A Historical Conspiracy Epic: The Last Ember by Daniel Levin

Do you enjoy reading an author’s work so much that you read everything they wrote and then find other authors who have similar work? Sometimes, I do. With The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown being so controversial that it had people talking about it when it came out as a movie, I decided to read it. Then I swiftly read all other novels by Dan Brown.

Although I wasn’t quite on the hunt for another author of conspiracy ormysterynovels who might have similar work to Dan Brown, I happened to come across The Last Ember by Daniel Levin. The Last Ember is perfect if you’ve since wondered “What should I read if I like The Da Vinci Code?” or “What should I read if I like Dan Brown?”.

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An exhaustive list of books on historical conspiracies

The Last Ember is not on Book Riot’s 10 Captivating Books Like The Da Vinci Code list or even the like-da-vinci-code books search list on Goodreads. In fact, there are quite a few similar lists out there, but it seems The Last Ember is a book you won’t find on most of these lists. So, if you’ve exhausted your search, you’ve come to the right place. Having gone down this rabbit hole, I’ve compiled a list of books with a similar mystery that appear on more than one list, so you don’t have to:

1. The Eight by Katherine Neville
2. The Lost Codex by Alan Jacobson
3. The Ghost Manuscript by Kris Frieswick
4. The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury
5. The Grecian Manifesto by Ernest Dempsey III
6. The Atlantis Code by Charles Brokaw
7. The Atlantis Gene by A. G. Riddle
8. The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi
9. The Armageddon Conspiracy by Mike Hockney
10. The Lovers Portrait by Jennifer S. Alderson
11. The Lost Order by Steve Berry
12. The Alexandria Link by Steve Berry
13. The Flanders Panel by Arturo Perez-Reverte
14. Stones of Treason by Peter Watson
15. Indisputable Proof by Gary Williams and Vicky Knerly
16. The Gaugin Connection by Estelle Ryan
17. The Lost Army of Cambyses by Paul Sussman
18. Easy Go by Michael Crichton
19. Mona Lisa’s Secret by Phil Philips
20. Sandstorm by James Rollins
21. Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco
22. The Tenth Circle by Jon Land
23. On the Third Day by Piers Paul Read
24. Quest by Richard be Sapir
25. The Genesis Code by John Case
26. The Emperor of Ocean Park by Stephen L. Carter
27. The Book of Fate by Brad Meltzer
28. The Babylon Rite by Tom Knox
29. The Raphael Affair by Iain Pears
30. Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent
31. 12.21 by Dustin Thomason
32. The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl
33. Complication by Isaac Adamson
34. Spartan Gold by Clive Cussler
35. The Fifth Gospel by Iain Caldwell
36. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
37. The Codex by Douglas Preston
38. Seven Ancient Wonders by Matthew Reilly
39. The Six Sacred Stones by Matthew Reilly
40. The Map of Lost Memories by Kim Fay

Plot of The Last Ember

Without getting too side-tracked, the plot of The Last Ember begins when Jonathan, an American lawyer with a doctorate in classics, arrives in Rome to examine an ancient artifact for a case. Jonathan discovers a hidden message within the artifact. An old flame of Jonathan’s, Dr. Emili Travia, who is also involved in the same case investigation, testifies to ongoing illegal excavations that the local authorities have been ignoring.

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Together Jonathan and Emili set off on a journey that takes them from the labyrinth beneath the Colosseum to the biblical-era tunnels of Jerusalem to find a two-thousand-year-old artifact before it is found and destroyed by a dangerous criminal who is willing to kill anyone that gets in the way.

Final Thoughts

I liked the story of The Last Ember, but the first half of the book was not fast-paced enough for me. As much as I love a good cultural and historical immersion, I felt that the story was perhaps bogged down by too much detail on architecture, historical facts, description of setting and people, and just everything in general. Overall, it was slow but still well-written. You will definitely find the intrigue and adventure you’re looking for in this politically-charged quest to unravel an ancient conspiracy.