Solomon's Jar (Rogue Angel) 
asked by crafty1 on November 15, 2006 2:53 AM
Rumors of the discovery of Solomon's Jar--in which the biblical King Solomon bound the world's demons after using them to build his temple in Jerusalem--are followed with interest by Annja Creed. An archaeologist intrigued by the arcane, Annja pursues the truth about the vessel and its ancient origins.
Her search leads her to a confrontation with a London cult driven by visions of a new world order; and a religious zealot fueled by the insatiable desire for glory. Across the sands of the Middle East to the jungles of Brazil, Annja embarks on a relentless chase to stop humanity's most unfathomable secrets from reshaping the modern world.
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In "Rogue Angel - Destiny", we met Annja Creed, a beautiful young woman who is an archaeologist who has trouble making a living at archaeology. She makes do by working for a tabloid-type television program called "Chasing History's Monsters." While she travels around the world, exploring sensational stories from the past and trying to squeeze in some serious archaeological work, Annja stumbled upon two possibly immortal French knights, Roux and Garin, who are connected to the search for the remnants of Joan of Arc's shattered sword. When Annja finds the last piece, the sword becomes whole and hers, endowing her with enhanced senses and skills.
Now, in "Solomon's Jar," Annja's archaeological studies leads her to believe there is an effort afoot to find the jar used by King Solomon to bind and hold demons, whom Solomon then used to help him build his great temple. The jar, while unlikely to still hold demons, is a powerful artifact in and of itself, and it is sought by a group of Russian mercenaries, a back-to-Nature extremist cult from England, and a charismatic televangelist-turned-cult-leader. The televangelist wants to use it to build his cult into an empire, the British cultist want to use to kill off most of humanity and thereby return the Earth to Mother Nature, and the Russian mercenaries are out to secure it for a wealthy collector, the identity of whom surprised me.
As Annja searches for the jar, on a trek that starts and ends in South America, with side-trips to The Netherlands and Israel, she keeps finding scenes of horrible, recent bloodshed. The closer she gets to the jar, the more danger she encounters, and she has to fend off numerous attempts to kill her, including one by a very tall, blonde supermodel! Along the way, Annja manages to find two allies, besides an abundance of enemies. Aidan Pascoe is a British archaeologist and a possible love interest for Annja. Tsipporah is a believer in Kabbalah, who is a cornucopia of wise advice and insight.
Will Annja survive? Who will find the jar first? Are the demons still inside? Is the jar a source of power, demons or not? Who is behind the Russian mercenaries? All of these questions are answered, with a few surprises involved.
This is a very good action-adventure novel, with supernatural and religious components. The character of Annja Creed continues to develop, as she tries to figure out what her role is, now that she has Joan of Arc's sword. I was disappointed that Roux and Garvin have very small roles in this story, but there are still plenty of interesting supporting characters.
I did notice a change in the writing style, with two aspects being most pronounced. First, the fight scenes are so rapid and chaotic, that it was very hard for me to follow them. On several occasions, a character in a fight was suddenly standing when I was sure he or she had just been knocked down, causing me to have to re-read the passage, so that it would make sense. The bigger change, though, was the presence of many sentence fragments. Instead of creating valid compound-complex sentences, Mr. Archer would break the sentence into pieces, some of which were phrases or clauses. Not full sentences. Very fragmented. Disrupting the flow of the reading. (Yes, that was an example of the type of writing I mean.)
In "Destiny," there is mention of Mel Odom contributing to the book. In "Solomon's Jar," Victor Milan gets such mention. Whatever role was played by Mr. Odom and Mr. Milan in these two books, Mr. Odom appears to contribute to a higher-quality end result.
Despite these flaws, this is a rousing adventure tale, with a plot full of twists, lots of action, and many interesting characters. It was definitely an enjoyable reading experience.
Now, in "Solomon's Jar," Annja's archaeological studies leads her to believe there is an effort afoot to find the jar used by King Solomon to bind and hold demons, whom Solomon then used to help him build his great temple. The jar, while unlikely to still hold demons, is a powerful artifact in and of itself, and it is sought by a group of Russian mercenaries, a back-to-Nature extremist cult from England, and a charismatic televangelist-turned-cult-leader. The televangelist wants to use it to build his cult into an empire, the British cultist want to use to kill off most of humanity and thereby return the Earth to Mother Nature, and the Russian mercenaries are out to secure it for a wealthy collector, the identity of whom surprised me.
