Pompeii

Enjoyed the way the tension built despite the universal knowledge of the coming event. Interesting knowledge revealed about water supply in the Roman world.

3.5

This book is not about the Roman Pro-consul Gnaeus Pompeii Magnus nor is a precursor to the movie Pompeii but the ancient city of Pompeii and its unstable underbelly. The book traces the work life of a young aquarius (plumber) Attilius and his journey to save the Roman empire from poisonous water raging havoc in its cities. Peel by peel the story unwinds from the gentile Roman society life to the centre of the most violent volcanic eruption recorded in human history. In a nutshell the book is about water,earth, fire, and air...told the Roman way.

On the afternoon of August 24, 79 AD, pyroclastic flows emitted during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius destroyed the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Those towns were completely buried and were subsequently forgotten. They were rediscovered in the early 1700's.
Robert Harris took what we know of the eruption and the destruction and wove an exciting tale. The main POV character is a young engineer, Marcus Attilius Primus. He has just been dispatched from Rome to take over the care and maintenance of the Aqua Augusta, the aqueduct that provided water to the area around the Bay of Naples. Soon after his arrival in Misenum, the flow of water begins to fail and he has to organize an emergency expedition to repair the Aqua Augusta.
This is the start of an exciting and most dangerous adventure. In attempting to do his job, Attilius is forced to deal with obstructive and corrupt officials, mutinous subordinates, and a murderous plot against his life. Initially in the background, Vesuvius rumbles to life and changes the fortunes of all involved.
Recommended.

Boring, boring, boring!!!
On the positive side, I guess it could be viewed as an ok book in some regards! Characters were ok, ending was good! Not a book I would want to read again or pass on to a friend! Not for me!!