Book Review: The Ark by Boyd Morrison

The Ark
Boyd Morrison
Read by Boyd Gaines
Simon & Schuster Audio, May 2010
ISBN 1442305126
Unabridged Audio Book

The search for Noah’s Ark has been the goal of archeologists the world over for centuries, even those who consider themselves to be nonbelievers.  Now, her father may have been successful, but archeologist Dilara Kenner knows very little about it other than the fact that people around her are being killed and she herself seems to be a target.  Led by the urging of an old family friend, who tells her as he’s dying that the lives of billions are at stake, Dilara seeks out Tyler Locke, a former combat engineer.  The two have little idea what is happening but they quickly learn that time is truly short and that the truth—and the terrible peril— of the Flood is something they could never have imagined.

Boyd Morrison is one of those rarities, a self-published author who gets “discovered” by a traditional publisher.  The Ark was originally released as a Kindle ebook; after following the time-honored route of finding an agent, a good one, the book just didn’t sell, apparently because lots of publishers loved it but didn’t believe there was a place for it in the currently overfull thriller market.  Morrison decided to try putting it up as an ebook but was smart enough to recognize the pitfalls if he also self-published a print edition.  Within three months, he had become an unqualified ebook success, much to his surprise, and his agent took that success back to market.  Voila!  A contract came, probably the first offered by a Big Six publisher to a self-published Kindle author.

I, for one, am very glad for the author’s success and especially that a print publisher finally recognized the worth of this book so that I, a hardcore non-ebook reader, could enjoy it.  The story is a good one and is fast-paced; that speed is the one thing that made the audio edition a bit less than terrific.  Unfortunately, the narrator’s voice is sometimes too studied and deliberate, actually slowing down the tempo.  He also tends to let his voice drop off and his female interpretations are often too low in tone and these two aspects of the reading caused me to frequently have to adjust the volume so I could hear it properly.  Another thing I wasn’t crazy about was the length of the tracks, making it difficult to find my place if I needed to do so for whatever reason.

Having said that, I did thoroughly enjoy this thriller and will read or listen to the next one, gladly.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, June 2010.

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June 16, 2010  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: Full Reviews, My Reviews

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