From the bestselling author of Prague comes a witty, inventive, brilliantly constructed novel about an Egyptologist obsessed with finding the tomb of an apocryphal king. This darkly comic labyrinth of a story opens on the desert plains of Egypt in 1922, then winds its way from the slums of Australia to the ballrooms of Boston by way of Oxford, the battlefields of the First World War, and a royal court in turmoil.
Just as Howard Carter unveils the tomb of Tutankhamun, making the most dazzling find in the history of archaeology, Oxford-educated Egyptologist Ralph Trilipush is digging himself into trouble, having staked his professional reputation and his fiancées fortune on a scrap of hieroglyphic pornography. Meanwhile, a relentless Australian detective sets off on the case of his career, spanning the globe in search of a murderer. And another murderer. And possibly another murderer. The confluence of these seemingly separate stories results in an explosive ending, at once inevitable and utterly unpredictable.
Arthur Phillips leads this expedition to its unforgettable climax with all the wit and narrative bravado that made Prague one of the most critically acclaimed novels of 2002. Exploring issues of class, greed, ambition, and the very human hunger for eternal life, this staggering second novel gives us a glimpse of Phillipss range and maturityand is sure to earn him further acclaim as one of the most exciting authors of his generation.
I had anxiously awaited to receive this book to read, only to find out it is basically written in journal style/letters style, with little other than 1st person dialogue. Really felt discouraged on it, probably why there was a quick turn around in putting it back on my bookshelf to trade after receiving it the first week of September 2008. No thanks I'll pass on this author if this is how he writes, I was piqued with curiosity with his 'Prague' but lesser now.
Mrs. B.
Dede R. from HURST, TX wrote on 3/25/2007...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
A bit slow-moving at first, but a very intriguing plot.
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Rob L. (Lester) from NEW YORK, NY wrote on 1/14/2007...
This is in paperback, the above description notwithstanding.