The Vault

Starred review from June 6, 2011
Morrison's excellent third thriller (after The Ark and Rogue Wave) finds series hero Tyler Locke, aided by TV journalist and Greek scholar Stacy Benedict, trying to defuse a time bomb aboard a Seattle to Bremerton, Wash., ferry by solving an ancient puzzle created by Archimedes. That is merely the first task devised for Locke and Benedict by criminal mastermind Jordan Orr, whose ultimate goal is to locate the tomb of King Midas and the secret of the Midas touch that transmutes base metals to gold. With the lives of their loved ones at stake, the pair embark on a series of increasingly dangerous jaunts to England, Germany, Greece, and Italy to collect and decipher pieces of a puzzle that will allow them to locate the tomb buried among the miles of tunnels underlying Naples. Compelling action more than compensates for improbabilities and lack of character development in this electrifying blend of history, myth, and science.

Boyd Morrison brings his army combat engineer, Tyler Locke, back with this follow-up to THE ARK, and Boyd Gaines returns to perform the narration. In this adventure, Locke is thrust into life-or-death predicaments along with a classical languages scholar, Stacy Benedict, as they are forced into helping Italian Mafia rivals find the golden treasures of King Midas. Gaines provides a clear, solid performance, portraying the varied international characters skillfully as the story winds through Italy, Germany, and Greece. His command of character development corresponds with the intrigue and complexity of the story, but several times he falls short in matching the pacing to the suspense. Listeners expecting a roller coaster may find that they are on a Ferris wheel--stimulating but without the speed. K.C.R. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine