Around Nantucket Island, brutal crime scenes are peppered with ancient coins, found by the one man who can unlock their meaning. But what do the coins have to do with the crimes? Or the sudden disease epidemic? Even the creature? And who–or what–left them?
The answer leads reporter Simon Stephenson on a journey through ancient mythology, numismatics, and the occult. Not to mention his own past, which turns out to be even darker than he’d realized; his murdered father was a feared arms dealer, after all. Along the way, Simon battles panic attacks and a host of nasty characters — some natural, others less so — while his heiress fiancee goes bridezilla, and a gorgeous rival TV reporter conceals her own intentions.
Title: The Last Ancient
Author: Eliot Baker
Published: December 2013
Publisher: BURST Books, an imprint of Champagne Book Group
Word Count: 117,000
Genre: Supernatural Thriller/Historical Mystery
Content Warning: Non-gratuitous violence, sexual situations
Excerpt:
Driscoll gets on one knee beside Fernandez and jots notes in her pad. I point out some coppery feathers on the other side of the clearing. She tells me to be quiet while she’s writing. I ask about the marks on the deer’s back. She says silence is gold. Fair enough.
They don’t know I dropped out of Harvard Medical School my fourth year. I’ve also been on safari in Tanzania. I understand trauma and slaughter. The slash marks in the deer’s neck and shoulders are deep and precise. Its back is torn up. Something mounted it and ripped its head off, like a giant hyena or a wolf or even an exotic hybrid, but with the strength of a bear. The missing limb and heart and the disembowelment are confusing, however. Those look surgical. Meanwhile, the skull looks bashed, cracked open; yup, there are blood stains on the boulder. And the marks on the animal’s back resemble puncture wounds. Click.
A sunray shoots through the sharp woody tangle. Lights up something beside the feathers. It glows like a golden strand of spider web. I point it out, but Fernandez tells me to zip it. I salute him.
A cloud passes over the sun. The golden thread dims. I pluck it from beside the feathers before it disappears. It lights up again in my hand. The thing’s weird resilience and luster is captivating. Probably a hair, but more like a small-gauge acupuncture needle. As I pocket it, something glows blue and then extinguishes in the brush ahead of me. Maybe the sun hit on colored glass or a butterfly or a blue bird.
Twigs snap in the distance. Then more. We share a silent what-the-hell? moment. The rustling and snapping gets louder. Closer. We discern growling. Something is crashing along the path that Dr. Driscoll just carved with her machete. I suck in breath and swivel my head. Fernandez is up, his hand on his Glock. No predators on Nantucket, right, Sergeant? Even Dr. Driscoll’s dusky face goes pale.
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Review:
Hi all my lovely readers, it is I, Andi here to review The Last Ancient by Eliot Baker for the Lovely Ms. Fang. Without further ado lets get down to the review shall we?
I enjoyed this book, it blends all of the things that I really enjoy into one cohesive book. Mythology, Murder, Thriller, you know all the good things. Oh and coins, lots and lots of coins, yes my inner dragon loved this book. His main character is a journalist, who solves crime, well quasi crime, since it is crime, but on the other hand it is a little mythological, and can mythological beings commit crimes?
I really enjoy how Eliot, as a first time author, was able to seam together such a good book and present it in a way that I wanted to keep reading, all the way until the end.
There are two types of authors, the ones who write about their characters, and those who sit you next to their characters while they tell their life stories. Eliot Baker is the latter, he makes you not only aware of the characters, but makes them your friends, your enemies, and your confidants. This is no easy task, and I for one am happy that he took the time to really immerse his readers into this story and its surroundings. I strongly suggest this book to anyone who enjoys a spice of Nantucket along with a dash of mythology.
Giveaway Details:
There is a tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:
- $10 Amazon gift card
Giveaway is International.
