Indy Timeline: 1927
Moving right along to the fourth book in the Rob MacGregor Indiana Jones novel set, Genesis Deluge picks up the pieces of Indy's life following the plane crash and death of his wife Deirdre in Seven Veils. I felt that the Seven Veils ending was chaotic and scrambled, so I was curious to see where MacGregor would go next with this next volume.
Set following Indy's return from the Amazon, Indy is back teaching in London, but he is distracted and distant after Deirdre's passing. His academic career is stalling out, and it isn't too long into the novel before he quits his post and heads to Chicago to meet up with his jazz musician friend Jack Shannon.
Shannon is a character that was introduced back in the first book in the MacGregor cycle (Peril at Delphi), but when Indy meets him in Chicago, he finds him a changed man. He has found religion and frequently reads the Bible - a fact that stands in stark contrast to the fact that his family is deeply entrenched in the mafia and he plays jazz in seedy nightclubs in 1920's Chicago.
As was the case with the earlier novels, MacGregor does a great job of describing the settings in which he puts his characters. His depiction of Chicago nightlife- filled with gangsters, great music and racial tensions - is both dark and laced with excitement. At one point, Indy and Shannon end up hiding out in a brothel to avoid pursuit of Al Capone's goons.
After Jack's brothers are killed in a thrilling mob shootout, he and Indy decide to get out of town. They do this by linking up with a beautiful young and mysterious Russian (Katrina) and her father (Dr. Vladimir Zobolotsky) in their pursuit of Noah's Ark in Turkey. The adventure is off and running, filled with obstacles, such as the Russian goons and a fanatical Turkish cult. There are also tensions between Indy and Jack, as they compete for the affections of Katrina.
I quite enjoyed the story overall - in addition to great descriptions of real locations (such as the underground cities in Cappdocia), MacGregor has a knack for creating "Indy" characters - love interests, sidekicks, and villains. The story is gritty (closer to Raiders than Crusade), including a sequence where Indy is drugged and has a hallucination/flashback to when he was a boy in Turkey (think Corey Carrier). My only complaint about the book was the rather weak ending. The entire book seemed to be galloping at a fast clip and building to a big finish that never really came. As was the case with the Hovitos fertility idol, Indy loses the macguffin shortly after attaining it. I suppose that's not so bad - these stories are more about the adventures along the way and the colorful cast of characters that populate the journey anyway.
Indy Rating: 9.0/10
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