This darkly comic labyrinth of a novel opens on the desert plains of Egypt in 1922, before winding its way from the slums of 1900s Australia to the ballrooms of 1920s Boston, by way of Oxford, the battlefields of the First World War, a royal court in turmoil in 1700 BC, and an idyllic English country house where nothing is quite as it should be. Just as Howard Carter unveils the tomb of Tutankhamun, making the most dazzling find in the history of Egyptology, Oxford-educated Egyptologist Ralph Trilipush is digging himself into trouble, having staked his professional reputation and his finacee'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 seeming separate stories culminates 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 the best-selling 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 a glimpse of Phillips' range and maturity, and is sure to earn him acclaim as one of the most exciting novelists of his generation.

• Previous
• 1
• Next