Book Review: Indiana Jones and the Seven Veils

This book has a little bit of everything, and there are quite a few surprises, one seemingly at every turn.

This is the third in the series of Indiana Jones books that came out in the early to mid-nineties. It follows the second such novel, Indiana Jones and the Dance of the Giants (see my review of it dated on January 5, 2013), where Indy gets tangled with the druids in Britain.

Here, once again, Indy is dealing with druids, only this time, it is in an area that most of us don't expect to be associated with druids at all - deep in the Amazon jungle of Brazil!

Also, this book is written by Rob MacGregor, who also wrote the first two books in the series, and did such a wonderful job with them! This time, he also proves up to the task, and this one was more difficult and mysterious on a lot of levels than the other two were!

So, what happened in this one? Here goes...

***Spoiler Alert***

This story opens up with Indiana Jones and his girlfriend, Deirdre, from the previous novel seeming to be teetering on the brink. Neither is happy about it, but they seem to be sliding towards an end to their relationship.

But when Indy gets a chance to search for a missing adventurer. Colonel Percy Fawcett, a part of who's journal has been sent to Marcus Brody, Jones not only gets a chance to go down to Rio in Brazil, with the ultimate destination being another chance for adventure, this time in the Amazon jungle, but he decides to bring Deirdre with him, in the hopes of not only getting back together (they had temporarily split), but of trying to really fix their relationship.

The purpose behind Fawcett's trip was to discover an secret city of ancient lore, set deep in the Amazon. This city is supposed to be virtually impossible to find, and there are some legends associating it with Celtic culture. Remember, in the last book, Indiana Jones was surrounded with Celtic culture, and the irony is not lost on him.

Fawcett's journal seem to cast more shadows of doubt than anything else. it seems more mysterious than ever, but what he mentions does seem to confirm at least the possibility of some long disappeared Celtic culture deep in the Amazon.

The thing is, Brody is hoping to use this as possible proof that Columbus was not the first explorer of the Americas, and that there were, in fact, many other explorers there. Standing in the way of this theory (which already stands on shaky legs, at best) is Dr. Bernard, who not only vehemently opposes Marcus's theories, and the exhibition that he has set up to back these claims, but is very much against Jones's interference with Fawcett's journey. The reason behind Bernard's opposition, as it turns out, is actually quite surprising, and not at all related to any strong views of history or archaeology.

One major objective is to acquire Fawcett's journal, which seems puzzling, based on the entries that were sent to Brody, and which Jones gets the chance to read. Through virtually no effort, the journal falls into their lap, in effect, and seems only to add to the mystery and intrigue.

It works. They go to Rio, and upon entering the bay by ship, they get married. That's right! Indiana Jones, the ultimate womanizer, ties the knot, and at such a young age, to boot!

The newly wedded couple then explore the city, but they find out that there are some people who do not want them to look for Fawcett, the missing explorer. Indy sees some suspicious characters while on the boat, and then gets attacked by them. Later, once in Rio, the two men that attacked Indy manage to get Deirdre, and it takes a daring, last minute rescue for Indiana Jones to rescue his newly wedded wife.

But the young couple are not intimidated. In fact, they seem ore determined than ever.

They actually pursue the goal and, in fact, meet a strange couple that are actually allegedly from the mysterious city. But Indiana emains suspicious throughout.

Still, if they have any chance of finding the lost city, these two could help, and they have already promised to assist them in their search for Fawcett.

So, off to the Amazon they go!

They go to a farm on the edge of the jungle, where they will take an airplane to fly them well into the jungle, in hopes of saving them days and weeks, if not even months.

Even then, however, things get complicated. Those men that they hoped they had left behind, as it turns out, are still in pursuit, and they almost manage to kill Jones and the rest of the group, including the pilot of the plane,  along with him.

That is when Dr. Bernard shows up out of nowhere, and with trademark arrogance, expects the royal treatment from the thugs he has indirectly hired. But the thugs have no idea who he is, and throw him into the lot with the rest of Jones's team.

What follows would not be out of place in one of the legendary movies. The two thugs are eventually thrown out of the plane and meet their doom, while Indiana Jones himself is sucked out of the plane, but manages, somehow, to hang on for dear life!

Still, this is just the beginning. They now have to go into the jungle, and near the city. The young couple, Amergin and Rae-La, have promised to get Fawcett, who is actually being held prisoner in their city, and return.

But almost as soon as they disappear, the group left behind are attacked by a tribe of canibal indians, who launch a surprise attack. Not surprisingly, Indy and Deirdre manage to make an escape and, somehow, find the secret city.

Almost immediately, however, they themselves are taken prisoners. As it turns out, the inhabitants of the secret city are in desperate need of new blood, and they hope to recruit Jones and Deirdre for the purposes of breeding. As it turns out, the plan by Amergin was for Jones and Deirdre to stay in the enchanted city all along, to help it with it's problem of being underpopulated.

They finally get to meet Fawcett in person, who seems to have gotten familiar with the city and how it works, much of it having to do with dreaming - the veils of dreams. Interesting stuff.

Ultimately, Fawcett helps the young couple make their escape, although this proves to be a huge adventure. They will systematically be detected if they make an outright escape as they are, so they have to disguise themselves in druid clothing, and then go to a waterfall, which proves to be their only way out. After some hesitation, they make the jump, as those who guard the city send out the alarm, and continue their pursuit of Jones, Deirdre, and Fawcett.

What happens next will prove even more surprising, but you'll have to read it for yourself!

This is a good book, written by an author that I get more and more impressed with after each book that I read from him. It can be very exciting and entertaining, even informative at times, getting you to ask some questions, perhaps. A solid read, and it comes recommended!