My Review (5 stars out of 5)
Oxford University psychologist Dr. Morgan Sierra is thrown into a race-against-time quest when her sister and niece are kidnapped. Morgan discovers she must track down the twelve stone pendants once owned by the Apostles. Knowing she and her sister have two of the relics, Morgan will need all the help she can get to locate the others. Luckily, Jake Timber – agent of ARKANE, a secret organization investigating the supernatural – is on hand. But can he be trusted? And who is behind the shadowy group known as Thanatos? Morgan must find the twelve relics and hand them over or her sister will die on the day of Pentecost.
Although I’ve read several of Joanna Penn’s non-fiction books on writing and marketing, this is the first time I’ve delved into her fiction books. Some reviewers have compared the Arkane series to Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon stories, but there’s a big difference – Ms Penn doesn’t treat her readers like idiots, talking down to them and constantly repeating everything just in case the reader isn’t clever enough to keep up. This author’s writing is packed with detail and shows her knowledge and research of the subject matter, giving it a realistic edge. Stone of Fire whips along at a giddy pace, moving from place to place with plenty of action and Indiana-Jones-type scenarios.
A fast-moving adventure that kept me riveted all the way through.
Colin Garrow 