The Crystal Skull by Manda Scott

SUMMARY (from Goodreads): Ancient prophecies say that if the thirteen skulls already in existence are not reunited, the world will end on December 21, 2012. Cedric Owen, the skull’s last Keeper, died so that it might keep its secret for the next four centuries. Now Stella Cody has found it, and someone has already tried to kill her. Like Owen, she’s being hunted—but by whom?

Desperate to unravel the mystery of the crystal skull, Stella must decode Cedric Owen’s coded writings, sketches and ciphers no scholar has been able to unravel. What she discovers is astounding: a shocking secret prophecy…and the staggering puzzle of four terrifying creatures, thirteen precious stones, and what will happen if Cedric Owen’s crystal skull falls into the wrong hands. But time is against Stella. She has only days – hours – left to uncover the only secret that may yet save the world.

MY OPINION:

I absolutely loved The Crystal Skull. It pulls you in right in the beginning. It reads like, though I can only imagine, flying a fighter jet.

The Crystal Skull is a plot-driven novel. The characters reveal themselves mainly through their actions and still give the readers all they have to know about them. Likewise, the reader gets a solid impression of the settings as seen through the eyes of the characters without being given any excessive detail. 

Stella’s and Cedric’s stories unravel parallel to one another, each complementing the other. Both Stella and Cedric are faced with the same task – to keep the crystal skull from getting into the wrong hands, discover its purpose, and enable it to be fulfilled.

The Crystal Skull is a suspenseful read from cover to cover, and the ending remains a puzzle to the very end. It is an absorbing and memorable story which stays with you long after you have finished reading.

RECOMMENDATION: The Crystal Skull is a brilliant combination of the modern and the ancient, science and myth, adventure and mystery. If you like all of the above, you will love this book.

*****

As an after thought, although I enjoy reading a good end-of world-theory-based book, I am not a believer of the apocalyptic 2012 prophecies. At least, I do not believe the world will end just like that on a particular date.

However, I do believe that if we do not start treating out planet and each other differently, we are facing dark future. I think the Mayas might have been on to something in terms of our civilisation coming to an end of a some sort of a cycle and a major shift happening in the way we live.

How about you? What do you think about this topic? Do you believe any of such predictions? Do you like reading books about them? I would love to read more of this (sub)genre, so if you have heard of or read any good books of the kind, fiction or non-fiction, please, let me know in the comments.