Customer Reviews

The Golden One

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Elizabeth Peters' gets it right and The Golden One is right at the top of her best style of writing. All the usual old friends, family, and bad guys show up. The Emersons are all over the place finding villians and Egyptian treasures. Nefret is much more pleasing following her 'confused' state in the past. Marriage has done much to calm her and Ramses, but not in their adventures. By the end of the book, we know a little more of what's to come and there is the introduction of a new villian. I hope Ms. Peters continues to write more just like this one.

I read the other reviews saying the plot wandered or Ms Peters doesn't know what to do with WWI. So not true. The people who said the series got stale after Ramses and Nefret got married are also off the beam.

I have enjoyed equally the different nuances the series has taken at all junctions. I loved Ramses when he was a tiny boy. The descriptions of him in his little nightshirt with toes peeking out lisping were hysterical. The description of him dumping a smelly old bone onto the lap of a snobby woman Amelia wanted to get rid of were a riot. The descriptions of Ramses as he got older lecturing ponderously as his mother would interrupt him were great. I loved it when Ramses, Nefret and David got older and got their own lives. The parts where Ramses was in complete shambles because Nefret had touched him, or made an innocent remark but his family could not see his agony were great. I enjoyed the between the lines parts of Ramses and David having adventures in the suks that was only hinted at. The book that left Nefret and Ramses hanging in mutual agony over misunderstandings was agony. I was so overjoyed at their happiness when they finally discovered each other. I am enjoying their marriage very much. The between the lines bits of marital life as their parents look on at a distance are great. In this book, the bit in which Ramses and Nefret are reunited in the harem and their mother reminds them as they totter off to bed there are peep holes she may not have found and covered up; and they had better just...sleep, was so apropos. When they finally have children, I will love that as much.

Yes, I miss David and Lia. But as Ms Peters has pointed out in answer to where they have been the past couple of books, she can only manipulate so many characters in one book without it spilling into thousands of pages.

This book, The Golden One, has the war intrigue, the murder ingrigue, the interworkings of characters from past books. In short, it has it all. I liked the minor characters, Lord Edward, Jumana and Jamil, and the pimp (I forget his name) pop up to become bigger characters in this book. I will not go into the ins and out of characters and plots the other reviewers have covered. I will close by saying, if you have not experienced Amelia Peabody and Elizabeth Peters, do yourself a favor and do so. Start with "Crocodile on the Sandbanks."

Few tales are as eagerly awaited as another in the addictive Amelia Peabody mystery series. After all, what other heroine is intrepid, tastefully dressed, and secretes a sword in her parasol - just in case.

When first introduced in the 1975 "Crocodile On The Sandbank," Amelia Peabody was a stalwart spinster who determined to use her hefty inheritance in pursuit of her overriding interest - Egyptology. It was 1884, yet she set out for Egypt where she was to be confronted with a number of perplexing circumstances.

With "The Golden One" it is 1917, and Amelia is married to Radcliffe, the most famous archeologist in Egypt. Ramses, their son is a chip off the old blocks; he is an investigator wed to Nefret, who is, of course, beautiful. Choosing to overlook German submarines lurking in the waters, this encourage sets out for Egypt.

Their plans for an anticipated excavation are interrupted with the appearance of Sethos, Radcliffe's ne'er-do-well brother. Matters are further complicated when they hear that royal tombs have been robbed, and a body is found.

Those who have read the Amelia Peabody series in the past will be thrilled with this latest adventure. Those who have not have a treat in store.

- Gail Cooke

Emerson and Amelia Peabody have a new archeological dig, Ramses is overjoyed with his wife, and Amelia's adoptive family continues to grow, but all is not well in World War I era Egypt. Tomb robbers have discovered an ancient temple and are sneaking artifacts out, and are willing to kill Emerson and Amelia to preserve their treasure. The British army has bogged down outside of Gaza and its intelligence community desperately wishes to get Ramese back in the fold. And somehow, Amelia has to manage all of this while hoping that she will soon become a grandmother. Naturally, Sethos--Emerson's half brother and something of a love interest for Amelia is back and in the midst of both tomb robbing and the war.

Author Elizabeth Peters has created a wonderful set of characters in the extended Emerson family. Emerson's bull-headedness, Ramses's honor, Sethos's deviousness and overcompensated inferiority complex, and Amelia's proper British manipulativeness all ring true and consistent through the novel and, indeed, through the series. THE GOLDEN ONE does not integrate World War I with the archeological elements of the story as well as some of the earlier novels in the series (perhaps because the Turks have been driven further from Egypt), but is otherwise a delightful adventure.

Readers new to this series may find Amelia's proper Britishisms somewhat off-putting but; for me at least, these have become familiar friends and amusing reminders of a time when the British really thought that they had a great moral lesson to share with the world. Peters certainly knows her Egypt and makes this great period of Archeology and Egyptology come to life.

This latest Amelia Peabody Emerson novel was more of an adventure book than it was a mystery novel. However, it was still an enjoyable read, even if it did follow along on predictable formulaic lines.

