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The Quest

A Novel

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
An earlier, shorter version of The Quest was published in paperback in 1975. In 2013, I rewrote The Quest and doubled its length, making it, I hope, a far better story than the original, without deviating from the elements that made the story so powerful and compelling when I first wrote it. In other words, what made The Quest worth rewriting remains, and whatever is changed is for the better.
I was happy and excited to have this opportunity to rewrite and republish what I consider my first "big" novel, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did when I first wrote it.
BOOK DESCRIPTION:
A sweeping adventure that's equal parts thriller and love story, Nelson DeMille's newest novel takes the reader from the war torn jungles of Ethiopia to the magical city of Rome.
While the Ethiopian Civil War rages, a Catholic priest languishes in prison. Forty years have passed since he last saw daylight. His crime? Claiming to know the true location of Christ's cup from the Last Supper. Then the miraculous happens - a mortar strikes the prison and he is free!
Old, frail, and injured, he escapes to the jungle, where he encounters two Western journalists and a beautiful freelance photographer taking refuge from the carnage. As they tend to his wounds, he relates his incredible story.
Motivated by the sensational tale and their desire to find the location of the holiest of relics, the trio agrees to search for the Grail.
Thus begins an impossible quest that will pit them against murderous tribes, deadly assassins, fanatical monks, and the passions of their own hearts.
THE QUEST is suspenseful, romantic, and filled with heart-pounding action. Nelson DeMille is at the top of his game as he masterfully interprets one of history's greatest mysteries.
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    • Publisher's Weekly

      October 14, 2013
      War-torn Ethiopia remains the backdrop to DeMille's (The Panther) re-imagining of this intense thriller, originally published in 1975 and set during the country's brutal revolution. Two journalists, Frank Purcell and Henry Mercado, and photographer Vivian chase the struggle outside the relative safety of Addis Ababa and share a harrowing night in the jungle where they meet a dying Italian priest. A captive for 40 years, the escapee confirms the existence of the fabled Holy Grail, the vessel used at the Last Supper, and a secret guarded by Coptic monks deep in the bush. Narrowly escaping court martial and probable torture by sadistic General Getachu of the revolutionary forces, the three are booted from Ethiopia before they can investigate with orders never to return. Despite an interlude in Rome, the mystique of the grail compels the intrigued journalists and their knowledgeable companion Colonel Gunn to sneak back to Africa for a story "good enough to pursue to the end." Divergent motivesâfaith, fatalism, and skepticismâand a brewing love triangle drive the often disturbing pilgrimage founded on hearsay and instinct. The explorers never earn the credibility of Dan Brown's Robert Langdon; the location of the Holy Grail in Ethiopia, despite all the tales and legend, never gains enough momentum to work as a thrilling probability. Still, DeMille creates excitement and dread through his elaborate descriptions of the jungle. Ethiopia looms at the novel's heart as the "the most blessed and most cursed land." Agent: Jennifer Joel, International Creative Management Partners.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      DeMille's reworked expansion of his 1975 adventure story sends two disillusioned journalists and a beautiful, mysterious photographer on a classic quest through the jungles of war-torn Ethiopia. Scott Brick is perfectly suited to convey DeMille's dramatic story of love, religion, sex, and violence. His pace and pronunciation are excellent. His dialogue expresses multiple recognizable voices without overplaying. Although released in 2013, the book is rooted in the dark cold-war world. At the same time, it partakes liberally from an older tradition of imperialist African adventure stories by the likes of H. Rider Haggard and P.C. Wren. F.C. (c) AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
    • Kirkus

      October 1, 2013
      DeMille (The Panther, 2012, etc.) dispatches three knights errant in search of the Holy Grail in this major revamping of his first novel. Freelance journalist Frank Purcell once spent time in a Khmer Rouge prison. Brit writer Henry Mercado was captured in World War II Europe and sent to Stalin's gulag. Vivian Smith's a mysterious young Swiss photographer. It's 1975. The three adrenalin junkies meet in Addis Ababa. Smith and Mercado ask Purcell to join a foray to cover fighting between rebels and Haile Selassie loyalists. As the trio journeys toward the front lines, they camp overnight at an abandoned colonial-era spa. There, the quest for a scoop detours. Mortally wounded Father Giuseppe Armando stumbles in from the jungle. While serving during the 1930s Italian invasion, the young Sicilian priest discovered an odd Coptic monastery. There, Armando found the Holy Grail. To prevent revelation of the secret, Coptic Christians kept him imprisoned for decades. After Father Armando dies, the journalists are captured by the psychopathic rebel Getachu, but they manage a derring-do escape. DeMille's adept enough with this age-old theme, but he stumbles with a long Rome-based middle section where the three retreat to plan anew. Some of DeMille's secondary characters, including mercenary Col. Sir Edmund Gann and Ethiopian Jewish princess Miriam, outshine the protagonists, but DeMille adds a menage love story, with a last-night-on-earth sex scene between Purcell and Smith. That means Smith betrays her lover, Mercado. Considering Smith's and Mercado's religious fervor, Smith rotating between beds seems off-kilter, but no more so than the trio's casual disregard of the Ark of Covenant, said to be secreted in an Ethiopian Jewish village. DeMille also poses threats that never materialize, like the fierce Galla tribe roaming about. Despite some rollicking good action, particularly aboard Mia, an ancient Navion aircraft, DeMille's quest's conclusion may leave readers thinking, "Is that all there is?" However, Vivian Smith finally does make up her mind.

      COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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