The quest

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A sweeping adventure that's equal parts thriller and love story, Nelson DeMille's newest novel, expanded and updated from the original 1975 edition, takes the reader from the war torn jungles of Ethiopia to the magical city of Rome.   While the Ethiopian Civil War rages, a Catholic priest languishes in prison. Forty years have passed since he last saw daylight. His crime? Claiming to know the true location of Christ's cup from the Last Supper. Then the miraculous happens - a mortar strikes the prison and he is free!   Old, frail, and injured, he escapes to the jungle, where he encounters two Western journalists and a beautiful freelance photographer taking refuge from the carnage. As they tend to his wounds, he relates his incredible story.   Motivated by the sensational tale and their desire to find the location of the holiest of relics, the trio agrees to search for the Grail.   Thus begins an impossible quest that will pit them against murderous tribes, deadly assassins, fanatical monks, and the passions of their own hearts.   THE QUEST is suspenseful, romantic, and filled with heart-pounding action. Nelson DeMille is at the top of his game as he masterfully interprets one of history's greatest mysteries.  

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ISBN
9781455576425
9781455549597
9781455577743
9781455549658
9781455549603
145557774
9781478952398

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Quests for Christian relics and the location of the Holy Grail tie these two adventure stories together. While Labyrinth offers parallel narratives that connect past and present, The Quest is set in the 1970s (reflecting its original publication date). -- Shauna Griffin
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Similar Authors From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for other authors you might want to read if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
J. F. Freedman and Nelson DeMille are both strong writers who explore different settings, characters, and genres in their works. Their character-driven conspiracies are told by first person narrators who are often out of their depths. Like DeMille, Freedman's novels feature suspenseful, intricate plots and well-developed characters. -- Ellen Guerci
Both Nelson DeMille and Frederick Forsyth write intricately plotted, fast-paced, and action-packed political thrillers featuring rugged and individualistic heroes, complex and twist-filled political intrigues, and gripping and suspenseful stories of intrepid spies, sinister terrorists, Soviet plots, and global threats. -- Derek Keyser
Nelson DeMille and Stephen Coonts both write gripping suspense novels with plots that are constructed around political intrigue, terrorism, and government machinations. DeMille and Coonts are both Vietnam vets, which lends authenticity and grittiness to their pulse-pounding stories. -- Jessica Zellers
Both Nelson DeMille and Daniel Silva peel back the facade of the real world to reveal shocking and disturbing machinations in their works. They are both accomplished storytellers who create complex characters, intricate plots, and stunning climaxes in their novels. -- Ellen Guerci
Both Nelson DeMille and Stuart Woods write page-turning thrillers with multiple plots and subplots. Using vivid cinematic imagery, both authors write about realistic conflicts against backdrops such as the justice system or the political scene. Plot twists and cunning intrigues abound in their novels. -- Jessica Zellers
Robert Littell's spy stories are less action-packed and more nuanced than those of Nelson DeMille, but his work will appeal to readers looking for a suspenseful atmosphere, complex plotting, and vivid, well-researched depictions of espionage tactics in the Cold War era. -- Derek Keyser
Christopher Dickey and Nelson Demille both write suspense stories that play off headline events, evoking fears and concerns that give readers a cathartic experience. Their well-developed characters are truly affected by traumatic events. -- Ellen Guerci
Both Brian Haig and Nelson DeMille write about the intersection of legal and military affairs. Like DeMille, Haig writes in the first-person voice of a narrator whose thoughts are neither politically nor militarily correct. Snappy dialog, lively characters, and well-crafted climaxes make Haig's novels fast and engaging reads. -- Ellen Guerci
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Published Reviews

