About this item
This book tells the untold true story of Monty Parker, a British rogue nobleman who, after being dared to do so by Ava Astor, the so-called "most beautiful woman in the world," headed a secret 1909 expedition to find the fabled Ark of the Covenant. Like a real-life version of Raiders of the Lost Ark, this incredible story of adventure and mystery has almost been completely forgotten today.In 1908, Monty is approached by a strange Finnish scholar named Valter Juvelius who claims to have discovered a secret code in the Bible that reveals the location of the Ark. Monty assembles a ragtag group of blueblood adventurers, a renowned psychic, and a Franciscan father, to engage in a secret excavation just outside the city walls of Jerusalem.Using recently uncovered records from the original expedition and several newly translated sources, True Raiders is the first retelling of this group's adventures- in the space between fact and faith, science and romance.
About the Author
I've written True Raiders (St. Martin's, 2021) , Olive the Lionheart (St. Martin's, 2020) , the Edgar Award-nominated Mrs. Sherlock Holmes (St. Martin's, 2017) , and Super Boys (St. Martin's, 2013) , the winner of the Ohioana Book Award for Nonfiction. I won the St. Lawrence Book Award for American Mastodon (Black Lawrence Press, 2011) and also made a movie, Last Son, that won a 2010 Silver Ace Award at the Las Vegas Film Festival. I've written for The Beat, Belt, Book Riot, Narratively, History Extra, and the official Star Wars website. I've been in documentaries on the History Channel, AMC, and have been a guest on Criminal, All Things Considered, BBC radio, and Innovation Hub, among others. I was born in a suburb of Cleveland and sometimes teach at Case Western Reserve University, where I earned a Ph.D. in English. I now live in Shaker Heights (still Cleveland) with Caroline and our three boys.For more, visit brad-ricca.com
