Got about 100 pages in and wasn't impressed so I quit reading. The story took too long to develop and the writing was OK at best. Author Will Adams seems to want to impress the readers with his knowledge of ancient Greece and Rome but good lord, enough exposition! How much of that information is really needed to move the story along?

Also, I'm fine with a British writer using UK words in the book but if you're going to have an American character, don't put that stuff in his mouth. By and large Americans don't call trash "rubbish," a windshield "windscreen," etc. (These aren't literally in the book just examples.)

I was hoping for a great adventure with historic information woven into fiction (ala Dan Brown) but I didn't get it. ( )

Alejandro Magno es el conquistador más grande y enigmático de la Historia. Su legendaria tumba, una de las maravillas de la Antigüedad, al parecer se perdió para siempre. Mucho más tarde, unos obreros de la construcción encuentran por casualidad en Alejandría la entrada de una catacumba. Este hecho desencadena una carrera a muerte en busca del mayor tesoro de todos los tiempos. Daniel Knox es un egiptólogo marginado por las corruptas autoridades arqueológicas. La fascinación que siente por Alejandro Magno y su tumba podría llevarle a la muerte. Perseguido por el brutal magnate naviero Hassan al-Assyuti, su única posibilidad de seguir con vida pasa por ganar esta frenética carrera. Sin embargo, más gente anda a la caza del mismo premio, y matarán por conseguirlo…

The book was interesting but it lacked the suspense factor that would have made it an outstanding book. I liked the character of Daniel Konx and I believe he will develop over time...but the majority of the characters were just a little too much on the unrealistic side in their reactions. Fans of the thriller genre with an interest in Egyptology and Alexander The Great will find that there is a great deal to like here...but those of us that seek more action and adventure in our books will find they are bogged down in too many subplots and historical facts. ( )

Grand Central Publishing, ISBN 9780446404709, March 2010

Once again, I listened to the audiobook. The narrator is excellent.

Daniel Knox is an archaeologist who, due to some unfortunate events a few years previously, is currently earning his living as a dive instructor, currently employed by an Egyptian gangster, Hassan. When he gallantly, if foolishly, rescues a young woman the gangster is raping, he finds himself on the run and in hiding, and is quickly abandoned by the young woman he "rescued," since she has figured out that she's slightly safer if Hassan doesn't think she wanted the "rescue."

Knox discovers that his new nemesis has a very long reach, and he isn't fast enough getting to the border. He's barely fast enough getting away from the border, and retreats to Alexandria, where he seeks the help of an old friend, French archaeologist Augustine, creating a false identity and getting employed on a local dig Augustine is involved in.

Also involved in this dig is Gaille Bonnard, an ancient languages expert who blames Daniel for the death of her father, who was Daniel's friend and mentor, and, because this site turns out to have connections to Alexander the Great, and Egyptian archaeology is badly underfunded, Nicolas Dragoumis, a Macedonian nationalist and wealthy industrialist whose father Phillip is, Daniel believes, responsible for the deaths of his parents and sister.

Really, I'm making this sound too simple and straight-forward. It's really much more complicated than that.

However, Adams keeps all the balls in the air, and drops in the necessary historical and background information smoothly and without slowing down this face-paced story.

If you enjoy a good thriller, this is well worth a read, with the promise of more in the series if you find at the end that you haven't had enough of Knox and...well, but that would be telling.

I borrowed this book from the local library. ( )

I loved this book. Can't wait to read the rest of the series!
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