Trail of the flames

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The book " Spur der Flammen ", (original title "Star of Babylon"), which appeared in German in August 2004, was written by the bestselling author Barbara Wood and achieved great success as an adventure novel . The English version was published later, in July 2005.

The story takes place in different places like Los Angeles , Palmyra , England or the desert of Arabia.

action

The archaeologist Candice Armstrong is hastily called to the deathbed of her mentor Professor John Masters, who in turn is a famous archaeologist. Candice has to promise the dying professor that he will continue his research into the "Star of Babylon". At the deathbed, she met the policeman Glenn Masters, the professor's son. He finds her energetic, impulsive manner and her wonderful, deep, rough voice very attractive. She in turn admires his tall and strong figure and sets out to unravel this quiet and controlled man. Of course, they do not initially admit their mutual attraction. Glenn Masters immediately suspects that the professor's fall and subsequent death was not an accident but a murder carried out by the wealthy eccentric Philo Thibodeau.

He has a megalomaniac plan to change the world. As a prominent figure in the ancient secret order of the Alexandrians, he has set himself the personal goal of collecting religious traditions from all cultures. You only find out why at the end. The "Star of Babylon" is the last important piece that he is missing from his collection. With the intention of taking the find from them, he lets Candice and Glenn search more or less undisturbed for the "Star of Babylon", which they finally find in the Syrian desert. When the find is stolen from them, the search for the secret hiding place of Philo Thibodeau and his Alexandrians begins. Candice and Glenn are helped by the fact that Glenn's mother was also a member of the Alexandrian order. Thanks to Glenn's fragmentary memory of conversations with his mother, they find the Alexandrians' secret hiding place. Philo Thibodeau, who believes he is the second, real Jesus, has almost put his insane plan into practice.

main characters

  • Candice Armstrong, archaeologist
  • Glenn Masters, cop
  • John Masters, professor
  • Ian Hawthorne, well-known colleague of Candice and decipherer of various scripts
  • Jessica Randolph, collector and scammer
  • Philo Thibodeau, influential man and murderer who wants power over everything.

Various people mentioned in the book, such as Alaric , and institutions such as the Alexandria Library , actually existed. The "Order of the Alexandrians" and its library is fictitious.

reception

Some readers of "trace of the flames" criticize z. B. Action as clichéd and not very credible; Overall, the novel receives a lower rating than other Barbara Wood novels.

expenditure

  • Barbara Wood: The star of Babylon . Severn House, Sutton 2005, ISBN 0-7278-6210-3 .
    • German: trace of the flames . Krüger, Frankfurt / M. 2004, ISBN 3-8105-2354-2 (translated by Susanne Dickerhof-Kranz)