Review: "Bone Box" by Jay Armberg

Synopsis:  On a hill overlooking the Aegean Sea in Turkey, an international team of archeologists discovers a stone box that first-century Jews used to rebury their dead. The box’s Aramaic inscription: Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ. Sophia Altay, the beautiful French-Turkish archeologist who heads the team, tries to keep the discovery secret until she can authenticate the ossuary. She knows that people will kill to obtain the relics—and to suppress the box’s other contents, documents that could alter Western history.

Joseph Travers, an American sent to Turkey to evaluate the archeological dig, soon finds himself pulled into the web of betrayal, reprisal, and violence. In his journey through Istanbul’s mosques and palaces, the archeological sites around ancient Ephesus, and, ultimately, the strange and mystical terrain of Cappadocia, he comes to understand the epochal meaning of the bone box.

My Thoughts:  Bone Box is a great thriller with a unique historical twist.  I had no idea what to expect when I started this book.  While the story was slow to start, once things got moving I was hooked.  The story contains a wide array of characters; some interesting and others strange but all playing an integral role in a story with more twists and turns than I ever could have expected.

I was completely intrigued by the idea of archaeologists finding the bones of Jesus as well as new writings by him and his followers.  It was fascinating to think of how the world would react if such things did exist and I think the author did a great job of portraying the pandemonium that might ensue.  I also loved the descriptions of the archaeological digs and the caves at Cappadocia.  I'm not familiar with a lot of the history of Turkey so I really liked learning more about it. 

As I said above, I really liked all of the twists and turns of the story but at times I was a little confused by what was going on.  The story was busy and there were a ton of characters and a lot going on.  I usually could figure things out but there were a few times I had to go back and re-read things to get a better grasp on what was happening.  I also felt like the ending left me with a lot of unanswered questions.

Overall, I found Bone Box to be an enjoyable read and I would definitely recommend it!  3 stars.

I received a copy of this book from Book Junkie Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

About the Author:

Jay Amberg is the author of eleven books. He received a BA from Georgetown University and a PhD from Northwestern University. He has taught high school and college students since 1972. 

His latest book, Bone Box, is now available from Amika Press. Amberg has also published Cycle, America’s Fool, Whale Song, and compiled 52 Poems for Men. Cycle, a novel giving unique voice to the world’s environmental crisis, is the winner of a 2013 Independent Publisher Living Now Book Award.

Prior to Amika Press, Amberg published thriller novels Doubloon (Forge), Blackbird Singing (Forge) and Deep Gold (Warner Books).

Among his books on teaching are School Smarts and The Study Skills Handbook, published by Good Year. Amberg wrote The Creative Writing Handbook (Good Year) with Mark Henry Larson and Verbal Review and Workbook for the SAT (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich) with Robert S Boone.

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