BOOK REVIEW: ARARAT by Christopher Golden

ARARAT by Christopher Golden (St. Martin’s Press, April 2017) Hardcover, 305 pages.  ISBN # 1250117054 / 9781250117052 

Summary on the Goodreads website . . . . .

When a newly engaged couple climbs Mount Ararat in Turkey, an avalanche forces them to seek shelter inside a massive cave uncovered by the snow fall. The cave is actually an ancient, buried ship that many quickly come to believe is really Noah’s Ark. 

When a team of scholars, archaeologists, and filmmakers make it inside the ark for the first time, they discover an elaborate coffin in its recesses. The artifact tempts their professional curiosity; so they break it open. Inside, they find an ugly, misshapen cadaver—not the holy man that they expected, a hideous creature with horns. A massive blizzard blows in, trapping them in that cave thousands of meters up the side of a remote mountain…but they are not alone.  

My Four-Star Review on the Goodreads website . . . . 

     This is the second book that I've read in what I'm calling the adventure/horror genre, a captivating blend of adventure/quest with suspense/horror. The first was THE TERROR by Dan Simmons, so that places Golden's ARARAT in very good company. I almost tagged this as biblical horror based on the subject matter, but thought I might have difficulty finding another novel to deserve that same categorization. 

     ARARAT is a taut, well-constructed novel with a wide international cast of characters that manages to leave enough space to flesh out and develop the personalities of the main players, of which there are still many. There are some subtle underlying messages about devotion, sacrifice, faith, personal priorities, and love. 

     It's also the first Golden book featuring Ben Walker, who appears in two more novels that I just became aware of. 

     The beginning and middle parts of the novel build tension at a methodical pace, as the poison that represents the demonic presence in the Ark burrows its way into the minds of the explorers, affecting them all in various ways. The last third of the book is a real page-turner, containing the most horrific scenes, which I devoured in a single bedtime reading. Pleasant dreams.