Book review: King Solomon's Curse
RENOWNED archaeologist Nina Wilde is back on a hunt – this time, she goes in search of the legendary King Solomon’s mines. Unfortunately, her adventure ends up endangering her young daughter.
Nina and former SAS soldier Eddie Chase are a husband-and-wife team who found Atlantis, the tomb of King Arthur, Valhalla, and even the Ark of the Covenant, to name but a few of their earlier adventures.
Working on a televised documentary in search of the First Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, Nina and her team uncover a secret chamber within a tomb that contains a model of a mysterious city that is said to house an ancient artefact that has great power.
Her curiosity and interest push her to search for this lost city built by Solomon. From her research, she deduces that the hidden city is located in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), one of the most dangerous countries in the world.
And right now, it is locked in the middle of a civil war.
However, that’s not the only problem. Nina has earlier promised her young daughter, Macy, and husband that she will be home in a couple of days after her work in Jerusalem.
But for Nina, the lure of yet another discovery is just too tempting for her to walk away. With a film crew at her disposal, she jets off to the DRC, much to her husband’s disappointment.
Worrying about her safety, Eddie flies out to meet her hoping to arrange some bodyguards for Nina and the film crew, leaving Macy in the care of his parents. But things don’t go quite according to plan and he ends up joining the expedition instead.
Their nightmare begin when they are faced with rebel soldiers led by Philippe Mukobo and aided by John Brice, a M15 agent with the British government in DRC.
Author Andy McDermott manages to keep her readers captivated with a series of gripping and thrilling non-stop action. The scenes vividly unfold with each chapter, but for once, no helicopters get blown out of the sky.
As usual, there’s a high body count, with an interesting moral dimension to one death.
An interesting and compelling read.