In the second installment of Alex Archer’s Rogue Angel saga, which features protagonist Annja Creed (spiritual descendant Joan of Arc and her fated successor as “champion of the good”), the intrepid archeologist sets off to find Solomon’s Jar, an invaluable biblical artifact that King Solomon allegedly used to entrap the numerous demons he used to build his temple in Jerusalem.
With the help of her enigmatic mentor, a centuries-old man named Roux, Creed sets off to verify if the Jar — believed to be forever lost at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea — was in fact recovered. Following leads from Peru to the Netherlands to Israel to Brazil, Creed struggles to stay one step ahead of gun-toting factions (including Russian mobsters, English cultists, and the fanatical followers of a charismatic kabbalist) bent on finding and exploiting the Jar’s supernatural powers. But once Creed locates Solomon’s Jar, will its intrinsically evil powers influence her resolve to do God’s will?
Okay, I was actually very disappointed with this one. Rogue Angel is a series of scifi/fantasy books that come bimonthly. It’s kind of like the scifi/fantasy version of a Harlequin romance only you get the same main character and a different adventure with every book. I read the first book, Destiny, and fell in love with the female archaeologist sword weilding badass. Seriously, she’s like modern day Joan of Arc meets Lara Croft meets Indiana Jones. Pretty badass.
Well, this book was a bit more bleh thant he first. The first book had a French mythological creature mystery. This one dealt with the more religious and spiritual aspect of Annja Creed’s job. Now, this isn’t something that bothers me. What bothered me was just the basic story.
Annja was great, sure a bit stereotypical or maybe too perfect, but I like that about this series. It isn’t supposed to be some kind of great fictional work. It is fiction meant to entertain and she entertains me. She may not for others, but she does for me.
What I had serious problems with was the convoluted way Annja traveled from Point A to Point B, etc. It felt choppy and not seamless. I found myself flipping back a few pages to see where the destinations were even mentioned. I’m not saying that the characters needed to announce everytime they were to fly to another exotic place, but it felt like for this story, it would have made following it easier. I felt if we had stayed in one location, not four or five, the book would be easier to follow and more enjoyable.
Aside from that, it wasn’t too bad of a story. I couldn’t get into any of the “bad guys”. They seemed to just be there for the sake of her needing to use her sword. The action was good, but felt like a Michael Bay movie at times… explosions! So, yeah, wasn’t happy about this one.
I feel that if you were to continue this series or even start it, skip this book. It wasn’t worth it for me. Now, am I going to stop the series because of this book? No, I like Annja. I want to see more of her.
Casia's Corner 