The Lost Ark by Christian-Eric Falardeau continues the journey of the villagers of Verminus. When readers meet them in The Alas League, they are indifferent to the devastation happening around the world and prefer to drink their Guinness and do nothing. In this installment, they are engaged in a mission to find their friends from the ''A'' ark. Comprising two episodes, ''In Search of the Lost Ark,'' and ''The Face of the Tail,'' these characters must navigate a complex world and technology as they seek clues, each step they undertake becoming more complex than the previous one.

This is another intelligently plotted entry in this mind-blowing series with quirky characters and intense drama. Falardeau's storytelling skill is superior and he builds a world that is complex and finely drawn. The technology offers a sophisticated communication system. The dialogues are dazzling, intelligent, and natural, and readers will be enthralled by them and how well they help in characterization. The author remains consistent in creating prose that is delightful, demonstrating a unique mastery of the economy of words, with sentences that are packed with energy, timely paragraph breaks, and well-measured chapters. Characters like Sylvia, the bar owner, Mable Hudgeon, Sophia, and a host of others will stick with readers even after they have turned the last page of this captivating book. The Lost Ark is a piece of literature that demands to be transformed into a blockbuster. The humor is relentless, the banter is as lively as any can be, and the characters are multidimensional. The conflict grows in magnitude are the story moves forward; it is twisty and enjoyable. The impeccable world-building, the deft plotting, the cinematic writing, and the mesmerizing dialogues are a few of the elements that transform this book into a page-turner.