The Second of the Three Book Reviews.

[cedar_grove]

"Even now, American tourists spend large amounts of money bribing tomb guards to allow them to sleep overnight in the pyramids in the belief that this might extend their lives." Wollington: Sphinx by T.S. Learner.

It took me a little while to figure out why the book bears the title that it does, because I couldn't remember seeing a sphinx pay a significant role in the story. I was so lost in the narrative that I'd totally overlooked it. It's there - trust me.

From the beginning of the story, to the end, it gripped me, keeping me wondering whom was on whose side; from where would the danger next come. Once the story got going, I really couldn't put the book down.

Although the novel is couched in the mythology of Egypt and the politics of the recent past, the story doesn't lose the reader in either, and by the end of the story, with the final events that provide the denouement, if your heart doesn't go out to Oliver - the character whose journey the story follows - then either you missed something, or the book's simply not your cup of tea.

A final note, just to prove that the modern day 'First Medjai' gets everywhere, one of the acknowledgements made by the author is to Doctor Zahi Hawas.