The Ark: A Novel

by Boyd Morrison

Overview

A MODERN-DAY INTERNATIONAL THRILLER HAILED BY JAMES ROLLINS AS ONE OF THE BEST DEBUTS IVE READ THIS YEAR . . . HERE IS A NOVEL THAT WILL HAVE YOU HOLDING YOUR BREATH UNTIL THE LAST PAGE IS TURNED.

When brilliant archaeologist Dilara Kenner is contacted by Sam Watson, an old family friend who says that he has crucial information about her missing father, Dilara abandons her Peruvian dig and rushes to Los Angeles to meet him. But at the airport, Sam speaks instead of Noahs Arkthe artifact her father had long been searching forand the possible death of billions. Before Sam can explain, he collapses. With his dying breath, he urges Dilara to find Tyler Lockea man shes never heard of.

Two days later Dilara manages to track down former combat engineer Tyler Locke on an oil rig off Newfoundland. Her helicopter transport goes down well short of the oil rigs landing pad and Dilara and those aboard nearly drown. No sooner is Dilara safely on the rig than she convinces Tyler the crash was no accident. Tyler agrees to help her uncover the secret behind Noah's Ark and, more important, her father's disappearance. As the picture begins to come into focus, they realize they have just seven days to find the Ark before its secret is used to wipe out civilization once again.

With a chilling premise and a blistering pace, Boyd Morrison combines all the best elements of a blockbuster thriller with an intelligent and fascinating exploration of one of the Old Testaments great mysteries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781439181812
Publisher:	Touchstone
Publication date:	05/11/2010
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	22,259
File size:	605 KB

About the Author

Boyd Morrison has a Ph.D. in industrial engineering and has worked for NASA, Microsofts Xbox Games Group, and Thomson-RCA. In 2003, he fulfilled a lifelong dream and became a Jeopardy! champion. He is also a professional actor who has appeared in commercials, stage plays, and films. He lives with his wife in Seattle.

Read an Excerpt

PROLOGUE

Three Years Ago

Hasad Arvadi’s legs wouldn’t cooperate. He strained to pull himself to the wall so he could spend his final moments propped upright, but without the use of his legs, it was a hopeless task. The stone floor was too slick, and his arm strength was sapped. His head dropped to the floor. Breaths came in ragged gasps. He remained on his back, the life draining from him.

He was going to die. Nothing would change that now. This inky black chamber, a room hidden from the world for millennia, would become his tomb.

Fear over his own fate was long past. Instead, Arvadi wept in frustration. He had been so close to his life’s goal—seeing Noah’s Ark with his own eyes—but that opportunity had been snatched from him with three pulls of a trigger. The bullet in each knee made it impossible to move. The one in his belly ensured that he wouldn’t last another five minutes. Although the wounds were excruciating, they weren’t as painful as falling short of reaching the Ark when it was within his grasp.

He couldn’t bear the awful irony of the situation. He finally had proof that the Ark existed. Not only existed, still exists. Waiting to be found where it had lain for six thousand years. He had unearthed the last piece of the puzzle, revealed to him in ancient text written before Christ was born.

We’ve been wrong all this time, he had thought as he read. Wrong for thousands of years. Wrong because the people who concealed the Ark wanted us to be wrong.

The revelation had been such a triumphant event that Arvadi hadn’t noticed the pistol aimed at his legs until it was too late. Then it had all happened so fast. The crack of gunshots. Shouted demands for information. His own pathetic pleas for mercy. Fading voices and dimming light as his killers stole away with their prize. Darkness.

Lying there awaiting his own death, thinking about what had been taken from him, Arvadi seethed with fury. He couldn’t let them get away with it. Eventually someone would find his body. He had to record what had happened here, that the location of Noah’s Ark wasn’t the only secret this chamber held.

