Book Review: Ramsey's Gold (Drake Ramsey Book 1) by Russell Blake

I'm a fan of jungle adventures like Indiana Jones, The Phantom, Tim Tyler's Luck, or DuckTales. And

Ramsey's Gold is a jungle treasure hunt adventure written by Russell Blake. It's available in all formats: eBooks, Audiobooks, and those paper things your grandparents used to read.

Overview

After receiving a strange inheritance of money and his father's journal from his aunt, Drake Ramsey decides to continue his father's quest for a lost Inca city and the gold it is reported to contain. On the way he meets up with an old friend of his father, a potential love interest, and a hardened adventurer who may or may not be on his side. And the Russians, a mysterious radioactive ore, and the CIA are thrown in for good measure.

The Good

Realistic Take on the Jungle Adventure. Most stories in this genre ignore the realities of traveling thru a remote jungle: the heat, the dangerous animals, the complete distancing from society, the fatigue, the dirt, etc. This book actually addressed those and made them an important feature of the story. That was a nice change.

Competent Writing and Story. The writing was very competent with a fairly solid story and storytelling.

Ray Porter. Ray Porter is one of my favorite voice talents. I will buy a book I know nothing about (like this one) just because he read it. He did a great job making each character feel and sound unique and told the story without ever getting in the way of it.

The Bad

Typical Troupes. The story is exactly what one would expect. The characters are your typical characters with typical motivations. The twists were pretty usual twists. The happy ending with a few "devastating" losses was exactly what I was expecting from the get go. Everything turned out exactly how I expected it to. The "shocking" revelations I've heard numerous times before. There really is no reason for this book to exist, because everything in it has been done before. This really felt like a textbook example of what this type of story should be bringing almost nothing new or original to the table. For a lot of people that might be a good thing, but I was a little disappointed. I have no desire to read the next two books in the series.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I wish there had been something unique about this book that made it stand out from the rest and made me excited to read the next book in the series.

Overall

Ramsey's Gold is an entertaining book that is competently written. It is a fairly standard adventure with all the twists, turns, surprises, and happy ending you'd expect. While it brings nothing new or unique to the table, those who just want to read another well-written jungle adventure like every other well-written jungle adventure will be very satisfied. I give it 4 out of 5 eReaders.

     

Book Review - Meet Me in Atlantis: My Quest to Find the 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City by Mark Adams

I've been a lover of mythology since I first heard listened to the tales of gods and heroes as a little child. The fact that many of these stories were likely based on real events intrigued my young mind at the time and continues to intrigue my old mind making it wonder what really happened all those thousands of years ago.

Meet Me in Atlantis: My Quest to Find the 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City is a nonfiction adventure / travelogue written by Mark Adams. It's available in all formats: eBooks, Audiobooks, and those paper things your grandparents used to read.

Overview

Meet Me in Atlantis: My Quest to Find the 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City is the story of one man's journey to discover the lost city of Atlantis. He begins by summarizing the myth as told by Plato and then travels to several possible locations and explores the pros and cons of each.

The Good

Writing. This is really a fun book. The writing sounds like a buddy has just returned from a great adventure, and he is so excited to tell you all about it. It's crisp and clear and never drags or gets bogged down in scholarly prose.

Explanation of the Myth. The author does an excellent job retelling the original tale first told by Plato and then elaborated on by later writers and philosophers. He presents several new interpretations from scholars and experts on ancient ways and how they constructed myths and hid messages using numbers and placement. It was very fascinating and gave whole new meanings to familiar old tales.

Travelogue. I love traveling. I love travelogues. A good travelogue makes you feel like you've truly experienced a distant local, and this book does that marvelously. The author's descriptions are so vivid with concrete, relevant details. Each place he spends an appropriate amount of time painting the milieu, introducing the reader to the people and cultures and history. I feel like I've been to Morocco and Crete and locations in between.

The Bad

Purpose/Point. The title of this book is "quest" which naturally leads the reader to suppose that at the end of the journey he will discover something wonderful. There's nothing wonderful at the end of this book. It just ends. We're no closer to finding Atlantis than when the author started. I was pretty sure the author wouldn't be walking the streets of the ancient city situated beneath a dome at the bottom of the ocean or in another dimension, but I had hoped at least something would have been accomplished by the end. 

Guides along the road. At each stop the author meets with an "expert" who believes his or her location is the site of Atlantis. The idea of such a guide is great, but I question his choice. They aren't the most interesting of souls and are pretty blind to contrary evidence. 

What I Would Like to Have Seen

As much as I enjoyed the journey--and many people will tell you that the journey is more important than the destination--I still like a meaningful destination, and this book really didn't have one. We're no closer to finding Atlantas or even knowing if it ever really existed than we were before the author took his journey. I wish he had added something to the search.

Overall

Meet Me in Atlantis is an incredibly enjoyable ride with stops in several interesting and exotic locals and a fascinating look at history and possible history I'd never heard of before. Though nothing is really accomplished or discovered by the end of the book, the journey itself is enchanting enough to make the trip worthwhile. I give it a solid 4.5 out of 5 eReaders.