Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1846 in Books
• Published on: 2000-12-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 784 pages

Synopsis
Deep in the jungles of Peru the contest of the century is underway. It's a race to locate a legendary Incan idol - one carved out of a strange kind of stone. But a stone which in the present century could be used for a terrifying new purpose. Now rival groups are assembling their teams to hunt the idol down, at any cost. The only clue to the idol's final resting place is to be found in a 400-year-old manuscript. Which introduces Professor William Race, a mild-mannered but brilliant young linguist who is unwillingly recruited to interpret the document that could lead to the idol itself. So begins the mission that will lead Race and his companions to a mysterious temple hidden in the foothills of the Andes. There they find a carefully contrived sanctuary seething with menace and unexpected dangers. But it is not until the silence of the temple is breached that Race and his team discover they have broken a golden rule ...Some doors are meant to remain unopened.

Customer Reviews

I loved it!
I just loved it, I couldn't put it down. I found the drawings helped my imagination and as this is the first book I have ever read by Matthew Reilly I am now going out and buying his others. Can't wait for the next one!!!

Ridiculous, terribly written
The basic story/premise is reasonably good, but that's about all.
The weaknesses far, far outweigh any strength in this book.
Most (in fact all) of the characters have no personalities whatsoever and are merely (barely)in the background, waiting to have their heads/bodies shot to pieces. In fact, the author's obsession with graphic violence is infantile. So too are the action sequences, which go on for far too long. And most of the action sequences are so improbable as to be utterly ridiculous.

The writing style is absolutely dreadful; in fact it reads as if written by a fifteen year old. Come to think of it, the writing style is one of the worst aspects of this book.

This book didn't have to be this way. The quest for the old Inca idol and the narrative use of the backstory (flitting to the 16th century) was quite a good idea. There are some cool aspects of the plot, in terms of the locations, and some of the unusual events that take place in the story.

Unfortunately, though, Matthew Reilly has taken a good idea and written such a juvenile product that I doubt that I will read any more of his books. I know this is not meant to be serious literature, but there are plenty other thriller type books that have more likeable/interesting characters and are far better written.

Are you reading the same Temple as me??
Ok everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but..

This book deserves nothing short of 5 Stars, i'm not going to go into as much detail as the other reviewers may have, we all have a day to get on with.

The idea of two stories which are hundreds of years apart, being told in one book (with the oldest effecting events in the present) deserves alot of credit in itself. With it being a book consisting of more than 600 pages i cannot express every nitty gritty in this review.

If your into an action/thriller this is the book for you. If your a squeemish, lovey dovey individual, steer clear..