Plot was predictable and kind of overused. It can be a good enjoyable book if you suspend disbelief for a while, but reminds me a lot of things like later Clive Cussler books.

I made the mistake of reading the second book first which told me who from the first book survived etc. However knowing the characters before hand made me excited to read this. A very fast moving, exciting story that had me unable to put it down. The characters are very well written and work very well together. The storyline inspired making you need to know what happens. A great adventure worth a read.

This was an enjoyable read as the first of a series. I liked the characters although one part of the plot wasn't really explained - possibly will in future books.

Title: The Relic Hunter

Series:

Author: David Leadbeather

Series: The Relic Hunters 1

Pages :335

Genre: Adult mystery /thrillers

One of the lost ancient wonders of the world is still out there. . .

In the same style as the Matt Drake series comes The Relic Hunters, a novel packed with camaraderie, action, archaeological mysteries and a brand-new team of hard-hitting, entertaining and highly engaging characters.

Guy Bodie is a relic smuggler, a tough man in a tough world, with self-taught skills in smuggling and combat. He trusts only five people, a proven team, until one of them betrays him, landing him in a hellish Mexican prison. Guy Bodie's chances of survival are diminishing by the minute.

To his surprise, the American CIA then break him out, tell him to hand-pick a team, and start right back at his old job - only this time he's working for them - chasing down the most infamous relics in history and trying to solve the greatest heist - how one of the world's seven ancient wonders was once stolen and then concealed.

With thrilling action across the globe, The Relic Hunters begins a new series in the Matt Drake vein of archaeological mystery, historical adventures and team camaraderie





My thoughts

Rating: 2

Would I recommend it? no

Will I be going on with the series? no

I just couldn't get into the story and I was so hoping to at least wither like it or love, but unfortunately I don't ,there was times I wanted to DNF it so bad and there was times I had to put it down, other then that made me pick it up was that it sounded like it was a book James Rollins would write but once again unfortunatelty its not, at lest with Mr,Rollins books I'm hooked from the very start, don't want to put them down and can't wait to read more of the series . With that said I want to think Netgalley for at least letting me read and review it exchange for my honest opinion.

In David Leadbeater's The Relic Hunters, the first installment in the Relic Hunters action thriller series, this debut would take you around the world and beyond. For Guy Bodie, he was nothing but a thief, a pretty good one too, when someone kidnapped him and sent him to a Mexican prison to die. Left to fend for himself against other two-bit criminals, he couldn't stop to wonder and ask himself why. While he was in jail, it took a tie of other common thieves to help bail him out and tell him who had set him up. The answer had hit him closer to home. That's when they met Agent Heidi Moneymaker from the CIA, who has a job for them to do. They needed to protect the Statue of Zeus in Greece. Meanwhile, there's a ruthless Hood named Xavier von Gothe, who's the leader of an evil Illuminati group, that has ties to freemasonry and perhaps to the Devil himself. And he had planned to get to the statue by leaving a serial crime spree in its wake, people who might be connected to him. As Guy and his team learn more about the Illuminati group, they would need to find out a plan and stop them in its tracks before it might be too late for a final showdown of good vs. evil on solid ground.

I am a huge fan of this genre, however this book was a little too contrived for my liking. I felt it may have been pushed out too quickly to garner sales. I wish the true potential would have been realized, because I think it could have been a great book.

I always enjoy the start of a new series from David Leadbeater. The Relic Hunters is no exception. Filled with the great characters Leadbeater crafts with action scenes spaced just right between fact gathering/info sharing/clue following, etc., his adventures never lag. Thus we have volume one here filled with a quick paced plot involving a secret society with a superiority complex. Our newest cast of players are as the title suggests, Relic Hunters. Actually, more like thieves, but, the acknowledged best in the business team out there. After extracting the groups leader from a sticky situation to start the book, the CIA steps in to recruit our team to track down a map that will hopefully lead to not only a valuable artifact lost to time, but, also to the secret lair of our baddies. Well done, great pace and some hints as to where future tales may go. Recommended.

#TheRelicHunters #NetGalley

With a nostalgic taste of Indiana Jones and National Treasure. This book gets the reader to the modern world of treasure hunters, An original story with a fresh intrigue.

Fabulous introduction to what promises to be an exciting new series from David Leadbetter. Guy Bodie less a of relic hunters/thieves co-opted into the CIA to fight a powerful and elusive organisation and recover one of the lost seven winners of the ancient world. The action is fast, furious and on every page.
Bodie's team are a bunch of likeable rogues whose easy, teasing banter draws the reader in, creating an investment in both the story and the characters.
Cryptic clues led our heroes on a race through Europe, from Athens to York and back again, battling the bad guys all the way.
This book is an enjoyable read, impossible to put down from the first page to the last.

David has researched this book well but it was let down by the plot. Too many coincidences and not enough intrigued. Also needed an edit. Otherwise, not a bad attempt.

A battle across continents to save a relic from the Illuminati.

Baltasar, a “hood” (trained fighter) is making his way back to his master with a map he’s managed to steal from a museum in Athens.

Guy Bodie is rescued from a prison in Mexico by a team led by Special Agent Heidi Moneymaker, CIA. The only reason he’s been saved is so that he and his team, previously common thieves, now relic hunters can help the CIA retrieve the map that the hood has stolen and put a stop to the Illuminati.

If you enjoy heroes being beaten to an inch of their lives, getting up, and carrying on, then this is the book for you to read. Add to this scenario, the Illuminati, their organisation and their fanatical drive to control the world by whatever means possible and lots and lots of interesting historical facts about the Illuminati, then this book is going to tick every single box for you. Action. Adventure. Spies. Mindboggling fights. A truly epic work of fiction. Unfortunately, for me, too many authors have used similar plots in the past, and I found myself becoming bored.

