The Lost Army of Cambyses by Paul Sussman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The book held my attention for the first 75% of the book and then fell into the trap that a lot of fiction does. The author had written himself into a corner, placing hte heroes in an impossible to escape from situation - except now he had to find a way for them to escape! Enter Deus Ex Machina! Not once, but twice. A shame because it ultimately weakens character that had been resourceful under difficult circumstances thru out the entire story, reducing them to puppets blown around by forces that really should've destroyed them - except for that darned convenient divine intervention!

Still, I see a lot of promise, in Inspector Yusuf Khalifa. The novel creates an interesting, fully fleshed character, in an Egyptian culture foreign and fascinating. I'm looking for the next novel in the series, I just hope it ends better than this one.



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