Booklist Review

Here's something you don't see all that often: a successful writer hauling out one of his old books and rewriting it. The Quest, originally published as a mass-market paperback in 1975, was DeMille's first novel. In some ways, it anticipated the current spate of thrillers whose plots involve a historical mystery, frequently with a religious component: a trio of journalists, covering the Ethiopian civil war, stumble onto what could be the key to one of history's greatest puzzles, the location of the fabled Holy Grail. What's especially interesting here is that the author has rewritten the book, apparently rather extensively (the original paperback edition ran to 255 pages, while the new galley circulated for review clocks in at nearly 460), but he hasn't updated it. It's still set in the mid-1970s, and it still feels like a book written at that time, although fans of the author's recent work will note DeMille's familiar deft characterizations and lively dialogue. A full-fledged new DeMille novel or a historical curiosity? You be the judge.--Pitt, David Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
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Publisher's Weekly Review

War-torn Ethiopia remains the backdrop to DeMille's (The Panther) re-imagining of this intense thriller, originally published in 1975 and set during the country's brutal revolution. Two journalists, Frank Purcell and Henry Mercado, and photographer Vivian chase the struggle outside the relative safety of Addis Ababa and share a harrowing night in the jungle where they meet a dying Italian priest. A captive for 40 years, the escapee confirms the existence of the fabled Holy Grail, the vessel used at the Last Supper, and a secret guarded by Coptic monks deep in the bush. Narrowly escaping court martial and probable torture by sadistic General Getachu of the revolutionary forces, the three are booted from Ethiopia before they can investigate with orders never to return. Despite an interlude in Rome, the mystique of the grail compels the intrigued journalists and their knowledgeable companion Colonel Gunn to sneak back to Africa for a story "good enough to pursue to the end." Divergent motives-faith, fatalism, and skepticism-and a brewing love triangle drive the often disturbing pilgrimage founded on hearsay and instinct. The explorers never earn the credibility of Dan Brown's Robert Langdon; the location of the Holy Grail in Ethiopia, despite all the tales and legend, never gains enough momentum to work as a thrilling probability. Still, DeMille creates excitement and dread through his elaborate descriptions of the jungle. Ethiopia looms at the novel's heart as the "the most blessed and most cursed land." Agent: Jennifer Joel, International Creative Management Partners. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Kirkus Book Review

DeMille (The Panther, 2012, etc.) dispatches three knights errant in search of the Holy Grail in this major revamping of his first novel. Freelance journalist Frank Purcell once spent time in a Khmer Rouge prison. Brit writer Henry Mercado was captured in World War II Europe and sent to Stalin's gulag. Vivian Smith's a mysterious young Swiss photographer. It's 1975. The three adrenalin junkies meet in Addis Ababa. Smith and Mercado ask Purcell to join a foray to cover fighting between rebels and Haile Selassie loyalists. As the trio journeys toward the front lines, they camp overnight at an abandoned colonial-era spa. There, the quest for a scoop detours. Mortally wounded Father Giuseppe Armando stumbles in from the jungle. While serving during the 1930s Italian invasion, the young Sicilian priest discovered an odd Coptic monastery. There, Armando found the Holy Grail. To prevent revelation of the secret, Coptic Christians kept him imprisoned for decades. After Father Armando dies, the journalists are captured by the psychopathic rebel Getachu, but they manage a derring-do escape. DeMille's adept enough with this age-old theme, but he stumbles with a long Rome-based middle section where the three retreat to plan anew. Some of DeMille's secondary characters, including mercenary Col. Sir Edmund Gann and Ethiopian Jewish princess Miriam, outshine the protagonists, but DeMille adds a mnage love story, with a last-night-on-earth sex scene between Purcell and Smith. That means Smith betrays her lover, Mercado. Considering Smith's and Mercado's religious fervor, Smith rotating between beds seems off-kilter, but no more so than the trio's casual disregard of the Ark of Covenant, said to be secreted in an Ethiopian Jewish village. DeMille also poses threats that never materialize, like the fierce Galla tribe roaming about. Despite some rollicking good action, particularly aboard Mia, an ancient Navion aircraft, DeMille's quest's conclusion may leave readers thinking, "Is that all there is?" However, Vivian Smith finally does make up her mind.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
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Booklist Reviews

