The Illumination (book review)

I wrote this review for the Star-Ledger, where it ran on April 12th, as part of a round-up of speculative fiction.)

The Illumination”
Karen Tintori and Jill Gregory
St. Martin’s Press 320 pp., $24.95
reviewed by Elizabeth Willse for the Star Ledger
4/12/09 175 words

The Illumination is steeped in mythology and cutting-edge action. Reporter Dana Landau finds a golden amulet half-buried in the sand in Baghdad. Thinking it merely a symbolic trinket, she sends it to her sister, Natalie, a museum curator in the states.

Dana’s brutal murder is the first hint that the amulet is a precious prize that everyone from religious factions to the U.S. government will stop at nothing to obtain. With Jim D’Amato, Dana’s boss, Natalie races to unravel the amulet’s mystery, staying ahead of everyone who wants them dead. Can she trust D’Amato, who carries multiple passports and knows more than the average newsman about guns and car chases?

With a relic tied to Hebrew legend and the Old Testament’s David; frenetic chases; suspense and violence, “The Illumination” might invite comparisons to “The DaVinci Code.” Some similar plot twists aside, this is a better story. More nuanced characters and vastly superior writing quality make for a breathlessly fun read.