In Delphi, the mountain city deemed by the Greek gods to be the
center of the Earth, a cult of neo-pagans re-create with painstaking
authenticity ancient rituals to glorify the god Apollo and deliver
oracles to seekers from around the world.
When antiquities are stolen from a museum in nearby Thebes, British
archaeologist Sarah Weston and her American partner, Daniel Madigan, are
drawn into a plot that goes beyond harmless role-playing: someone’s
using the Delphian oracle as a smoke screen for an information exchange,
with devastating consequences for the Western world.
Pitted against each other by the cult’s mastermind, Sarah and Daniel
race against time and their own personal demons to uncover clues left
behind by the ancients. Their mission: to find the original navel stone
marked with a lost Pythagorean formula detailing the natural events that
led to the collapse of the Minoan Empire.
But will they find it in time to stop the ultimate terrorist act?
Publication Date: November 10, 2015
Medallion Press
Paperback; 456p
ISBN-13: 978-1605426273
Series: The Sarah Weston Chronicles, Book Three
Genre: Historical/Archeological Adventure
Daphne Nikolopoulos in an award-winning journalist, author, editor,
and lecturer. Under the pen name D.J. Niko, she has written two novels
in an archaeological thriller series titled The Sarah Weston Chronicles.
Her debut novel, The Tenth Saint (Medallion Press, 2012), won the Gold
Medal (popular fiction) in the prestigious, juried Florida Book Awards.
Her follow-up release, The Riddle of Solomon, continues the story of
British archaeologist Sarah Weston as she seeks the relics—and mystical
secrets—left behind by the biblical King Solomon in remote Israel.
Daphne is currently at work on The Oracle, book 3 in The Sarah Weston
Chronicles, which releases in 2015. Also slated for publication in 2015
is her first historical novel, The Judgment, which is set in Israel and
Egypt in the tenth century BCE.
In addition to writing fiction, Daphne is editor in chief of Palm
Beach Illustrated magazine and editorial director of Palm Beach Media
Group. Prior to that, she was a travel journalist who logged hundreds of
thousands of miles traveling across the globe, with emphasis on
little-known and off-the-beaten-path locales—many of which have inspired
her novels.
Daphne frequently lectures about her research on the ancient world.
She is an instructor at Florida Atlantic University’s Lifelong Learning
Society, teaching on the subject of archaeology. She has also spoken to
audiences at the Jewish Community Center of the Palm Beaches’ Academy
for Continuous Education, and several libraries and private groups
throughout Florida.
Born and raised in Athens, Greece, Daphne now resides in West Palm
Beach with her husband and twin son and daughter. You can find her on
the Web at djnikobooks.com and connect with her on Facebook (AuthorDJNiko) and on Twitter: @djnikobooks.
Giveaway
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⇒Please email Amy @ hfvirtualbooktours@gmail.com with any questions.
Gold Medal Winner, Popular Fiction, 2013 Florida Book Awards.
Cambridge archaeologist Sarah Weston makes an unusual discovery in
the ancient Ethiopian mountain kingdom of Aksum: a sealed tomb with
inscriptions in an obscure dialect. Seeking to ascertain the translation
and the identity of the entombed man, she and her colleague, American
anthropologist Daniel Madigan, stumble upon a lethal conflict.
Tracking down clues in Addis Ababa and the monasteries of Lalibela,
Sarah and Daniel uncover a codex in a subterranean library revealing a
set of prophecies about Earth’s final hours written by a man hailed by
Coptic mystics as Ethiopia’s tenth saint. Violently opposed by the
corrupt director of antiquities at the Ethiopian Ministry of Culture and
Tourism, they’re left for dead in the heart of the Simien Mountains.
Surviving to journey to Paris, Sarah is given another piece of the
ancient puzzle: a fourteenth-century letter describing catastrophic
events leading to the planet’s demise.
Connecting the two discoveries, Sarah faces a deadly intercontinental
conspiracy to keep the secret of the tenth saint buried. Risking her
reputation and her life, Sarah embarks on a quest to stall the
technological advances that will surely destroy the world.
Even though this book comes in at 464 pages it was a quick read. The chapters are not too long and usually ended with a little cliffhanger, which just made me want to read more and 3 days later I was finished. Weaving back and forth in time, the author wove a very interesting story that I enjoyed and thought was original.