Here's something you don't see all that often: a successful writer hauling out one of his old books and rewriting it. The Quest, originally published as a mass-market paperback in 1975, was DeMille's first novel. In some ways, it anticipated the current spate of thrillers whose plots involve a historical mystery, frequently with a religious component: a trio of journalists, covering the Ethiopian civil war, stumble onto what could be the key to one of history's greatest puzzles, the location of the fabled Holy Grail. What's especially interesting here is that the author has rewritten the book, apparently rather extensively (the original paperback edition ran to 255 pages, while the new galley circulated for review clocks in at nearly 460), but he hasn't updated it. It's still set in the mid-1970s, and it still feels like a book written at that time, although fans of the author's recent work will note DeMille's familiar deft characterizations and lively dialogue. A full-fledged new DeMille novel or a historical curiosity? You be the judge. Copyright 2013 Booklist Reviews.

Copyright 2013 Booklist Reviews.
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Publishers Weekly Reviews

War-torn Ethiopia remains the backdrop to DeMille's (The Panther) re-imagining of this intense thriller, originally published in 1975 and set during the country's brutal revolution. Two journalists, Frank Purcell and Henry Mercado, and photographer Vivian chase the struggle outside the relative safety of Addis Ababa and share a harrowing night in the jungle where they meet a dying Italian priest. A captive for 40 years, the escapee confirms the existence of the fabled Holy Grail, the vessel used at the Last Supper, and a secret guarded by Coptic monks deep in the bush. Narrowly escaping court martial and probable torture by sadistic General Getachu of the revolutionary forces, the three are booted from Ethiopia before they can investigate with orders never to return. Despite an interlude in Rome, the mystique of the grail compels the intrigued journalists and their knowledgeable companion Colonel Gunn to sneak back to Africa for a story "good enough to pursue to the end." Divergent motives—faith, fatalism, and skepticism—and a brewing love triangle drive the often disturbing pilgrimage founded on hearsay and instinct. The explorers never earn the credibility of Dan Brown's Robert Langdon; the location of the Holy Grail in Ethiopia, despite all the tales and legend, never gains enough momentum to work as a thrilling probability. Still, DeMille creates excitement and dread through his elaborate descriptions of the jungle. Ethiopia looms at the novel's heart as the "the most blessed and most cursed land." Agent: Jennifer Joel, International Creative Management Partners. (Sept.)

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Copyright 2013 PWxyz LLC
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PW Annex Reviews

War-torn Ethiopia remains the backdrop to DeMille's (The Panther) re-imagining of this intense thriller, originally published in 1975 and set during the country's brutal revolution. Two journalists, Frank Purcell and Henry Mercado, and photographer Vivian chase the struggle outside the relative safety of Addis Ababa and share a harrowing night in the jungle where they meet a dying Italian priest. A captive for 40 years, the escapee confirms the existence of the fabled Holy Grail, the vessel used at the Last Supper, and a secret guarded by Coptic monks deep in the bush. Narrowly escaping court martial and probable torture by sadistic General Getachu of the revolutionary forces, the three are booted from Ethiopia before they can investigate with orders never to return. Despite an interlude in Rome, the mystique of the grail compels the intrigued journalists and their knowledgeable companion Colonel Gunn to sneak back to Africa for a story "good enough to pursue to the end." Divergent motives—faith, fatalism, and skepticism—and a brewing love triangle drive the often disturbing pilgrimage founded on hearsay and instinct. The explorers never earn the credibility of Dan Brown's Robert Langdon; the location of the Holy Grail in Ethiopia, despite all the tales and legend, never gains enough momentum to work as a thrilling probability. Still, DeMille creates excitement and dread through his elaborate descriptions of the jungle. Ethiopia looms at the novel's heart as the "the most blessed and most cursed land." Agent: Jennifer Joel, International Creative Management Partners. (Sept.)

[Page ]. Copyright 2013 PWxyz LLC

Copyright 2013 PWxyz LLC
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