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    Year of the Hyenas: A Novel of Murder in Ancient Egypt
    Year of the Hyenas: A Novel of Murder in Ancient Egypt
    Year of the Hyenas: A Novel of Murder in Ancient Egypt
    Ebook387 pages6 hours

    Year of the Hyenas: A Novel of Murder in Ancient Egypt

    By Brad Geagley

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Year of the Hyenas is a brilliant, original, and unique murder mystery, set in ancient Egypt at the height of that kingdom's glory and power. It is at once a strikingly insightful portrait of a mysterious, complex, and sophisticated society, reminiscent of Norman Mailer's Ancient Evenings in its wonderful detail and feel for the past, and a fast-paced detective story that reads like the best of twenty-first-century thrillers.
    From the oldest known court transcripts in history, Egyptologists have long known about the mysterious death of Ramses III, involving intrigue, ambition, greed, and crimes of passion on a huge, though hidden, scale. In Year of the Hyenas, Brad Geagley takes this event -- a struggle that nearly brought ancient Egypt to its knees -- as the backdrop for a story that is every bit as captivating as the distant civilization it resurrects.
    At the heart of the novel is Semerket, the so-called Clerk of Investigations and Secrets, a detective half-paralyzed by problems of his own, with a reputation for heavy drinking and tactless behavior toward the great, the powerful, and the holy, a kind of Sam Spade of the ancient world, deeply (and dangerously) addicted to the truth. Hard-bitten, deeply flawed, he is retained by the authorities to investigate what is considered an insignificant murder of an elderly, insignificant Theban priestess. They fail to inform him, however, that they don't expect him to solve the case. In fact, they don't want him to.
    But Semerket is not so easily fooled, and this is hardly an "insignificant" murder. As he delves deeper for the elusive truth, he uncovers a web of corruption so vast that it threatens the life of the last great Pharaoh, Ramses III, and the stability of the kingdom. Even worse, uncovering the conspiracy means more than just putting his own life on the line -- for, unbeknownst to Semerket, his adored ex-wife Naia has fallen afoul of those who would bring down the reign of Ramses, and he soon finds himself having to choose between saving her and saving Egypt....
    Merging historical fact and speculation with a nail-biting crime story that could be taking place in the present, Year of the Hyenas is a riveting and remarkable achievement.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster
    Release dateFeb 22, 2005
    ISBN9780743277426
    Year of the Hyenas: A Novel of Murder in Ancient Egypt
    Author

    Brad Geagley

    Brad Geagley worked for many years as a producer in the entertainment industry. History and writing were Geagley's real loves, however. He is currently at work on his second novel in the Semerket series, Day of the False King, and on a new stage play and screenplay. Geagley lives in Palm Springs, California, and can be reached through his website at www.yearofthehyenas.com.

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    Reviews for Year of the Hyenas

    3.5/5

    41 ratings4 reviews

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    • 1/5
      Not going to finish this, it's terrible and I rarely do that with a book. His female characters are all stereotypes, bitch, whore or priestess and his male characters seem to all be unlikable. Big deal he got the Egyptian setting correctly down.
    • 3/5
      This is a historical mystery set in Egypt at the time of Ramses III. Features a pretty classic gumshoe character, the ladies like him and he's a troubled yet standup guy, determined to get to the bottom of the murder of a minor priestess though powerful forces around him don't seem to want that.Some problematic bits about strong women, and the detective's apparent alcoholism. Not sure if I'm on board with the author's treatment of both. But the interesting Egyptian historical aspects and the fast moving storyline mean I'll probably check out the second in the series.
    • 4/5
      True to the advice of his editor quoted in the acknowledgements ("Mystery, Brad, not history"), Geagley does a marvelous job of weaving historical detail into "Year of the Hyenas," transporting the reader into ancient Egypt without bogging down the story with irrelevant details. His main protagonist, Semerket, has depth and challenges that make his progression as a character interesting to follow. Most of the other characters were also interesting, both internally and in how they related to Semerket. A few fell short--the boy Rami, for example, had much more potential than was realized. The narrator began trying to convince us that Hunro was important to Semerket a little too late to ring true.My interest in Semerket's personal life outweighed my interest in the mystery he was solving, so the story began to fall flat for me about 3/4 of the way through, when the focus shifted to the conspiracy. The plot is ostensibly based in historical fact, but at this point Geagley seemed to be stretching to incorporate the true story into the fiction. Also, my interest in deciphering which secondary characters are culpable and which have good intentions requires a certain balance of "good guys" to "bad guys" that tipped too far, too fast. I kept reading, mostly to find out what would happen between Semerket and his ex-wife, and his brother. Then again, I'm not much of a mystery reader--maybe someone who thrives on plot twists and turns would breathe a sigh of relief at finally getting to the good part.
    • 4/5
      It was an historical mystery set in ancient Egypt during the reign of Ramses III. It was set during that time period because there was a real murder mystery at the time: the queen, her son (one of many royal offspring) and the ladies in the harem, plotted and killed Ramses III. They have the actual records of it. The book actually starts out with the murder of an old, blind, minor priestess in the village of the tomb-makers on the western side of the Nile. It moves into tomb robbing, and that leads to the plot against Pharaoh. The writing was good, the characters were interesting, and the story was engaging - at times it had riveting moments, but they came and went. The setting was well done and had the feel of being in the place and time. I will eventually order the second book in the series Day of the False King. It has the same main character investigator, but is set in Babylon.

    Book preview

    Year of the Hyenas - Brad Geagley

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