True Raiders by Brad Ricca

 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: True Raiders: The Untold Story of the 1909 Expedition to Find the Legendary Ark of the Covenant

Author: Brad Ricca

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Release Date: 9.21.21

Publisher’s Summary 

True Raiders is The Lost City of Z meets The Da Vinci Code, from critically acclaimed author Brad Ricca.

This book tells the untold true story of Monty Parker, a British rogue nobleman who, after being dared to do so by Ava Astor, the so-called "most beautiful woman in the world," headed a secret 1909 expedition to find the fabled Ark of the Covenant. Like a real-life version of Raiders of the Lost Ark, this incredible story of adventure and mystery has almost been completely forgotten today.

In 1908, Monty is approached by a strange Finnish scholar named Valter Juvelius who claims to have discovered a secret code in the Bible that reveals the location of the Ark. Monty assembles a ragtag group of blueblood adventurers, a renowned psychic, and a Franciscan father, to engage in a secret excavation just outside the city walls of Jerusalem.

Using recently uncovered records from the original expedition and several newly translated sources, True Raiders is the first retelling of this group's adventures- in the space between fact and faith, science and romance.

My Review

This book was wild! The description of "real-life version of Raiders of the Lost Ark" is absolutely not too far of a stretch. Add in some "DaVinci Code," "History's Mysteries," and a beautiful love interest (Ava Astor, a woman recently divorced from America's first multi-millionaire businessman) and you can see that Hollywood movie play out in your head as you read each chapter. I was in such disbelief that this was a true story because it read like a suspense novel, full of anticipation and intrigue. I definitely suggest this to anyone looking for nonfiction book recommendations.