True Raiders

The Untold Story of the 1909 Expedition to Find the Legendary Ark of the Covenant

By: Brad Ricca

Narrated by: Stephanie Willis

"Who knew that Raiders of the Lost Ark was based on real events? This audiobook, expertly performed by Stephanie Willis, is a must for anyone who enjoyed the Harrison Ford movie and wants to know what really happened in 1908, when a British expedition searched for the Ark of the Covenant, alleged to have "mystical" powers." –AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award Review

True Raiders is The Lost City of Z meets The Da Vinci Code, from critically acclaimed author Brad Ricca.

This audiobook tells the untold true story of Monty Parker, a British rogue nobleman who, after being dared to do so by Ava Astor, the so-called “most beautiful woman in the world,” headed a secret 1909 expedition to find the fabled Ark of the Covenant. Like a real-life version of Raiders of the Lost Ark, this incredible story of adventure and mystery has almost been completely forgotten today.

In 1908, Monty is approached by a strange Finnish scholar named Valter Juvelius who claims to have discovered a secret code in the Bible that reveals the location of the Ark. Monty assembles a ragtag group of blueblood adventurers, a renowned psychic, and a Franciscan father, to engage in a secret excavation just outside the city walls of Jerusalem.

Using recently uncovered records from the original expedition and several newly translated sources, True Raiders is the first retelling of this group’s adventures—in the space between fact and faith, science and romance.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

©2021 Brad Ricca (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

Disappointing and disjointed

I thought this might be a tale of adventure and daring, and there was a touch of both, but I was disappointed in the writing and narration. First, the female narrator tried to dramatize some of the action in an almost singsong way, more like one would expect a Sunday School teacher to do in telling a Bible story (and yes, I know some of this book is a retelling of several Bible stories). When the narrator just read the book without the drama, especially in some of the later summary or wrap-up chapters, it was a pleasant experience.

But, second, the book seemed at times that it was a mishmash of two or even three books interspersed in different order and out of sequence. Yes, flashbacks and recounting multiple plots/stories can be useful or even entertaining, but not in this book. It became tedious in the first half of the book (to the point that I stopped listening for a couple of days) and I had to approach the book more as a series of disconnected short stories before I could finish.

There are several reviews of this book that are glowing and complimentary, but I don’t think this work is going to please the general reader due to its length and the haphazard nature of its writing.

Interesting book

Overall the book was very interesting. At some points it veered off on tangents and stories that didn’t see useful to the plot lines. I’m mixed on the performer. Her narration voice was pleasant and kept my attention; but her character voices were very irritating to me. That said, worth checking out if you are a history enthusiast.

Awful

Repetitive and tedious. Meandering with no sense of mystery or excitement. I literally could not stay awake.