The Orpheus Descent: A Novel
Archaeologist Lily Barnes might not fully appreciate how important a newly discovered golden tablet&#x2014;more of a wafer-thin gold foil, with ancient writing on it&#x2014;is to some people. Soon after she begins her examination of the millennia-old artifact, she disappears. Her husband, Jonah, a guitarist in a rock band, receives text messages that are ostensibly from Lily, but they don&#x2019;t make much sense. Soon Jonah comes to realize his wife is in grave danger; but can he find her before she&#x2019;s lost forever? This exciting, fast-paced thriller boasts some well-drawn characters, an involving plot, and some seriously interesting speculation about the nature of hell. Interspersed with Jonah&#x2019;s story is a first-person narrative recounting the ancient Greek philosopher Plato&#x2019;s own quest for the truth about hell; as the book nears its conclusion, the two stories, Jonah&#x2019;s and Plato&#x2019;s, seem to come together, with the long-ago past and the present appearing to be the same. It&#x2019;s an ambitious book&#x2014;not many novelists would send a rock star on a journey to hell&#x2014;and fans of the author&#x2019;s previous, history-based thrillers (The Lost Temple, 2008) will have a great time. --David Pitt