Arvadi wiped his bloody hand on his sleeve and pulled a notebook from his vest pocket. His hands were shaking so violently that he dropped the notebook twice. With tremendous effort, he opened it to what he hoped was an empty page. The darkness was so total that he had to do everything by touch. He removed a pen from another pocket and flipped the cap off with his thumb. The silence in the chamber was broken by the sound of the plastic cap skittering across the floor.

With the notebook resting on his chest, Arvadi began to write.

The first line came easily, but he was rapidly becoming light-headed with shock. He didn’t have much time. The second line was exponentially more difficult. The pen grew heavier as he wrote, as if it were being filled with lead. By the time he got to the third line, he couldn’t remember what he’d already written. He got two more words out onto the paper, and then the pen dropped from his fingers. His arms would no longer move.

Tears streamed down his temples. As Arvadi felt oblivion closing in on him, three terrible thoughts echoed in his mind.

He would never again see his beloved daughter.

His killers were now walking the earth with a relic of unimaginable power.

And he would go to his grave without gazing on the greatest archaeological discovery in history.

© 2010 Boyd Morrison

Editorial Reviews

At the start of Morrison's debut, a routine quest thriller that attracted attention through Amazon's self-publishing Kindle program, combat engineer Tyler Locke executes a daring rescue after the helicopter carrying archeologist Dilara Kenner crash-lands in the sea near the floating oil rig where Tyler is working 200 miles off the Newfoundland coast. Dilara has come to enlist Tyler's help in finding Noah's ark, previously discovered by her father, Hasad Arvadi, who was murdered before he could announce this momentous find. Arvadi's killer, Sebastian Ulric, the head of a religious cult, plans to use a prion disease found on the ark as a weapon. Tyler, Dilara, and Tyler's sidekick, Grant Westfield, are all that stands between Ulric and the death of virtually every human on earth. Morrison breaks the story into several main sections involving various battles before finally honing in on what impatient readers will have been awaiting, the actual discovery of the ark. 5-city author tour. (May)

Publishers Weekly

What is the recipe for an awesome artifact thriller? Take an important relic (preferably biblical), a megalomaniac with unlimited funds and plans for world domination, a handsome and masterful hero, and a beautiful scholar. Sprinkle liberally with painful pasts, opportunities for redemption, and burgeoning romance. Here, Morrison, a Ph.D. in industrial engineering, sends us on an action-packed adventure with Drs. Tyler Locke and Dilara Kenner as they fend off assassins, save the world from a madman, and find Noah's Ark. Accept the general premise, and both the action and the archaeology seem totally plausible. Technically, this is Morrison's first novel; however, he already has fans, having self-published this book through Amazon's Kindle program, where it ranked first in sales for its genre. VERDICT If you have ever watched any show about Noah's Ark and for a moment wished the ark were really there to be found, then this work is for you. A bonus: Locke is a kind, smart, consummate action hero. Let's hope he's in the sequel.—Laura A.B. Cifelli, Fort Myers-Lee Cty. P.L., FL

Library Journal

"The Ark by Boyd Morrison skillfully entwines Biblical history, archaeology and religious fanaticism with high technology to create a riveting adventure of high-stakes terror and international intrigue. Wow. This is one fine heart-stopping thriller."

—Douglas Preston, New York Times Bestselling Author

“Boyd Morrison's novel is a stunning thriller with a premise as ingenious as it is flawlessly executed. Lightning paced, chillingly real, here is a novel that will have you holding your breath until the last page is turned. One of the best debuts I've read this year." —James Rollins

“Mach-speed mayhem. THE ARK crackles with tension and imagination from the first page to the last. Just the right blend of menace and normality. Boyd Morrison is a writer to watch.”

—Steve Berry, New York Times Bestselling Author

“Taut and endlessly exciting, THE ARK is a thrill-a-minute ride across time and continents in search of one of the world’s most fascinating mysteries…From memorable characters to insider information, you’ll love this adventure of a lifetime.”

—Gayle Lynds, New York Times Bestselling Author

“Boyd Morrison is a rising star in the thriller world.”

—Chris Kuzneski, New York Times bestselling author

From the Publisher