The Egyptian is a follow up to Layton Green's hit The Summoner. Special Agent Grey (from The Summoner) is now employed by Professor Radek in his cult investigation agency (that’s the best way I can describe it). He’s hired by a mysterious businessman to retrieve a test tube stolen from Cairo biomedical laboratory – although he’s given few details about what it is. Grey’s investigation takes him to Bulgaria (with an overly-ambitious tag-along reporter) where he meets a scientist and discovers the test tube contains the secret to life and there are people willing to die to get it.
What I Loved: I can’t say I totally loved anything in this book.
What I Liked: The idea of a chemically engineered fountain of youth was interesting, but it didn’t totally play out in the way I’d thought. The mummy tie in becomes obvious early in the book and it would’ve been interesting to learn more about that aspect and its history.
What I Meh'd: This took me forever to read because it was so heavy in biomedical terminology. I had to look up words and re-read passages which was a little annoying. And, like I said with The Summoner, sometimes the lengthy in-depth dialogue felt a little excessive. But, hey, I admit I read for fun and to relax so I tend to favor more “simple” books.
I didn’t like most of the characters. I hated the clingy reporter, Veronica. She reminded me of a Chihuahua – a little dog that thinks it’s much bigger and badder than it is until it is face-to-face in a dangerous situation. And she was kind of annoying and I wanted to kick her. She constantly relied on her looks and really at no point was more of an asset than a burden. That would’ve been OK, maybe, if Grey didn’t start caving to her. He went from an intelligent and strong woman like Nya to Veronica? Uhm. No.
The motives of the businessman who hired Grey were interesting. Did he just hire a bunch of different people to get the test tube back because he was that desperate? Seemed like it would be more efficient if they worked together as one instead of against each other. In the end, there were just too many unnecessary obstacles and tangents that didn’t lead to answers.
Green is a great writer, I just don’t think this book was my cup of tea.
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