Title: Ancient Echoes (Ancient Secrets #1)
Author: Joanne Pence
Link: https://www.audible.com/pd/Ancient-Echoes-Audiobook/B07MGKDS3X
Summary
Past and present collide in this spellbinding tale by USA Today best-selling author Joanne Pence.
Over 200 years ago, a covert expedition shadowing Lewis and Clark disappeared into the wilderness of central Idaho. Now, seven anthropology students and their professor vanish in the same area. The key to finding them lies in an ancient secret, one involving alchemy, gold, and immortality…a secret that men throughout history have sought to unveil.
Michael Rempart is a brilliant archeologist whose colorful and controversial career has earned him admiring fans and implacable foes, but he is plagued by a troubling sense of the supernatural and a mysterious spiritual intuitiveness. Joining Rempart in this adventure are a CIA consultant on paranormal phenomena, a washed-up local sheriff, and a former scholar of Egyptology. All must overcome their personal demons as they attempt to save the students and, ultimately, the world.
From the journal of Francis Masterson, 1806 –
All hope is gone. Evil is victorious.
In the time I have remaining I will, herewith, impart a tale so filled with Dread and Terror that my heart overflows with immeasurable Sorrow to tell it. It began with the highest of Good Will and Promise and, on my part, great Excitement. I can only trust to Providence that one day this small account which I leave in a land of unimaginable desolation and Wildness, may be discovered and that it will serve to warn others of the wickedness that may ensnare Good men.
Ours was to be a Secret Expedition…
Top 10 Idaho Book Award Winner
My Review
4/5 Stars
My very first thought when listening to this was how impressed I was with the attention to detail about the historical facts and the way that the author was able to seamlessly blend this information with her work to create a sound book. Even though historical fiction isn’t a real favorite of mine, I was immersed in this book when the elements of Alchemy came up.
Joanne definitely knows how to build a world and how to run the people inside it. There was hardly any “tell” because the way that the characters were written told everything we needed to know. Even when it wasn’t quite clear, as a reader, I could draw my own conclusions and that was pretty neat too.
Though the buildup of suspense is a little slow in the beginning, it starts to pick up rapidly about a fourth of the way through. The narration kept in pace with this, having a strong cadence and voice that was able to swing through the highs and lows of the story with ease.
This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.
Author Kayla Krantz 