What people are saying about Mundo Maya: Revenge of the Jaguar King by Jay Hersh

Reviewed at Front Street Reviews

Reviewed by Ann Marie Chalmers

This story follows three American archaeologists who are on holiday in Belize. While touring around the Central American country they find some colleagues excavating the ancient Mayan site of Caracol and decide to pay them a visit. While talking to the people involved at the site an extraordinary discovery is made. Being invited to take a look they end getting involved in the search for a lost city deep somewhere in the jungles of Belize.

The Maya were once a mighty civilization. They mysteriously disappeared with only the remains of temples reminding people of their existence. The three archaeologists are determined to unlock the mysteries of the lost city and along the way they get caught up in the culture of the Maya. This leads them to not only learn more about the Maya, but during their expedition they learn a lot about themselves. After an interesting search a priceless treasure is found and hopefully the team will not be used to help a long dead Mayan king have his revenge.

Using the true history and culture of the Ancient Maya this book really makes you believe you are there in Belize with the three archaeologists. This book has enough action and adventure to keep the reader going till the last word and the characters are interesting and nice enough to get friendly with. The lovely descriptive writing of Belize and its culture will draw anyone into a world that both excites and intrigues.

With a slow start the pace picks up along the way and just keeps getting faster. This is a nice read which will remind readers of authors such as Dan Brown and Michael Crichton. The book will be a dream for anyone interested in archaeology or the Mayan culture but will interest anyone who likes a good adventure. The author obviously spent a lot of time researching the subject matter for this book and should be congratulated on the in-depth realistic novel that has been created.

Capsule Review by Publishers Weekly

This Belizan jungle adventure features two groups from universities in Arizona and Florida teamed up to find the lost Mayan city of Bital, and within it the Jade Mask of the Maize God. These socially awkward folks are up and coming bright lights in their field, but they're racing the clock and dodging a government oversight officer. A black jaguar appears to members of the party, first in a threatening way, later as a totem nudging them toward their adopted mystery. Historical back story highlights violent strategies between the leaders of towns at the peak of the Mayan empire, focusing on the Jaguar King and his duplicitous father-in-law. The influence of astronomical calculations on decision-making was high in that society; mistakes meant possible annihilation. The magnified danger spills back into the present, where graduate students learn that the classroom is never complete preparation: "No matter how surreal the appearance of the circumstances they found themselves in, the consequences of ignoring it were not at all academic." Elements of fantasy creep in on the archeologists, these dead world dreamers who must be reminded to glance up from artifacts and recognize real connections to other people.



Reviewed at BookCrossing.com

This wasn't really my kind of book but it did interest me alot. I loved the detail the author put into the subject. It made the book extremely realistic and more enjoyable.