De la Corne d'Or au Mexique, en passant par l'Ecosse et le Groenland, ce roman archéologique nous entraîne à la recherche du chandelier sacré du peuple juif, et nous fait découvrir les conquêtes des Vikings et la chute de l'empire Maya. Une intrigue prenante, mais parfois un peu rocambolesque et entrecoupée d'éléments historiques très (trop?) pointus. On apprécie les notes de fin de volume qui restaurent la "vraie" vérité. ( )

O experiente arqueólogo Jack Howard está de volta. Nas águas da Turquia, ele procura os tesouros perdidos durante as cruzadas, entre os quais uma preciosa menorá , o candelabro que é símbolo da fé judaica, de ouro maciço. Mas o que ele descobre é algo bem diferente... Lutando contra o relógio, Jack Howard arrisca a vida para decifrar segredos que podem mudar a história. A Cruzada do Ouro combina fato e ficção num thriller que vai fazer você repensar tudo o que aprendeu. ( )

read it in dutch: "Menora" ( )

De mix van archeologie, wereldwijd opererende geheime genootschappen en de zoektocht naar de gouden Menora, die door Vespasianus op de Joden buitgemaakt is, maar in de loop van de geschiedenis verloren is geraakt, spreekt tot de verbeelding. Historische bronnen, echte namen en gebeurtenissen, eigen ervaringen met ijs- en grotduiken van David Gibbins , maken Menora tot een boek, dat leest als een trein en de spanning rondom de lotgevallen van Jack Howard, Costas en Maria tot het eind opvoert. Van de Bosporus (Gouden Hoorn buiten Constantinopel), Wales, Iona, Groenland tot het Mexicaanse Yucatan. ( )

I thought Crusader Gold's premise had promise. Unfortunately, while I found the main characters interesting and attention-worthy, and the history was complex and fascinating, the rest of the book felt like tissue paper trying vainly to hold these jewels into some semblance of a whole skein.

The pacing was entirely off. Most of the book is loaded down with complex historical exposition disguised as dialogue. When excitement does happen, it feels sudden, jarring, and out-of-place. In particular, Crusader Gold see-sawed back and forth between over-explaining and repeating information and skipping over things as though the author suddenly realized he needed to speed things up; unfortunately he often skipped just the wrong information, leaving things confused.

There are two distinct "feels" in this book that don't jibe with one another. The over-explaining of historical and technical portions of the book gives the feel of an ultra-real adventure novel in which the author wants you to know that everything he writes is absolutely possible. However, everything having to do with the bad guys (the Nazis) in this book is one-dimensional and overblown---something you might be able to get away with in a brain-candy thrill-ride, but not in a 'realistic' adventure. In addition, the main characters find their way through the plot courtesy of just enough improbable coincidence and happenstance that such ultra-realism is similarly stretched to the breaking point. Crusader Gold really needs to be one or the other: quick brain-candy thrill ride with just enough information to make it somewhat real, or ultra-realistic info-fest with all aspects given equal attention. Speaking of Nazis, the bad guys are so utterly one-dimensional that they might as well be rabid dogs.

As if all of that weren't enough, the ending is quite anticlimactic. I won't give away the details, but suffice it to say that just when you're sure you still have some interesting mileage left because the characters haven't yet found their objective, it's all cut short and solved through a little dialogue.

Full review at ErrantDreams ( )