If you’re a fan of good adventure stories, I highly recommend Rogue Angel, The Spider Stone by Alex Archer!
I enjoyed the book so much, I completely blew off my own work to finish it in a rush of excitement that had me tapping my foot on the floor and cheering the characters on out loud.
Annja Creed is a fantastic protagonist. Intelligent, brave and be still my heart, she had a touch of geekiness as well. Add in the ability to kick serious butt and I am all over that.
Annja is an archeologist who is called in to help discover the origins of a group of skeletons found under a warehouse in Atlanta, Georgia. There she discovers the Spider Stone and as she researches its origin and meaning, she learns that others want the stone and will do anything to get it, including a bloodthirsty and ruthless African warlord. The stone, an important historical artifact of the Hausa people of Africa, is also rumored to be the key in finding a vast hidden treasure.
This story is full of rich history that will fascinate you and break your heart. I thoroughly enjoyed the quest to find the treasure. The archeological aspects of the book weighed nicely with the action and the threaded clues of what happened to the Hausa people during the horrors of the slave trade years had me biting nails.
And did I mention the cool, freaking sword??? One that apparently once belonged to Joan of Arc?
I didn’t read the first two books in the series, so I came into the story without knowledge of the sword and its capabilities– but it didn’t matter. It was obvious that Annja is still getting used to having access to the sword– that she is still learning the what and why of it.
I enjoyed this book as a stand alone and have every intention of staying with the series to read about Annja’s other adventures. I want to know more about the sword as well as the two mysterious characters Roux and Garin so I will probably go back to the first two books in the series.
I want a sword now.