The Hope Ornament

By: Nick Thacker

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Harvey Bennett didn’t sign up for this Christmas adventure.

When a small-town holiday festival turns into a deadly game of cat and mouse, Ben and Julie are thrust into a chilling mystery buried beneath the snow-covered streets of Hope, Alaska. At the center of it all is a legendary golden ornament—a piece of local history said to hold the key to a fortune in lost gold. But someone else wants that fortune, and they’ll stop at nothing to claim it.

As a ruthless financier and his dangerous crew close in, Ben and Julie follow a trail of cryptic clues carved into tombstones and hidden in long-forgotten rail tunnels. Each step draws them deeper into Alaska’s wilderness—and closer to a treasure that’s as cursed as it is valuable.

With a massive storm bearing down and their enemies closing in, Ben and Julie must outwit their pursuers and uncover the truth behind The Heart of the Mountain. But the deeper they dig, the more they realize the gold isn’t the only thing at stake—their lives, the town’s legacy, and their chance at a peaceful Christmas with their daughter all hang in the balance.

Packed with suspense, danger, and pulse-pounding action, The Hope Ornament is the perfect winter thriller for fans of Clive Cussler and James Rollins. Can Ben and Julie solve the mystery before time—and luck—run out?

The premise of the book is good - a mystery, action and a secret to be revealed.

I hate AI voices. There is no emotion, no inflection and it is difficult to follow. I attempted to listen carefully, but I think events in the story were jumbled. First, a couple is not going to leave their toddler at Christmas and I think one part of the story alluded to it being Christmas Eve. The thief also got jumbled. At one point, he was following the thieves between buildings and then they appeared again to perform the thief. In Alaska, everyone carries a gun for safety against wild life. The town’s citizens aren’t all going to stand by a witness a thief without doing something. And who are these main characters? Was he a police officer, a detective, an FBI agent? His wife encouraged him to stop three men with weapons. And who is she? Is she a detective, someone who has an interest in mining or what? This could be a good story if there were more details, character development and a check on sequences of events.