Day of the False King: A Novel of Murder in Ancient Babylon [Hardcover]

Brad Geagley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 10, 2006

"Another brilliant and out-of-the-ordinary murder mystery by the author of" Year of the Hyenas, " with an unusual and interesting detective, this time trying to pursue and rescue his own ex-wife, sold into slavery in the city of Babylon (in modern times, near Baghdad) at a time of violence and great danger, much like today."

"Day of the False King" continues the story of Semerket, Egypt's Clerk of Investigations and Secrets. The time is approximately 1150 B.C., and the conspirators who plotted the overthrow of Pharaoh Ramses III have been tried and executed. But the old pharaoh has succumbed to the wounds inflicted by his Theban wife, Queen Tiya; it is his first-born son who now rules Egypt as his chosen successor, Ramses IV.

Geographically placed at the center of the Old World, where East literally meets West, Babylon has forever been the crossroads for conquering armies and adventuresome merchants, and the prize of dynasts. From cruel tyrants to far-seeing visionaries, an ever-changing set of rulers have claimed Babylon's throne as their own. But they were not god-kings as in Egypt; in fact, there was no term for "king" in any of the Babylonian languages. Instead, they were called simply "Strong Man" or "Big Man." Then as now, only martial strength determined who ruled. Strangely, or perhaps inevitably, the rights of the individual were first codified and set down as laws here.

Around the time that "Day of the False King" takes place, the Middle East is undergoing -- just as it is today -- a tortuous, protracted transformation. The old regimes have vanished, setting the stage for the aggressive emergence of the new nations of Phoenicia, Israel, and Philistia; it is the fourth of these new peoples, the Assyrians, who will achieve dominance in the years ahead.Babylonia in particular has suffered a series of cataclysms. The old Kassite Dynasty, themselves invaders from the north, has been toppled. The nation of Elam (soon to be known as Persia) has launched a massive war to conquer Babylonia from the southeast. Native tribes in the country also see this moment as their own chance to evict the foreigners and re-establish a dynasty of their own.

Into this roiling alchemy, Semerket's adored ex-wife, Naia, is thrust. She and Rami, the tomb-maker's son, have been banished to Babylon as indentured servants -- punishment for their accidental roles in the Harem Conspiracy against Ramses III.

As in "Year of the Hyenas," most of the events and characters in "Day of the False King" are drawn from history. The Elamite invader King Kutir and the native-born Marduk truly vied for the throne of Babylonia. There really was a festival called "Day of the False King," when the entire world turned upside down for a day, when slaves ruled as masters, when the most foolish man in Babylon was chosen to become king. Semerket the detective is plunged into the midst of these events in pursuit of his own goals: to serve his Pharaoh and to find the woman he loves.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Geagley revisits ancient Egypt—the scene of his successful 2005 debut Year of the Hyenas—and his detective hero Semerket, Egypt's clerk of investigations and secrets, in this masterful historical mystery. In the first novel, Semerket exposed a conspiracy to kill the pharaoh and seize the throne; repercussions linger as this adventure opens. The celebrated detective grieves for his adored ex-wife Naia, who was caught in the dragnet following the failed coup and banished to Mesopotamia. As luck would have it, the ailing pharaoh, Ramses IV, sends his trusted detective on a mission to Babylon to seek permission to bring the statue of Bel-Marduk—"Babylon's most sacred idol" which is believed to have curative powers—on a state visit to Egypt. The narrative begins at a leisurely pace but soon speeds up when Semerket arrives in Mesopotamia, which is in the throes of an indigenous rebellion against its latest conquerors. Caught between warring factions and stalked by the surviving conspirators of his previous adventure, Semerket must summon all his skill to survive in a foreign land where nothing is as it seems, even the identity of his wife, Naia. With his abundant knowledge of ancient history and well-crafted prose, Geagley has created a hero with staying power and a series to watch. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Geagley follows up his promising debut, Year of the Hyenas (2005), with a sequel that is equally entertaining. It's 1150 BCE, and Semerket, Egypt's Clerk of Investigations and Secrets (think of him as an extremely old-world private eye), is worried about his former wife, Naia, who was banished to Babylonia after the events chronicled in Year of the Hyenas. Right now Babylonia is not a good place to be: the country is under siege from north and south, and various internal factions are duking it out for control of the kingdom. Semerket figures if he doesn't rescue Naia, she's done for. But can even this tough, no-nonsense investigator manage to get in and out of Babylonia before the country finishes tearing itself apart? Geagley continues to demonstrate an unerring ability to combine history and adventure seamlessly, making us feel as though we've visited another time and place without overwhelming us with period detail or great clots of historical exposition. Bring on more Semerket adventures. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1ST edition (January 10, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743250818
• ISBN-13: 978-0743250818
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,492,805 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Throwing Semerket into another culture is a brilliant move, April 1, 2006

