Flesh of the God

A young, untested policeman confronts deceit, treachery, and deadly peril in an ancient and magnificent world. Author Lauren Haney dazzles with a spellbinding "prequel" -- the first investigation of the brilliant Egyptian, Lieutenant Bak.
This really should have been Book #1 in the series since it's the beginning Lt Baks story and how he came to be sent to a dusty outpost to begin his work as a policeman. As such, it should really have been number one in the series, but for some unknown reason, it's #7 and listed as a prequel. Go figure that one out. Anyway...

Lt. Bak is sent to the city of Buhen to command Medjay police officers. There he meets with the commander and within 24 hours that commander, a respected and honorable man, is found show more dead...murdered and his beautiful young wife, who is found holding his body and covered in his blood; is suspect number one. Bak seemed at first to have been looking more at her than at the body of his very bloody and very dead commander. Several paragraphs are devoted to how beautiful and how attracted to her he was. He finds himself unable to believe that one so "fair and beautiful" could possibly be guilty of murder. I don't know what "beauty" or "fairness" has to do with being able to stab someone, but I'll take the author's word for it.

He soon learns that the commander was concerned about a plot he had uncovered to steal the "flesh of the god" Amon gold. He believes that the thief or thieves are responsible for the man's death. Very soon two more men are violently killed and as the saying goes..."the plot thickens". Several unsuccessful attempts are made on Bak's life, so he believes that he may be getting too close to the truth. He diligently follows every clue, seeking the truth and hoping that it will clear the name of the woman he has come to love. Believe me, that was quick.

It was, I guess an interesting tale even though it seemed the plot was a bit off kilter at times...and Bak was too busy "falling madly in love". It's not a bad story or a badly written book...t's just not my type of mystery; but if you know me well you know I probably read the book to fit a challenge category...so it well served its purpose, but I think I'll be leaving Bak to solve his murders all by himself....while falling madly in love:) show less

I don't understand the good reviews of this book. Definitely not for me! Slow moving, endless chase and fight scenes, and stilted dialogue. Almost read like a translation. The setting and main character were interesting, but the plot was boring and the story did not move quickly enough for me. And I generally love intricate historical mysteries. I read this first in the series because it is described as a prequel, but maybe I'll have to give another in the series a try to see what all the fuss is about.

This prequel takes us to Beks first case when he has newly arrived in Buhan and the commander under whom he is to serve is stabbed to death in his own quarters. Regular readers willsoon intuit that the commander's foreign wife, who is a prime suspect, is the beautiful foreign woman beloved by Bek referred to in earlier books. Bek and his Medjays are distrusted and disliked, the scribe left in charge of the fort is eager for a quick solution to the murder, but attacks on Bek make it obvious that more is involved than a marital quarrel. I did spot an inconsistency in the plot involving stolen gold--which I won't give away.

A prequel beginning when Lt. Bak has not yet been exiled to the frontier --as a naïve young officer, he raids the wrong pleasure house, which caters to very influential Egyptians.

Lost interest in this series