As Annja searches for the jar, on a trek that starts and ends in South America, with side-trips to The Netherlands and Israel, she keeps finding scenes of horrible, recent bloodshed. The closer she gets to the jar, the more danger she encounters, and she has to fend off numerous attempts to kill her, including one by a very tall, blonde supermodel! Along the way, Annja manages to find two allies, besides an abundance of enemies. Aidan Pascoe is a British archaeologist and a possible love interest for Annja. Tsipporah is a believer in Kabbalah, who is a cornucopia of wise advice and insight.
Will Annja survive? Who will find the jar first? Are the demons still inside? Is the jar a source of power, demons or not? Who is behind the Russian mercenaries? All of these questions are answered, with a few surprises involved.
This is a very good action-adventure novel, with supernatural and religious components. The character of Annja Creed continues to develop, as she tries to figure out what her role is, now that she has Joan of Arc's sword. I was disappointed that Roux and Garvin have very small roles in this story, but there are still plenty of interesting supporting characters.
I did notice a change in the writing style, with two aspects being most pronounced. First, the fight scenes are so rapid and chaotic, that it was very hard for me to follow them. On several occasions, a character in a fight was suddenly standing when I was sure he or she had just been knocked down, causing me to have to re-read the passage, so that it would make sense. The bigger change, though, was the presence of many sentence fragments. Instead of creating valid compound-complex sentences, Mr. Archer would break the sentence into pieces, some of which were phrases or clauses. Not full sentences. Very fragmented. Disrupting the flow of the reading. (Yes, that was an example of the type of writing I mean.)
In "Destiny," there is mention of Mel Odom contributing to the book. In "Solomon's Jar," Victor Milan gets such mention. Whatever role was played by Mr. Odom and Mr. Milan in these two books, Mr. Odom appears to contribute to a higher-quality end result.
Despite these flaws, this is a rousing adventure tale, with a plot full of twists, lots of action, and many interesting characters. It was definitely an enjoyable reading experience.
reviewed by runningscared on November 26, 2006 2:40 AM
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Annja is starting to accept her new role as a force for good when she sees a note online form someone who claims to have found Solomon's Jar and wants to know what it might be worth. The jar was supposedly created by King Solomon to trap the demons he commanded to build the Great Temple. Surely the stories could not be true. But soon Annja finds herself looking into the story. There could be some truth and the demons could be very real. But how does a female archeologist track down legends and demons even with a mystic sword? The answer is in very traditional ways with plenty of legwork.
Annja's investigations take here to many locations where she encounters many dangers as others are also on the trail of the jar. Annja begins to be convinced that the jar exists but is it what legend claims? Greek fishermen, Russian mafia, a celebrity guru, and a passel of demons all must be confronted and overcome for Annja to complete her mission and get the jar into proper hands where it will not be used for evil. Can she succeed?
A good follow-up to the first book in the series. Although demons feature strongly in the plot, the rest of the book is a little more down to Earth than the first. The style is a little different from the first book but that is often the case with origins. Annja Creed continues to be an interesting character and is still trying to figure out her new role in the world. Her "wizard" mentor plays a smaller part in this book and I hope to see more of him in the future. I have high hopes for this series. Check it out.
Annja's investigations take here to many locations where she encounters many dangers as others are also on the trail of the jar. Annja begins to be convinced that the jar exists but is it what legend claims? Greek fishermen, Russian mafia, a celebrity guru, and a passel of demons all must be confronted and overcome for Annja to complete her mission and get the jar into proper hands where it will not be used for evil. Can she succeed?
A good follow-up to the first book in the series. Although demons feature strongly in the plot, the rest of the book is a little more down to Earth than the first. The style is a little different from the first book but that is often the case with origins. Annja Creed continues to be an interesting character and is still trying to figure out her new role in the world. Her "wizard" mentor plays a smaller part in this book and I hope to see more of him in the future. I have high hopes for this series. Check it out.
reviewed by literary on November 29, 2006 4:02 PM