The Inca Curse

By: Christopher Ride

Narrated by: Sean Mangan

Wilson Dowling is the Overseer, a man transported from the year 2081 to carry out a series of vital missions encoded in the Dead Sea Scrolls. His latest assignment had seemed simple enough - to lead the American explorer Hiram Bingham to Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas. However, he discovers that history has gone dramatically off course. The Golden Cube of the Sun God - safely hidden at Machu Picchu for hundreds of years - has been stolen. Whoever possesses it could potentially unleash a dangerous power that is beyond their comprehension - and their control. Not only that, but without it Wilson can never gain transport home.

Pursued by a tribe of fierce female warriors, the ancient guardians of the Lost City, Wilson races to find the deadly treasure before he is stranded forever in the past. And before the entire world is thrown into chaos.

©2012 Christopher L. Ride (P)2012 Bolinda Publishing

Just OK story, annoying if you know the Andes!

I should say, "Just OK story, annoying if you know much about the Incas, Quechua, or Spanish", but the character limit on titles doesn't let me.

This is an OK story, full of implausibles, but, heck, one doesn't look to time travel stories for plausibility. It goes on a bit too long, and is kinda predictable, but it did keep my interest enough to finish. Sure, the baddie was over the top and ridiculous, the characters shallow and stereotyped, the history and culture warped, and the deus ex machina essential… but listenable, like a fast-food meal.

Despite the annoyances:

OK, as a Quechua speaker, I am familiar with misuses (and some here are fairly comical)of the language by authors, and bad pronunciation by narrators. This happens a lot, though its also true that many conscientious authors and readers have made the effort to contact me or someone else to do things properly.

But, as a Spanish speaker as well, I was shocked at the level of mispronunciation here. It's quite annoying when, for example, frequently-used words like "plaza" are mispronounced ("plot-za"). There were many, many examples, but plot-za sticks out because it was used hundreds of times in the book. Please, narrators, make an effort!

What just happened???

I loved Chris Rides first two novels...and although this one had the same characters, it just wasn't as good. I think the biggest thing missing is humor. Unlike the first two books, Wilson doesn't seem to enjoy anything in life in this one. It is a dark, hopeless quest that he finds no light in. I wonder if Ride had the feeling of "I HAVE to write another book about Wilson" and it translates into the book with the main character feeling "I HAVE to time travel again to save the world"? This novel is also missing the geographical range of the other two, meaning it all takes place in one small spot. You would also need to at least read the first novel to understand what all is going on. There are quick references to the FASCINATING time travel theories and mechanisms that are all laid out in the first book, The Schumann Frequency. Sadly, in this one, nothing new is discovered about the mission, nor any skirmishes with fellow time travelers, just half naked giant amazon women. The research is excellent and its fun to follow along on Wikipedia. I don't know if I would recommend this to someone because its fairly lengthy to end up with Wilson having nothing substantial. The FIRST BOOK works because you are learning about the characters and time travel and the mission. The SECOND BOOK works because of the unanswered questions and unexpected severed relationships from the first book. This book doesn't contribute anything substantial to the characters in my opinion.