There are quite a few readers who will enjoy Daniel Levin’s THE LAST EMBER; fans of Dan Brown, fans of historical mysteries, fans of books that involve religion in their plot, fans of intricate puzzles, fans of action thrillers, and fans of Italy will all find something to appreciate in the book’s 400+ pages.
But there will also be quite a few readers who are turned off by the shallow characterization, the tendency to give art history lectures through stilted dialogue, the sheer scope and implausibility of the novel’s action, and the breathless style of writing that leads to passages like, “… he said softly, raking back the soaked, brown hair from his brow. Stubble accented the strong angles of his attractive face, darkening his boyish looks.”
So it’s a mixed bag, but entertaining nonetheless. Jonathan Marcus, he of the boyish looks, is brought to Rome by his law firm to fight an antiquities repatriation effort. There, he meets his sweetheart from his undergraduate work, Dr. Emili Travia, who naturally, is on the other side, fighting to get the antiquities back into Italian hands. The item in question, also quite naturally, happens to dovetail perfectly with Marcus’ old academic thesis, so once again, he is on the trail to prove that he was right so many years ago.
However, a rogue archaeologist referred to as Salah ad-Din is standing in the way and … well, perhaps “rogue” is an understatement. Marcus and Travia are sucked into an international conspiracy revolving around the ancient Roman historian Flavius Josephus and the history of the Jews, and there will definitely be corpses involved.
As noted, Levin’s style is a bit dull. His lead characters and villain are clichés, but there are two characters he introduces — an old Jewish historian named Mosé Orvieto and an Italian policeman named Jacopo Profeta — who really come off quite well and seem to have so much more going for them then our leads. He is strenuous in his attention to detail and while I’m not qualified to comment on the accuracy of his history, this material will be fascinating to students of ancient and modern-day Rome. If you have an interest in Italy or religious mysteries, this one may be worth your while. —Mark Rose
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