Nothing New Under The Sun

A Carter Devereux Mystery Thriller, Volume 1

By: JC Ryan

Narrated by: David Panfilo

The more Carter Devereux, a professor of archeology, researches and studies the history of the human species, the more he becomes convinced that Solomon was onto something when he said, "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done, is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, see, this is new? It hath been already of old time, which was before us. There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come, with those that shall come after." Ecclesiastes 1:9 -11 (Circa BC 940).

Carter's research and exploration into this history take him to South America, India, and the Middle East, where he makes mind-boggling discoveries which challenge our entire view of human history. And before long, Carter finds himself with not only a large number of critics from across the world, but also a number of ardent followers.

Through the ages kings, rulers, power seekers, and governments, have been trying to secretly, and sometimes not so secretly, get their hands on artifacts believed to have immense power. Examples include the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant, Bachal Isu - the staff of Moses carried by David, and the King of Kings, Jesus Christ, the Spear of Destiny, the time machine, "the glock," created by the Germans during WWII, and ancient lost cities with hidden fortunes of gold, and artifacts with unimaginable powers.

There is a no shortage of unscrupulous, power hungry people who will do anything, including kill, to possess these relics - if they exist.

Most frightening of them all, are the ancient texts that speak of earth's destruction by nuclear weapons, thousands of years ago.

Do those nuclear weapons still exist?

If so, where are they?

Can Carter Devereux discover them, before anyone else can?

©2015 JC Ryan (P)2017 JC Ryan

No thrill. Build up for book 2.

I received this book for free from the author / narrator / publisher, in exchange for an unbiased review.

The premise of the book sounded awesome. It takes the story to India and other neighboring countries, so I really wanted to listen to this story and like it. India has some ancient scriptures where things described sound similar to modern technical achievements; like airplanes and nuclear weapons. So, I was hoping that the author will expand on that and give us some actual facts and base the story on that. Instead, the book took all these and other folklore to their extreme, ignoring the fact that some of those were already debunked.

Anyway, this is a fiction book. So, I'm not here to debate the authenticity. This is supposed to be a thriller book, but for most of the book, I wasn't thrilled. There's no conflict, whatsoever and I didn't feel invested in the progress of the story. Yet I kept listening to it only because of the promise of the premise, to see what happens in the end. And I was disappointed there. The book doesn't conclude anything. Turns out, this book was a build-up for the second book of the series. It feels like I wasted my time with it.

Archaeological alternate history thriller

The book was interesting (some Indiana Jones(ish) aspects, set to a modern tone), it might have needed a bit more tweaking before it's release though as some of the wording seemed a bit off and others a bit repetitive. Over all, it was worth a listen to.

This book had been on my "plate" to listen to/read, but the hurricane Harvey took out my apartment and most everything I owned, so it took a bit to get everything back on track and stable again so that I have some free time again.

Note: I received a free review copy of this audiobook and this is my unbiased review of Nothing New Under The Sun.

Great story read by a lackluster narrator

I started enjoying the storyline almost from the beginning and am glad the author gave a brief history on the two main characters. Their basic backstory got me invested in them early on, which carried the story when the narrator fumbled.

Honestly, if I didn't like JC Ryan's writing as much as I did, the narrator's performance would have caused me to stop the audiobook after the 2nd chapter. The narrator more often than not sounds like he is reading a script for the first time. Additionally, I did not care for the majority of character voices he used.

Putting that aside, I finished my first JC Ryan audiobook and couldn't believe it had just ended. I was so involved that when the end came, it was a total surprise. There is no easing into it, and thankfully the series continues with book 2. This reader was left with an unfinished feeling and eager to continue the story. It will only get better if the author changes narrators.

I received a free review copy of this audiobook and this is my unbiased review of Nothing New Under The Sun.

Disappointed, Not really a thriller or a mystery

Not really a thriller, not really a mystery just a story. I usually enjoy archeology and history based thriller, but it just did not meet my expectations. This is the first in a series and I would hope that J. C Ryan will flesh out the stories going forward. It just read/listened like a recitation of facts and circumstances. The author can and has done much better.
The narration was good, but could not overcome the story.
I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.
Note: When selecting books to read or listen to for reviews I try and select authors and stories that interest me. Sometimes I am fortunate and other times not so fortunate. Either way, I try to review the books with integrity

Intriguing and exciting mystery

I liked the story and narrator very much; however, the quality of the recording was lacking. If you can overlook blank spaces and repeated words and phrases, then I highly recommend this audio book. It's really a shame because the story is very interesting.