One relic. A thousand-year secret. Nowhere is safe. Start THE ARK FILES today...
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The Ark Files: Eden Black Archaeological Thrillers Book 1
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The Ark Files: Eden Black Archaeological Thrillers Book 1

A pulse-pounding archaeological thriller
By Luke Richardson

£10.00

Start the archaeological thriller series readers all around the world can’t put down!

When professional treasure hunter Eden Black starts digging into the suspicious death of her father — one of several archaeologists from a decades-old dig who died mysteriously — she uncovers a trail leading to a manuscript that powerful, shadowy forces will kill to keep buried.

Packed with heart-pounding action and twists you won’t see coming, this series is being compared to Dan Brown, Clive Cussler, Steve Berry, Scott Mariani, and films like Indiana Jones and National Treasure.

📦 Free UK delivery over £20  ✏️ Signed by Luke  🔒Secure checkout   ↩️ Easy Returns

Please read before ordering:
Please be aware, I can’t compete with big stores when it comes to printing and shipping times. Your order may have to be printed once the order is placed. Including shipping, and depending on where you are in the world, it can take a couple of weeks. These books aren’t quick, but they sure are beautiful!

Import taxes:
Please be aware that you may have to pay a customs charge from your country when receiving parcels from me here in the UK. I know, it’s annoying for us all. The courier will email you about this, so please make sure your email address is filled in correctly when ordering and check your junk folder regularly. I know, it’s a pain. Ultimately, this is your responsibility, as they won’t even let me know the problem. If you’re unsure, please check before ordering.

If you have any question before or after ordering, please get in touch: hello@lukerichardsonauthor.com

Also available at:

Amazon
Amazon DE
Kindle
Audible
Waterstones

Book themes

archaeological thriller
adventure fiction
Lebanon
historical mystery
action thriller
Race against time

Author's notes

Uncover the truth behind the book (contains spoilers)
Read Luke's notes

Description

A SECRET SOCIETY…
AN ANCIENT MANUSCRIPT…
ONE WOMAN TO SAVE THE WORLD…

Professional treasure hunter EDEN BLACK is no stranger to action. After all, the artifacts she spends her life returning to their rightful owners aren’t always easy to access.

When Eden’s father dies in a plane crash, her life’s turned upside down. Grief turns to fear when she learns that it wasn’t an accident. Everyone involved in an archaeological dig twenty years ago has met with a similar untimely end. Everyone that is, but Eden who was ten at the time.

When her father’s house is raided and burned to the ground, Eden’s forced into action. To learn the truth about her father’s death and save herself from sharing his fate, Eden must uncover the manuscript and expose its secrets once and for all.

But this time the world is watching, and not everyone is on her side.

THE ARK FILES is the first in a brand-new pulse-pounding archaeological thriller series by Luke Richardson. Fans of Dan Brown, Clive Cussler, and Ernest Dempsey will devour this in hours!

While THE ARK FILES has loads of conflict, chase scenes, fighting and suspense, there’s no swearing, sex or gore.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “As entertaining as ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ and ‘National Treasure.'”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “A rollercoaster ride like Indiana Jones!”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “A top-notch start for this new action series!”

Order your copy to start this series today…

Additional information

Weight 0.365 kg
Dimensions 20.3 × 12.7 × 2.1 cm

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FAQ

What is The Ark Files about?
The Ark Files is about a mysterious set of ancient tablets and a secret society determined to keep them hidden. When Eden Black inherits her father’s work after his sudden death, she finds herself pulled into a conspiracy that stretches back thousands of years — one rooted in real historical artefacts, ancient mysteries, and questions about the past that some people would kill to keep buried.

Without giving too much away, the story of The Ark Files revolves around a set of ancient clay tablets.


These tablets are inspired by real discoveries made during the great Mesopotamian archaeological expeditions of the 19th century. The real figures behind those discoveries — George Smith, Hormuzd Rassam, Sir Austen Henry Layard, and Sir Henry Rawlinson — were among the most important archaeologists and explorers of their age. Their work helped uncover thousands of tablets across the Middle East.
Smith and Rassam are especially famous for their connection to the discovery and translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest surviving works of literature in the world.