This book was a mix of mystery, action, historical, suspense, archaeological and romance along with time travel. In the 1600's we have a man named Gabriel, you know that there is something different about him, but ya just can't quite put your finger on what it is. I really liked his part of the story, very mysterious and intriguing. In present day we have Sarah and Daniel, as much as I really enjoyed this book I had a difficult time connecting with these two. I found Sarah to lack feeling or any emotion, same with Daniel.
There were parts of the story that I found predictable, while others were a surprise. Some of the action scenes were a little farfetched, but then again the way the author wrote them out I could cleanly see them happening in my little brain (and that's a good thing).
This is the first book in the Sarah Weston Chronicles with book 2 already released, The Riddle of Solomon.
All in all a fast paced book that will appeal to those that like face paced books with lots of action.
Praise for The Tenth Saint
“The characters are lively, and the story is fast-paced and exciting,
especially for inveterate fans of the genre.” – David Pitt, Booklist
(January 1, 2012)
“Like ‘The Da Vinci Code,’ ‘The Tenth Saint’ takes you to a place you
have never been, creating an adventure you will not soon forget.” –
Laurence Leamer, New York Times-bestselling author of ‘Kennedy Women’
“Interesting, intricate and intriguing, ‘The Tenth Saint’ is an
archaeological puzzle the reader can’t wait to solve.” – James O. Born,
author of ‘Burn Zone’
“Her descriptive powers are remarkable. Whether constructing the
distant past or today, whether reproducing the foreign or the familiar,
Ms. Niko brings vivid, convincing sensory detail to her settings.” –
Phil Jason, Naples Florida Weekly (April 2012)
“Fast-paced and filled with danger and action in interesting and less
well-known locales, The Tenth Saint will keep readers on the edge of
their seats until the end.”- www.FreshFiction.com
“An impressive and well-researched thrill-ride … Dark tombs, buried
secrets, and apocalyptic prophecies, this book has it all!” – Ronald
Malfi, author of ‘The Ascent’ and ‘Floating Staircase’
“The Tenth Saint is a clever and well-written story which piqued my
interest and curiosity. I enjoyed the wicked twist at the end, which I
thought brought everything together cleanly. I look forward to more of
Ms. Niko’s writing!” – Star Fyre, Bibliophilic Book Blog
“The author, D. J. Niko, thoroughly researched the history and
geography of Ethiopia, providing sufficient authenticity to the story
line and plot to satisfy even the most skeptical Returned Peace Corps
Volunteer.” – The Etritrea and Ethiopia Herald (for Peace Corps
volunteers)
D.J. Niko is the nom de plume of Daphne Nikolopoulos, an
award-winning author and journalist. Her first novel, titled The Tenth
Saint, was released in March 2012 to rave reviews by both readers and
the trade. In March 2013, it was awarded the Gold Medal for popular
fiction in the prestigious, juried Florida Book Awards. An
archaeological thriller embroidered with historical motifs, The Tenth
Saint takes readers on an adventure across the globe: Ethiopia, the
Syro-Arabian Desert and Abyssinian Empire circa fourth century, London,
Paris, Brussels, and Texas. The Tenth Saint is the first book in The
Sarah Weston Chronicles series. The second, titled The Riddle of
Solomon, releases July 1, 2013.
Daphne is now at work on a historical novel set in tenth century
B.C.E. Israel. The epic story details the collapse of the United
Monarchy and the glory and fall of the empire built by King Solomon. It
will be released in early 2015.
As a former travel journalist, Daphne has traveled across the globe
on assignment, or for personal discovery. She has been to some places
most of us don’t realize are on the map, and she has brought them to
life through her writing for various magazines, newspapers and websites
on an international scale. Her travel background and rich experiences
now bring authentic detail, color, and realism to her fiction.
She also is the editor in chief of Palm Beach Illustrated magazine, a
62-year-old luxury-lifestyle glossy. She also is the editorial director
of Palm Beach Media Group, and in that capacity oversees 11 magazines
and 3 websites.
She is the mother of twin toddlers and, in her spare time, volunteers
for causes she believes in—literacy, education, child advocacy, and the
advancement of traditional and tribal arts from around the world. Born
in Athens, Greece, she now lives with her family in West Palm Beach,
Florida.
For more information, please visit D.J. Niko’s website. You can also follow on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.