Lost Island

by Phyllis A. Whitney

 

 

One star is the for the writing and the other star is for the atmosphere.  But otherwise, I can't bring myself to understand what was even going on in this entire tale of chaos.  It felt like a daytime soap, with birth secrets, dysfunctional family dynamics, and characters soaked in amorality.  The heroine was a clueless pushover who couldn't seem to figure out how to stand up for herself NOR fight for her life, and her antagonist really had way too much power, with everyone letting her get away with every misdeed.

The little boy seemed too old for his age, and none of the men really stood out aside from spending all of their time brooding and acting self-righteous.

I've been interested in Phyllis A. Whitney for some time now, after seeing her name surface in discussions of Gothic romance or romantic suspense.  I'm thinking that this book was probably NOT the best one to start with, but it happened to be one I came across at the library one day.

In all honesty, the fact that I DID get drawn into it in spite of the convoluted plot and dysfunctional character dynamics is a feat in itself.  So this isn't an entirely terrible book, and a younger Ani might have actually enjoyed it more a long time ago.

Here's a quote that I particularly liked, though, for whatever reason.  The writing, as I've mentioned, was probably one of the best things going for this book.

 

The smell of the ocean is something one never forgets.  I breathed it deeply as the wind came whipping into my face, tossing my hair.  The tide was part-way out and the sound of surf rushing in over the low shore summoned me to follow it.  I walked toward the sea wall.

And this particular paragraph managed to draw me into the book...

 

 

 

The Lost Island is Book 3 in the Gideon Crew series.

 

Gideon has wrapped up his latest mission and he is ready to jump right into the next one.  At this point, there’s no question that he will go on working for Eli Glinn at Effective Engineering Solutions.  This time he will be utilizing skills from back in the days before he became a nuclear scientist.

 

There’s a special exhibition at New York’s Morgan Library; the Book of Kells, the finest illuminated manuscript in existence and Ireland’s greatest national treasure.  Ireland’s government is reluctant to let the manuscript out of their hands and has insisted upon the highest security measures during the exhibit.  Gideon has been tasked with a seemingly impossible assignment; he must steal a single page from the manuscript.

 

Gideon started stealing from art museums and historical societies when he was a teenager.  He knows that every security system is vulnerable, either through technology or social engineering.  He will have to use all he knows to turn the impossible to the possible.  It is pure entertainment to read as he once more puts his skills to work to obtain his goal. 

 

Having accomplished the impossibility of stealing the page, Gideon then learns from his employer that there is an ancient Greek map hidden under the illumination.  This map leads to more than your ordinary treasure. 

“The manuscript in question was an early Greek geography, and it described various legendary wonders of the world. Among these was a most intriguing place: an island ‘far in the West, where the earth meets the sky.’ The geography went on to mention a ‘great cave overhung with laurels on the face of a cliff far above the sea.’ There, the manuscript claimed, a ‘secret remedium could be found, the source of eternal healing.’

So now, in the company of his new partner Amy, Gideon sets sail into the dangers of the Mosquito Coast.  Their encounters will be life-threatening but they must find out where the map leads and what strange wonder lies at the end.  It just might be a priceless discovery that could change the world and possibly save Gideon’s life. 

 

Having read other reviews of this series I have to say I disagree with the harsh criticism that I’ve come across.  The authors have drawn from many different areas in this series and they continue to entertain.  I have been a diehard fan of Preston & Child for a couple of decades now.   So far, the Gideon Crew series has been much lighter fare than the Pendergast books, and each one has been good fun.  They delve deeper into the main characters with each book, and at this point in the series, I felt a difference.  It seemed to me that the storyline more closely reflected the sense of mystery and adventure I first felt with these authors back when I read Relic all those years ago. 

What did the one eyed monster say to the art thief..... Wait, this isn't that sort of novel.

Gideon Crew has been tasked with stealing a page out of a rare and valuable Book of Kells in order to uncover a map. Like any good map, it leads to a treasure worth killing for; something Google Maps really needs to work on. To follow the map Gideon needs a sidekick who knows ancient Greek and the tale of Odysseus.

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child rank somewhere on my favourite author list, since I'm a fan of their individual novels and joint Pendergast series. So I was somewhat disappointed in my first outing with the Gideon Crew series. This isn't a bad book, but it isn't good either.

Normally the usual "historical artefact can save/doom the world" trope is deftly handled by Preston and Child. They wrap enough interesting characters and plotting around the improbable to make it all work. But the minor characters weren't that interesting and Gideon was not a character I connected with. You could probably replace Gideon with an amorphous blob of sentient putty and I'd have been more engaged. And you need this engagement because you have to ignore how ludicrous a race of cyclops are - seriously, just wouldn't have evolved, not plausible at all.

I doubt I'll return to the Gideon Crew series and will instead stick with Preston and Child's other (superior) works.

I started and finished this book in a 24 hour period.  The plot is incredibly intriguing and little twists and turns lead you to an ending you weren't entirely expecting.  I thought I had it figured out so many times and in fact actually at one point or another had a couple pieces of it.  

 

I had a hard time deciding between 4.5 and 5 stars.  The characters are not overly likable.  The intriguing plot and mystery keeps you turning the page (rapidly) but you're not going to necessarily feel what the characters are feeling throughout the story or even in the end.   There also were a few too many coincidences that made the story just a little past crazy and into completely unrealistic.  It's a fun book for entertainment though so you really can't dock McMahon for that. Overall, 4.5 stars.

 

I recommend this book for anyone who has read other Jennifer McMahon novels, anyone who likes a mystery, and lovers of realistic fiction.