The tablets in The Ark Files are connected to that same ancient world — and to questions about the human past that we still haven’t fully answered.

Eden Black and her friends are fictional, but The Ark Files is built around real historical mysteries.
One of the biggest inspirations behind the book is The Diary of Aloma, one of the strangest publishing mysteries I’ve ever come across.

The story began in 1878 as a manuscript called Seola, presented as the diary of a woman living before and during the Great Flood. In 1924, it was revised by Charles Taze Russell and republished as Angels and Women. Then, in 2001, theologian and historian Alexander Winslow — a real person, who died in 2021 after decades of scholarly work — spent more than twenty years revising it again with the help of other historians, theologians, and translators. The result was The Diary of Aloma, which is the version I have on my shelf.

These books make several historical claims that were not widely known to scholars at the time of writing, including one detail that was not discovered until the 1990s. The questions they raise about the Great Flood as a historical event, and about the dating of ancient sites in the Fertile Crescent and Egypt, are still debated by historians, geologists, and archaeologists today.

I’ve woven a fictional adventure around those threads — but the threads themselves are real.

Eden Black is tenacious, resourceful, and certainly not someone to be messed with. She spends her life returning stolen artefacts to their rightful owners, until she is thrown into the crosshairs of a secret society determined to cover up the truth. She’s exactly the kind of strong female character I love to read — and love to write.

The Ark Files begins in Brighton, England — the seaside city where the real-life archaeologist Hormuzd Rassam, one of the great figures of 19th-century Mesopotamian excavation, is buried.

From there, Eden’s investigation takes her to Lebanon, where she follows the trail of the missing tablets through some of the most extraordinary ancient sites in the world. Her journey leads her through the ruins of Baalbek, before taking her down toward the coast and the ancient city of Byblos. It is here, built into the hillside above the glittering Mediterranean, that the tomb Eden has been searching for since childhood is waiting.
But of course, it’s not as simple as just turning up and picking up the tablets.

Yes. The Ark Files is an archaeological thriller. 

It combines real historical mysteries, ancient artefacts, hidden tombs, and a globe-trotting investigation with the pace and tension of a modern thriller. 

If you like your history served with a side of danger, you’re in the right place.

Readers who love fast-paced adventure, ancient mysteries, and strong characters should enjoy The Ark Files — some readers have even finished it in a single sitting.


It’s a good fit for fans of Dan Brown, Clive Cussler, Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider, and National Treasure.
It’s also for anyone who has ever fallen down a late-night rabbit hole reading about lost civilisations, the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Great Flood, or the mysteries of the ancient Middle East.

Yes. The Ark Files has no swearing, no sexual content, and no gory violence.

It is still a thriller, so there is action, danger, and suspense, but the violence is not graphic or gratuitous. Older teenagers and adults who enjoy adventure fiction should find it a comfortable read.

The Ark Files is book one in the Eden Black series. It introduces Eden, her world, and the mystery that runs through the books.

From there, the series is best read in order, as each book builds on what came before. After The Ark Files, your next stop is The Giza Protocol.

Book Details

  • ISBN:
    English - 978-1-7393522-0-2
    German - 978-1-917462-02-0
  • ASIN: English - B0B2PS8NC6
    German - B0DG96669Q
  • Published: 2022
  • Publisher: Richa Books
  • Series: Eden Black
  • Language: English
  • Formats:
    English: Hardcover / Paperback / ebook / Audio
    German: HB/PB/EB/Aud
    French: EB

Endorsements

Here's what readers think:

Eden Black just gets better and better! I couldn’t put this series down. Nonstop action, lots of emotion, and lots of turning the page to see what comes next. Bravo!
Reader of the The Ark Files
Blow the bloody doors off! Luke Richardson has given me more shivers and jumped up shouting from my seat in this series than I care to talk about. I can't express how much I love the Eden Black series.
Reader of The Giza Protocol
Fans of Indiana Jones will love this book and series. I’m only disappointed that I have to wait for the next book to come out!
Reader of The Atlantis Agenda

Real Locations in This Book

The Greatest Archaeological Cover-Up in History? The Victorian Translator Who May Have Faked His Own Death

Take a read

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The Giza Protocol: Eden Black Archaeological Thrillers Book 2

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Get the full series today.

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