Review - The Moses Stone

The Chris Bronson Series, by James Becker:
1. The First Apostle, (TBR)
2. The Moses Stone, 10.12.2010 * * *
3. The Messiah Secret, (NYP)

From The Back:
"In Morocco, an English couple discovers a clay tablet covered in ancient writing.  One day later, they are dead.  And the hunt for a priceless relic is on...
Called to North Africa to investigate, Detective Chris Bronson follows a trail of clues that leads him from the hustle of a Moroccan market to the deserted caves of Qumran; from the sinister echoes of a water-filled tunnel under the city of Jerusalem to a windswept fortress whose name spells death.  Threatened on every side by ruthless men with their own agendas, Bronson is plunged into a mystery that has gone unsolved since biblical times. For the stone he must find is older and far more dangerous than he could ever have imagined."

My Thoughts:
This was a good fun read, y'all!  Light, fairly fast-paced, and fun.  Chris is a British detective, and his ex-wife Angela works for a museum, so when he begins to suspect that this clay tablet has something to do with the murders he pulls her onto the case.  The two have some nice chemistry as a divorced couple who are still friends, and slowly working on getting back together.  The action moves from Morocco to London and then to several locations in Israel.  Chris & Angela are trying to find some ancient artifacts described on the clay tablet, before several groups of unscrupulous bad guys find them, who want to either sell them on the black market, or alternately destroy them so that the world doesn't find out about them.

Overall the story was a little predictable at times, but was fun enough that I didn't mind too much.  The one problem I had with the story was one point where a character describes the Book of Revelations as being part of the Old Testament of the Bible, when it is quite obviously NOT in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament.  Blame my early religious upbringing, but it just seemed like a sloppy detail for an editor or researcher to miss.  Also there was one character whose name seemed to alternate between Decker and Dexter, but he was a minor bad guy, so I didn't really care.  Overall, though, I basically enjoyed it enough to look for the first book in the series.  I've given this one a rating of 3 stars - entertaining, fun, and quick to read.

Have you read any part of this series?  What did you think?