Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #357231 in Books
• Published on: 2001-02-27
• Released on: 2001-02-27
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .95" h x 6.18" w x 9.37" l, 1.15 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Corrupt officials, vengeful Libyans, assassination attempts, threats of civil war and the contemplated separation of North and South American history? Not here. Welcome to the colorful, ancient world of Upper Egypt as depicted by Egyptologist Jacq in his second series to cover the sandy region, after his five-volume Ramses project. In this third installment in a projected four-volume set, he focuses on the strife between Seti II and his son Amenmessu as each sets himself up as pharaoh. Painted against a backdrop of power struggles, women who poison the water supply out of boredom, hot desert sex, herbal medicine and superstition, Jacq's tale involves a little-known art society: the Brotherhood, made up of craftsmen of the Place of Truth, who create the magnificent tombs of the pharaohs in the sacred Valley of the Kings. It is their mission to guard the precious Stone of Light, the invaluable tool that enables them to fashion items of incomparable beauty. There is a traitor in their midst, however. Will this traitor discover the hiding place of the Stone of Light, and will he somehow threaten all of the good work of the most superior craftsman of all, the eponymous Paneb? Readers of Jacq's previous series as well as those who are familiar with the earlier two in this one will undoubtedly find satisfaction in this offering. However, there is an important murder left unresolved at the end, which works fine as a cliffhanger for loyal readers, but not for those picking this up as a stand-alone item.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Jacq continues his popular Stone of Light series with another suspenseful installment chronicling the lives and adventures of a select group of gifted craftspeople responsible for designing, building, and decorating the magnificent monuments of the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens in ancient Egypt. As in Nefer the Silent and The Wise Woman, an insidious plot threatens the sanctity of the hidden village dubbed the Place of Truth and the security of the sacred Stone of Light. Resentful that Nefer was appointed master of the Brotherhood, an unidentified traitor lurks in the Place of Truth, nursing a rapidly escalating grudge. When the opportunity arises, he conspires with outsiders to betray and destroy his own community. It remains the task of Paneb the Ardent, the adopted son of the Wise Woman and Nefer the Silent, to protect the forbidden village, his family, and the Brotherhood's most precious treasure from a cunning adversary. Like Jacq's best-selling Ramses quintet, this exciting narrative is set against the backdrop of nationwide political intrigue and turmoil. Margaret Flanagan
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