equally exciting and fast-moving adventure. Thomas Lourds, the hotshot linguist, arrives in Istanbul, and before he's even out of the airport heck, before he's collected his luggage he's met by an attractive female fan. It turns out she has plans for him (and not the kind of plans he'd been expecting), and in no time Lourds is kidnapped by some mysterious people who have a little translating they want him to do. If he can survive long enough, that is. The novel has one crucial difference from many in the increasingly overcrowded subgenre of thrillers that concern ancient mysteries: this one really moves. No clunky expository sections; no long-winded dialogue that exists only to shove information at the reader. Brokaw manages to pass along the key information (and there is plenty of it) in an efficient, lively manner. His characters, especially Lourds (who has an endearing narcissistic streak), are lively, too; the author paints them with broad brush strokes, filling in the small details as the story progresses. A very entertaining thriller.--Pitt, David Copyright 2010 Booklist