Publisher Description
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 fiancEe's 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 Phillips's range and maturity-and is sure to earn him further acclaim as one of the most exciting authors of his generation.
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"Epistolary novel in the voices of an ambitious self-made archeologist, attempting to find a tomb in Egypt and an Australian detective trying to solve an old murder. Neither character is particularly sympathetic, both are deluded and are attempting to delude. The book is interestingly plotted and focuses on themes of whether a text or narrator can be believed as well as on how a person makes his mark and on immortality. I found it engaging if perhaps a bit long. The "surprise" ending isn't the point - most readers will have figured out the basic plot by the middle of the book - more interesting is the theme of self-delusion evident in both narrators. Interesting historical glimpse into the what motivated archeology in the 30s and well-written."
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Cynthia (4 out of 5 stars)
About Arthur Phillips
Arthur Phillips is the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of The Song is You, Prague, The Egyptologist, and others. Prague was named a New York Times Notable Book and received the Los Angeles Times/Art Seidenbaum Award for best first novel. His books Angelica and The Song Is You were both optioned for film, the former by Mitchell Lichtenstein and the latter by Focus Features. Phillips received his BA in history from Harvard University, and he had several occupations before becoming a novelist, including a speechwriter, a jazz musician, and a child actor; he is also a five-time Jeopardy! champion. He lives in New York with his wife and two sons.
About the Narrators
James Langton, an Earphones Award–winning narrator, trained as an actor at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and later as a musician at the Guildhall School in London. He has worked in radio, film, and television, also appearing in theater in England and on Broadway. He is also a professional musician who led the internationally renowned Pasadena Roof Orchestra from 1996 to 2002.
Simon Prebble, a British-born performer, is a stage and television actor and veteran narrator of some three hundred audiobooks. As one of AudioFile’s Golden Voices, he has received thirty-seven Earphones Awards and won the prestigious Audie in 2010. He lives in New York.
Gerard Doyle, a seasoned audio narrator, he has been awarded dozens of AudioFile Earphones Awards, was named a Best Voice in Young Adult Fiction in 2008, and won the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. He was born of Irish parents and raised and educated in England. In Great Britain he has enjoyed an extensive career in both television and repertory theater and toured nationally and internationally with the English Shakespeare Company. He has appeared in London’s West End in the gritty musical The Hired Man. In America he has appeared on Broadway in The Weir and on television in New York Undercover and Law & Order. He has taught drama at Ross School for the several years.
Bianca Amato, winner of numerous Earphones Awards and the Audie Award for best narration, is an actress born and raised in South Africa. Trained at the University of Cape Town’s Drama school, she went on to work in theater and television in South Africa before moving to New York in 2002.