Book Review

The Emerald Tablet by Meaghan Wilson Anastasios

What do Indiana Jones and Benedict Hitchens have in common? They are archaeologists who seem to get into a lot of trouble and caught up in the wrong crowd. This is the second book by Meaghan Wilson Anastasios with the character Benedict Hitchens, and I don’t think it will be the last. The Emerald Tablet is a contemporary Historical fiction novel with adventure and political mayhem added to the mix.

Benedict Hitchens is drawn into a search for a relic that has mystical properties and needs to find it before various factions of mercenaries who have a different plan for its use.

Benedict (Ben) is visited by the head of the Turkish police, who asks him to find out what Eris, a woman he had previously known Patras (in The Honourable Thief), and who now goes by Essie Peters, is doing back in Turkey. As the story progresses, Ben tracks the location of the emerald tablet by the various clues he finds through an ancient book. He is very conscious that he needs to locate it before Essie Peters, and whoever is paying her. Shadowing him is an old foe, who coerces and then kills the people Ben has talked to to uncover what they have told him.

The clues take Ben and his friend Ilhan to the Middle East where there is political unrest over the Suez Canal. The French and British are threatening an invasion and the Egyptians, Russians, Arabian neighbours and the USA are warning them against it. The race is on and they need to find Balinas’ final resting place to recover the emerald tablet. The emerald tablet is an object of alchemy, the secret it holds can heal but also create weapons of destruction. The tablet was found by Balinas, a philosopher of the First Century CE, who learnt of the unusual properties of the tablet and deemed it too powerful for the human race and hid it.

The story is well-paced, filled with action and adventure. The author’s knowledge of ancient history and archaeological background is evident in each page of the book.

The Emerald Tablet provides a glimpse at what was happening in the Middle East during the mid-1950’s and of the treacherous nature of humans when it comes to greed and power. I had read The Honourable Thief and enjoyed it and was keen to read this latest offering by Meaghan Wilson Anastasios. Readers who enjoy action and adventure will definitely enjoy this book.

Click here: If you like fast-paced action/adventure stories, you will enjoy reading Search for the Golden Serpent and The Labyrinthine Journey.

Thank you for reading.