The Lost Army of Cambyses

by Sussman, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780312301538
• ISBN10: 0312301537
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-02-25
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

Summary

An adrenaline-packed thriller and archaeological adventure by and outstanding new storyteller In 523 BC, the Persian emperor Cambyses dispatched an army across Egypt's western desert to destroy the oracle of Amun at Siwa. Legend has it that somewhere in the middle of the Great Sand Sea, his army was overwhelmed by a sandstorm and destroyed. Fifth thousand men were lost. At first, the incidents appear unconnected. Inspector Yusuf Khalifa of the Luxor police is suspicious, however. And so too is the archaeologist's daughter, Tara Mullray. As each seeks to uncover the truth, they find themselves thrown together in a desperate race for survival--one that forces them to confront not only present-day adversaries but also ghosts from their own pasts. From a mysterious fragment of ancient hieroglyphic text to rumors of a fabulous lost tomb in the Theban Hills, from the shimmering waters of the Nile to the dusty back streets of Cairo, Khalifa and Mullray are drawn ever deeper into a labyrinth of violence, intrigue, and betrayal. It is a path that will eventually lead them into the forbidding, barren heart of the western desert, and the answer to one of the greatest mysteries of the ancient world. At once an adrenaline-packed thriller and a wonderfully evocative archaeological adventure, "The Lost Army of Cambyses marks the debut of an outstanding new storyteller.

Author Biography

Paul Sussman’s two great passions have always been writing and archaeology. He fulfills the former by working as a freelance journalist and the latter by spending two months of each year excavating in Egypt, most noticeably with the Amarna Royal Tombs Project in the Valley of the Kings. He is thirty-five and lives in London with his wife. This is his first novel.