An odd artifact on a market stall in Alexandria and a dead girl in the desert trigger two separate investigations that converge in the ancient Egyptian city of Amarna. Murder, conspiracy, kidnap and wild historical theories follow as archaeologist Daniel Knox stumbles into a world of fanatical Christians, tomb robbers and biblical mysteries.
Take this book as what it is - an Indiana Jones-style yarn loosely based around a historical mystery stretched to its limits of credibility. All the usual cast of characters are here; the scholarly heroes with unlikely knowledge of the esoteric, the incompetent policemen, the corrupt officials, and, of course, fanatics of various creeds. The plot races along at a reckless pace and the action never lets up. All the ingredients are here, and yet... I've read better. The constant lurching from one character's viewpoint to another's is jarring and makes it difficult to follow the story. Because of this, his characters are underdeveloped and don't ever manage to escape their stereotypes. The ending, too, is a disappointment. Adams puts so much effort and energy into the crescendo, only for it to fall flat at the end.
That said, I did enjoy it. The Exodus Quest absorbed me for the couple of autumnal evenings it took me to read it and Adams had picked an interesting historical mystery to base his story on. With a less breakneck pace and a little more character development, this could have been a much better book.
Read On: The Alexander Cipher by Will Adams (the first in the series), The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown and The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry.
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