Review and Giveaway - The Last Ember by Daniel Levin

The Last Ember by Daniel Levin





rating: 4.0/5.0










From Goodreads:

Jonathan Marcus was a promising young archeologist studying at the American Academy in Rome when a terrible accident during an illegal excavation resulted in a friend’s death and Jonathan’s expulsion from the academy. Jonathan abandoned archaeology for the law, developing a reputation as a skillful advocate for some of the art world’s less scrupulous antiquities dealers.

When his firm sends Jonathan to Rome to discredit the testimony of a prominent U.N. antiquities official, he’s stunned to discover that the expert is Dr. Emili Travia, a friend and fellow student at the academy who was also at the excavation. This chance reunion prompts Jonathan, against his better judgment, to help Emili as she searches for the fabled Tabernacle Menorah, a priceless historical artifact seized by Roman invaders in the first century A.D. and brought to Rome where it disappeared. As they scour the ancient sites of Rome for hints to the menorah’s whereabouts—deciphering clues to its location left by ancient spies and eighteenth century art restorers—it quickly becomes clear that they are not alone in their quest.

What follows is a treasure hunt like no other, a race to find the menorah in order to control a historical perspective of who can define—and redefine—the past.

The Last Ember is a non-stop thrill ride. There is plenty of action, some romance, a lot of history and archaeology, great characters and a well-developed plot.

It's one of those stories where you have several groups of people converging on one ultimate goal. You have Jonathan and Emily, the Italian police group and of course the requisite bad guy. They are all after one thing - the Menorah that has been hidden for centuries. Two groups have similar goals and the bad guy has the sinister goal as expected.

I enjoyed all of the history and archeology that went into this book, I fell it was researched and that the subject matter was important tot he author. I never really had a desire to visit Rome before, and now I am dying to go. What a fascinating city with a rich history. The story moves from Rome to Israel and back and kept me on the edge of my seat. I learned little tidbits, I was entertained, and I really liked the characters.

This is a wonderful book by a debut author and I will definitely be picking up the next book that he puts out.

Binding: Hardcover
On-sale Date: August 6, 2009
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Pages: 432

Also I would like to give away my copy which is an arc. I will open the contest today through September 11th. US and Canada residents only please. Please enter by:

1. Commenting on my blog, make sure I have a way to contact you. (+1)
   
2. Become a blog follower or let me know if you are already a follower (+1)
3. Tell me any other books set in Rome or Israel you have read and enjoyed (+1)
4. Tweet about this review and giveaway, use @cfulcher in the tweet so I can find it (+1)
5. Follow me on Twitter (or let me know if you are a current follower) (+1)
6. Blog about this contest and let me know the link (sidebar or post is fine) (+1)

So there you go - 6 ways to get an entry into this contest. You can leave them in separate posts or one post, it doesn't matter, I will make sure you get your entries, just make sure to let me know what you do.