The Six Sacred Stones

I am currently reading this Australian novel, by Matthew Reilly. The first Aussie novel I read was Picnic at Hanging Rock, by Joan Lindsay, and I could tell the difference in writing styles between the US and Australia. That difference is even more visible in The Six Sacred Stones.

The difference in the writing style isn't easy for me to pin-point, but it's there. Basically, it's a story written in a different culture with different points of view, and that right there is what I contribute to the differences in the way a novel's story is told.

The Six Sacred Stones' story is quite engaging so far - a race to find ancient international artifacts and use them to save the world (think Indiana Jones and National Treasure mixed with Bond and Bauer since the main character, Jack West, Jr., is an agent type guy). I'm a little hung up on Reilly's writing style, but I'm getting into the book more and more. I'm about 1/3 through it so far.

Click the images to see Matthew Reilly's official website and the Wikipedia article for the book, respectively.