By 

L. S. Jaszczak "servant of the secret fire" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Day of the False King: A Novel of Murder in Ancient Babylon (Hardcover)

The second installment in this series, which follows the adventures of Semerket, Egyptian Clerk of Investigations and Secrets, in 20th Dynasty Egypt, does not disappoint. Semerket's ex-wife Naia and Rami, a young boy whom he befriended in Year of the Hyenas, have been sent as slaves to Babylon, and Semerket receives a fragment of a note indicating that they are in danger. Upon appealing to Rameses IV, the new Pharaoh, who owes Semerket his life and his throne, he is given permission to seek them and bring them back to Egypt, as well as a sensitive diplomatic mission to the ruler of Babylon. (Oops - I originally put "king" but when reading this over remembered that one very strong point made in the book was that Babylon, unlike Egypt, didn't have a king.)

In Babylon, which is seething under foreign occupation (shades of modern day Iraq?) Sermerket quickly learns that he can trust no one, not even his own country's ambassador. The raid on the plantation where Naia was a maid is rumored to have been undertaken by resistance fighters, but evidence points to Egyptian involvement. A remarkably clever and sophisticated slave, a seductive transvestite, and a pair of spies who stick to Sermerket like glue even after they're called off are only a few of the many colorful characters who help him solve the several mysteries he faces and find out what happened to Naia and Rami.

One of the risks of writing about a hard-bitten and embittered character such as Semerket is that he will either become totally unsympathetic or, if his life improves sufficiently, lose the "edge" that makes him so interesting in the first place. Moving him to a different culture was a brilliant move for Geagley, since Semerket is thrown slightly off balance by the strangeness and is forced to show some of his vulnerabilities. It remains to be seen whether he will continue to maintain the balancing act.

The book also provides some fascinating insights into the Babylonian politics of the time, some quotations from The Lament for Ur (which appears to have similarities to the biblical book of Lamentations, if only because the emotions felt by the survivors of a devastated city probably don't differ much), and ancient medical practice. I only wish that, on his website if not in the book, Geagley would provide some information about his sources and recommended reading for those who would like to learn more.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very interesting book, February 21, 2007

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Day of the False King: A Novel of Murder in Ancient Babylon (Hardcover)

In this sequel to Year of the Hyenas, Semerket, the Clerk of Investigations and Secrets, is sent by Pharaoh to Babylon to arrange for the visit of a statue with miraculous healing powers to Egypt. And, as an added inducement, Pharaoh gives Semerket letters of manumission for his wife and son, who are lost somewhere around Babylon. However, in the land between the rivers, nothing is what it seems, and there are schemes within schemes in this strange land. Can Semerket get to the bottom of what is going on? And, is there any chance of finding his loved ones alive?

Overall, I found this to be a very interesting book. The characters and the situation are quite interesting - colorful and yet thoroughly believable. Also, I found the mysteries to be quite interesting. My one complaint against the book is that the author did little to capture the fascinating culture that Mesopotamia enjoyed at the time. (Indeed, Nidaba's view of Ishtar as containing dualisms of male/female-war/love is very Greek (and subsequently Western), but would have made no sense to the ancient Mesopotamians. Inanna/Ishtar exemplified and ruled the passions - love and hate, lust and disdain, haughty pride and craven cowardice.)

But, that said, this was a fascinating book, one that I am very glad that I read.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Day of the False King, January 29, 2006

By 

Fiona Spenser "mystery maven" - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Day of the False King: A Novel of Murder in Ancient Babylon (Hardcover)

Once again, Brad Geagley takes us on a fantastic journey to Ancient Egypt and then to ancient Babylon. At the center of this world we set out with our hero Semerket to search for his beloved wife Naia and Rami, the tomb makers's son from Mr. Geagley's previous mystery adventure the Year of the Hyenas. Rami and Naia have been banished to Babylon and used as slaves and thought to have been murdered. Believing that he has heard Rami calling to him to be rescued, Semerket does not believe that his wife and Rami are indeed dead and undertakes to search for them in the turmoil of Babylon's politics and underworld. In adition to his own difficulties, Semerket has been commissioned by his ailing Pharaoh to return to him an ancient Egyptian idol believed to posses the power to cure the Pharaoh's illness.
We are given over to the politics,sights, sounds, the smells of this ancient world as we folow Semerket's tortuous journey to fulfill the wishes of his Pharaoh and find his wife. Semerket is an ordinary man called upon to perfom an extraordinary task. Though given to drinking when in despair, swearing when angered, lying when necessary, sceaming in profound fear, weeping for a beautiful song, this man knows no limits to his determination. We meet along the way wondeful and terrifying people and see a great deal of ancient Babylon. The atmosphere and the vivid detail make this book an experience.
From the Year of the Hyenas and now through the Day of the False King, Brad Geagley has opened an ancient world to all of us. His meticulous research and ability to tell a good story make this a learning as well as a literary pleasure.