Flesh of the God

by Lauren Haney

Book Overview

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. A proud officer in the service of Queen Hatshepsut, it was Lieutenant Bak's great misfortune to lead his charioteers in a raid of a house of pleasure frequented by Egyptians of very high station. Reassigned for his...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060521899
• ISBN13: 9780060521899
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Avon Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Best detective in the BC. Egypt

Officer Bak (future Lieutenant) is a great detective working for the real young Pharoah while the Pharoah's mom tries to take the throne. It is great. I have read the series. You are missing a good thing if you miss this series.

Flesh of the God

This was a great book. I hated to put it down. If you love ancient Egypt, and a good mystery, this is the book. I could not figure out who the guilty person was till the very end of the book. What a great read!

As wonderful as all of the other Lt. Bak novels

This is another wonderful novel in the Bak series...but if anyone is expecting a "prequel," he or she will be disappointed...this books deals with Bak's first case in Buhen after his exile...it doesn't give us any more information about his fall from grace than the last book did. So..it may be the first book in the series, but it's not a prequel!

a treat for historical mystery fans...

For those of us who always wondered what it was that Lieutenant Bak had done to anger Maatkare Hatshepsut so very, very much that she had him sent into virtual exile in Wawat (Lower Nubia),"Flesh of the God" answers that question in spades. It reads like the first installment in the Lieutenant Bak mystery series, and is (no surprise) a truly exciting and compelling read, dealing with murder, theft and corruption.Once a proud officer and a trained warrior, Bak has been stripped of his rank and sent from Kemet (Egypt) to the Buhen fortress in Wawat (Lower Wawat) as punishment for having raided a house of pleasure much frequented by powerful Egyptian men. Now, instead of leading his charioteers into battle, Bak has been placed in charge of the Medjays (a police force of sorts) under Commandant Nakht. The situation at Buhen is a bit tense and complex. While many men and women from Kemet live within Buhen, it is still in the heart of Wawat, a land brutally conquered by the Egyptians many years ago. The Egyptains still do not fully trust the Nubians, esp given that the rebels still attack the caravans. But the really sticky point is that the Medjays are made up mainly of Nubians who have trained and grown up in Kemet, men with a foot in each camp and distrusted by both the Egyptians and the Nubians. It is up to Bak to make the people of Buhen realise that the Medjays are here to enforce the law and that they can be trusted. Not an easy task at all. But Bak's job becomes even more difficult when on his very first night on the job, the Commandant of Buhen (Nakht) is murdered and all the evidence seems to point to the Nakht's beautiful foreign wife, Azzia, as having committed the murder. In spite of all the circumstantial evidence however Bak is not so sure of Azzia's guilt. Pressured by the Chief Steward of Buhen to bring charges against Azzia, Bak is not sure what to do. Is Azzia guilty of murder? Or is Bak reacting to his attraction for her when he refuses to believe that she is guilty of Nakht's murder, by believing in the hunch that's telling him that there is more to all this than meets to eye? With only three days to unmask the real killer Bak must use all his intelligence and wits so that his lack of experience will not jeopardize an innocent lady's life..."Flesh of the God" proved to be a fantastic read. And it answered all the questions that had nagged at me while I was reading the other mysteries in this series. At some point someone has to explain why books in a series are not always published in sequence. The storyline was a thrilling and exciting one, with quite a few twists and turns, as we follow Bak trying to solve the mystery at hand, bump into new ones and deal with his lack of experience and expertise. Character development was superb (esp that of Azzia and Imsiba, Bak's right hand man), and the plot unfolded smoothly and flawlessly. "Flesh of the God" was a real treat, and one that historical mystery fans (esp those who like mysteries

This is actually the first Bak mystery... a must read!!!

"Flesh of the God" was published in Germany (in German) a couple of years ago under the authors real name (L. Haney is a pen name). I saw it in the library and read it. It was thrilling. The story is about a demoted charioteer in the time of Queen Hatshepsut, who fell from grace and subsequently was exiled to police service in Wawat (The Belly Of Stones = Nubia)where he is stationed at the fortress of Buhen. In this episode (actually the first of the whole series) the fortress commander Nakht is found murdered and his foreign and auburn-haired wife Azzia becomes the prime suspect. Bak is called on to investigate the murder while Azzia becomes the love of his life. She is always vaguely referred to in the following volumes, but has not made a re-appearance since. Its good that after those many years the first Bak volume is available in English after all. Haney creates a convincing atmosphere and remains the best writer for mysteries set in ancient Egypt.