A New York Yankee in King Arthur’s Court

by Paul McElwee
Review:  The Arthurian Relic by Andrew Clawson

On my nightly rummaging through the Kindle store, I came across ‘The Arthurian Relic’ by Andrew Clawson.

It’s the story of New York Mafia antiquities hunter Harry Fox, working for the fearsome Morello family. It’s Harry’s job to find rare items and sell them on for a profit. When he gets wind of a relic which harks back to King Arthur, Harry’s right on the trail.

I do enjoy these Indiana Jones-type conspiracy-led books.

Yes, they’re airport literature but are mostly a fun, easy read and The Arthurian Relic is no different. As a concept its playful fun, zipping through Wales, Germany, England, and Croatia as Harry uncovers clues to reach his goal, relying on his wits and a set of ceramic knuckledusters to survive.

If you’re expecting something original from this, don’t. It’s a carbon copy of many a conspiracy thriller popularised by the likes of Dan Brown over the years. That isn’t to say this is bad, it’s an entertaining enough adventure with plenty of incident. Clawson introduces characters whom we know will be stalwarts of future books, although most are incidental to the overall plot.

There’s the obligatory ‘religious sect sworn to protect the artefact’ which aren’t properly fleshed out despite supposedly being pivotal to proceedings. The writing is mostly zippy if clunky at times but for the beginning of a series (the second in the series ‘The Emerald Tablet’ is also on Kindle), it’s not bad.