Review of "The Ark" by Boyd Morrison

The Ark by Boyd Morrison

reviewed by @mrneil98

   With blurbs of praise from Douglas Preston, Steve Berry, James Rollins and Chris Kuzneski, how could I not be drawn to The Ark, by Boyd Morrison. If that weren’t enough the plot involves a female archeologist teaming with an ex-military engineer in order to search for Noah’s Ark in order to save the world from a mysterious virus that could potentially kill billions. Wow!! That is a lot to take on for a debut novel but Boyd is up to the task.

   The plot concerns archeologist Dilara, whose father disappeared three years ago while pursuing his obsession of finding Noah’s Ark. After telling her a mysterious message, her father’s friend is poisoned in a mall food court. This leads to multiple attempts on her life and into the protection and (as if you couldn’t guess) arms of former combat engineer Tyler Locke. Together they try to construct the picture from assorted puzzle pieces following a path from the pacific northwest to the southwest and back, eventually winding up in the Middle East where the all good stories involving Noah’s Ark tend to culminate. The antagonist is a billionaire religious fanatic which has become the staple bad guy in recent novels. Although that road has been traveled before, Boyd is able to keep the story fresh with new storylines and interpretations of the religious themes.

   Using his real world background and experience (PhD in Engineering, work at Lockheed Martin and Microsoft), Boyd creates realistic but still thrilling scenarios for getting his protagonists into and out of precarious situations. The presentation of the virus and its devastating potential is as convincing as Rollins’ Judas Strain. Familial relationships throughout the book are convincing and varied as are the characters themselves.

   As the summer begins to wind down, it is well worth the price of admission for an action packed voyage on Boyd Morrison’s Ark.