If this had been the first book I’d ever read with a plot like this, I wouldn’t have hesitated to give it 5 stars. The author has certainly done his research, and the book is exceptionally well written with the fanaticism of the Illuminati battling against the gung-ho attitude of Guy Bodie’s well-balanced team.

Treebeard

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

Interesting story. I wanted to like this, it was very "Da Vinci Code" but it was lacking the toothy-gritty-puzzle part. It was too "and then" and didn't create the sense of urgency that Dan Brown's writing did. in fact, the book simply led you as a reader which made it rather tedious at times because there was no cog turning as a reader.
Now the good, it was a good story, the ending was reasonable, though I think I would have liked a little more casualty from the good guys side to make it more gritty, it just wasn't in depth at the end, it seemed very removed.
I did like the book, I'd like to read more in the series, but I wanted to love it, and despite trying to love it I struggled at the end to do more than like it.

Guy Brodie is the leader of a team of relic thieves and finds himself thrown in a Mexican prison after being betrayed by someone close to him. He's rescued by the CIA but in return they want him and his team to find the statue of Zeus, an ancient relic thought to have been long destroyed. It's in the hands of a secret society who have been prepared to kill for centuries to protect it.

The relationship between the team is really important and there are strong male and female characters.

The book moves along really quickly and is a fun, escapist read.

"The Relic Hunters" eBook was published in 2018 and was written by David Leadbeater (https://www.davidleadbeater.com). Mr. Leadbeater has published more than 25 novels. This is the first in his "The Relic Hunters" series. 

I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence and Mature Language. The primary character is Guy Bodie, the leader of an elite group of thieves that specialize in stealing relics. 

Bodie has been betrayed by a friend and is in a Mexican prison. He is broken out by the CIA on the condition that he, and his team, work for them. A secret group holds the Statue of Zeus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It had long been thought destroyed. Now at the behest of the CIA Bodie and his team follow a dangerous set of clues to find the statue. 

I enjoyed the 3.5 hours I spent reading this 280 page thriller. The team is made of an odd collection of criminals each with a unique skill. While the concept of an elite team going head-to-head with a clandestine organization is not new, I did enjoy this author's twist on the plot. I will be looking for future novels in this series. The cover art chosen is OK.  I give this novel a 4.4 (rounded down to a 4) out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/.

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

The Relic Hunters by David Leadbeater is the story of a group of thieves that find theirselves indebted to the CIA and end up in a globe trotting mission to discover and take down the Illuminati. The story has multiple POVs but the main character is Guy Brodie, renown leader of a gang of thieves. The idea of this series/book is very overdone, this book reminded me of the Da Vinci Code but with a group of people working together, not just one. However, despite its unoriginality I still enjoyed it for the actions and "history." There is a lot of action, anticipation, and possible romantic tension. What bothered me was that this renown group of thieves is recruited to hunt relics and take down the bad guys but up until the 70% mark there was nothing really remarkable, they struggled to produce any results or even act like a group of badass thieves they were made out to be. Once they found their footing as the heroes the story was more interesting and action packed.
The Relic Hunters by David Leadbeater is the first in his new series and offers readers a quick, action packed read.

This is first time I have read this author and looking forward to reading next book in this series. The characters are well written and engaging and the plot is suspenseful and fast paced. Please read this book if you love suspense and mystery.

This book is apparently the first in a new series by David Leadbeater following expert thief Guy Bodie and his team across the world to dangerous locales to save the world- in this case from the Illuminati. This book is a feverish ride around the globe as Bodie searches for the statue of Zeus, in the employ of the CIA. This book is in the vein of Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt novels, with some tongue-in-cheek humor and a rollicking adventure that makes for an enjoyable read. There are some "unbelievable" escapes and over the top villains but that is the charm of Leadbeater's novels, and I look forward to the next one.

I love books like this and this is the first I've read in quite some time. I love the history, learning about the history behind relics and the reasoning behind the crimes to hide it. I suppose I like the conspiracy theories behind them.
The Relic Hunters definitely has a sense of family about it and that has drawn me in. Others like this I've read has usually been a couple of people, but here we have, Bodie, Cassidy, Cross, Blunt, and Sam. Along the way they pick up Jeff who is an archaeologist and not forgetting CIA agent Heidi Moneymaker (I know right! Made me chuckle too!). This team is finely tuned and they know exactly what they are doing.
It was certainly a fast paced edge of your seat read and I liked the little comments of sarcasm, especially during a fight. After I got going I couldn't put it down and quickly finished it. Can't wait to pick up Book 2 in this series. I'm giving this book a 4/5 rating. Keep this series coming David!

The Relic Hunters is the first book by David Leadbeater that I have read. It was an enjoyable read, albeit needing a slight suspension of reality to fully enjoy it.

The plot fairly buzzes along and the characters deal with what life throws at them and, as long as the reader can accept that ordinary civilians, albeit crooked ones, can best special forces trained soldiers/mercenaries in combat situations, then there is no reason to not like the book.


For me, I've gone on to buy other titles by the author, so the story was not that too far-fetched.

A mash-up of Ocean's 11 and The Da Vinci Code. Solid, fun premise with some great action sequences. Aside from Bodie, however, the characters are a bit bland (I kept getting Gunn and Cross confused in my head). The Illuminati have played the villain in far too many similar stories, so I wish that Leadbetter had taken a different route; additionally, turning them into actual human-sacrificing Satan worshippers was a bit much. That said, I will continue with the second book in the series, if only to see how some of the unanswered questions in the first book are (hopefully) answered. Fans of the Indiana Jones and National Treasure films will likely enjoy this series. [Based on a net galley copy.]