Book Log 2010 #35: The Mask of Atreus by A. J. Hartley

Speaking of worse, we have this offering, which I picked up even though the large swastika on the cover did set off some alarm bells.

The basic premise is actually intriguing: the benefactor of a small and eclectic Atlanta museum is found dead in a secret room that houses what appears to be a wealth of Trojan-era antiquities, a hoard that is apparently undocumented and would create quite a stir... if it's all real. The museum curator notices that there appears to be one item missing, something rather large that was wheeled out. She begins to investigate the case, having to deal along the way with a very unusual pair of cops, a cleaning lady who's not what she seems, a mysterious Englishman, an amorous lawyer, a dead Russian and a person who is very determined to kill her.

The book unfolds in a fairly typical neo-Nazi thriller kind of way, and it became pretty clear to me where this was going based once speculation started that the missing item was a body. The story is put together in a typical thriller way, with enough plot twists and hard to explain actions by the protagonist to keep the plot moving.

It's probably not fair to call this book worse than Hornet Flight, as its a perfectly servicable example of its genre (and a reasonable vacation read) and pits Hartley against a very experienced thriller author. But it doesn't compare well with the previous book, and while not as limp as, say, The Overseer, it's not necessarily a book to seek out.