Please note that Doomsday is a sequel to The Mayan Conspiracy and due to that this review may contain minor spoilers. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
A deadly countdown has begun…
Deep in the heart of the Amazon, an ancient Mayan stone is generating massive waves of energy while counting down to the apocalyptic date of December 21st 2012.
Using a cryptic map and a prophecy that points to the end of the world, maverick agent Hawker and his partner Danielle Laidlaw are in a race-against-time to find the stone before it falls into the hands of a foreign power. And before the countdown stops…
Doomsday picks up two years after the events in The Mayan Conspiracy, once again Danielle Laidlaw and Hawker are thrown together in an effort to save the world. The relationship between the two main protagonists is one of the books highlights, every time they are in the same room they continue to spark off of one another. The have a kind of bickering respect that makes their exchanges fun to read.
Again most of the action takes place in South America and the lush jungles and mysterious ruins make for an effective backdrop to the ongoing hunt for the missing artifact. Meanwhile back in the US Laidlaw’s boss, Arnold Moore, the head of the National Research Institute (NRI) is involved in political in-fighting between the CIA and NRI. The Institute’s independent actions have ruffled a few feathers over the years and the fallout from this is finally starting to be felt. This secondary plot add some nice addition depth to the characters. We get to discover a bit more about what has happened to Laidlaw in the intervening gap between the books.
Kang is the Chinese billionaire who is attempting to claim the powers of the stone for himself. He is a larger than life Bond-esque villain and I have to admit I rather liked his particular brand of evil. How could you not enjoy stuff like this?
He turned to the project leader. ” Prepare to launch the drones”.
Of course a maniacal billionaire is going to have his own robotic drones. If I was a billionaire, I’d have them. Seriously though, Kang does make for quite a good foil for our heroes. He is insanely driven and will stop at nothing, including dispatching his own henchmen, to locate the stone. There is an unhinged glee in his character that is a great deal of fun.
Reading a thriller like Doomsday is always a bit of a guilty pleasure. This isn’t world changing literary fiction but it is a great example of a genre thriller that will capture and maintain your attention. I like the fact that the plot gets more and more outrageous as the book continues. There are elements of the story that veer off into the realms of pure science fiction and I like the coming together of the two genres. It’s all terribly good fun and terrifically entertaining. Imagine watching your favourite action movie, this is the literary equivalent.
Its probably worthwhile also mentioning at this point that Doomsday was originally released as Black Sun back in 2010, just in case you buy the book and suddenly realize that it all sounds awfully familiar.
Doomsday is released on 24th May 2012 and is published by eBury Press.
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