The Emersons and entourage have returned to Luxor for another season of 'digging,' where they learn that tomb thieves have been ransacking a newly excavated royal tomb. Of course Amelia, Emerson, Ramses and Nefret, immediately hunker down to discover who is behind these thefts and to put a stop to them, and discover that an enemy from a previous adventure ("The Lord of the Silent") may be involved in these felonious goings-on, and that he is bent on revenging himself against the Emersons... Halfway through this storyline however, the novel veers off into another direction, when officers from the British Military Intelligence ask Ramses to resume his espionage activities and to discover the fate of one of their operatives, Ismail Pasha (also known as Sethos, one time foe of Amelia's and Emerson's, and who also happens to be Emerson's half-brother), who seems to have disappeared. Normally, I'm not much of a fan of sudden plot departures that go really off tangent for no apparent reason. But I must say that I'm glad that Elizabeth Peters did introduce this subplot as it proved to be a highly entertaining one with some really humorous moments.

All in all, "The Golden One" was quite an entertaining read even if the storyline was not a very original one. It was nice to visit with the incredibly adventurous and eccentric Emersons again. And I liked that Jumana (a character from "Lord of the Silent") made an appearance again, even if she seems to have lost some of her edge and been reduced to hand wringing and light histrionics. (Perhaps her character will revert to type in the next Amelia Peabody adventure?) However, I would have to agree with the previous reviewer, Kathy Farrell, either borrow this book from the library or else wait for the paperback edition. Because while I DID ENJOY reading this book very much, there really is no earth-shatteringly compelling reason to go out and buy this expensive hardcover edition.

By the beginning of 1917, the Great War makes travel across the Mediterranean unsafe. Still, the archeologist Peabody-Emerson family journeys from England to Egypt to begin another season digging up ancient history. However, their arrival at Luxor is accompanied by the word that thieves attacked a royal tomb with one of the criminals left behind dead.

Before the matriarch Amelia Peabody Emerson can fully investigate the crime as she always does, British intelligence draft her son Ramses to work for them. They need Ramses to ascertain whether Ismail Pasha, an individual quickly rising to power in Gaza, is really Sethos his brother and a criminal. Unable to resist, the Peabody brood follows Ramses on his trek to keep him safe and to learn first hand if Sethos has surfaced.

Fans of this series will enjoy this mixing of a World War I espionage tale with a who-done-it. However, historical mystery readers will feel disappointed as the intel mission intrudes on the investigation, which is left dangling while completing the espionage assignment before the family returns to solve the murder. This leaves the audience with two distinct story lines that never merge and a feeling of a novella inset inside a historical amateur sleuth mystery. Elizabeth Peters provides a wonderful look into Egyptology during the encroachment of World War I that along with the fourteenth return of the clan will delight series fans.

Harriet Klausner

Amelia Peabody relates another thrilling adventure (with occasional entries by her son, Ramses) that starts when the war affects their beloved Egypt. Ramses is recruited as a spy by the British and Amelia and Radcliff cannot let their son face danger alone so the whole family gets in on the act. This is a great story from Ms. Peters from one of the few authors whose work I automatically buy in hardback. Elizabeth Peters has a PhD in Egyptology and her main character Amelia is based on a combination of several Victorian women explorers/archeologists. Every time I read one of these books I have to dig up one of the real Amelia's books (Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards) about Egypt to reread. The similarity in writing style and voice is uncanny. This series is best if you start with the first in the series, Crocodile On The Sandbank.

I am such a huge fan of this series and I was bitterly disappointed by "The Lord of the Silent", but that could just have been that the whole Ramses and Nefret thing was solved as was the tension and the book seemed pale in comparison to 4 previous ones. However, Peters has come back in top form with a story that combines her classic Egyptian mystery as well as military intrigue. The story occurs the in 1917, which means thankfully WWI will be over soon, and involves every reader's favorite characters. We also get the dead body, ruined shirts, and dry humor throughout. A joy to read even if Nefret's "secret" is very obvious. Also a gold star for Elizabeth Peters for using the word "penultimate".

Contrary to the image projected by some other reviews, this book is a wonderful entry in E.Peters' long-running series. And the books just keep getting better and better!

The plot is taut and tense, and the narrow escapes hair raising. The archaeological background is good and intriguing. The characters are fully realized. The already-large Emerson clan continues to grow! The yarn keeps turning!

This book will have the greatest impact on those already deeply immersed in Elizabeth Peters' series. But then, that seems like a very good place to be immersed!

I get impatient each year for the new volume. I hope Ms. Peters (and I, of course) live forever. I can hardly wait for the year of King Tut's tomb!

In short, you have just got to read this book!

I was thrilled when I discovered that there was a new Amelia Peabody available, and wasn't disappointed in the slightest.

Reading The Golden One was like visiting a group of old friends, and the Emerson family is just as intelligent, zany, and enjoyable as ever.

Some have taken exception to the two distinct storylines, but I thought they gave us a fine chance to see a large cast of characters interact, and didn't find it disconcerting (in fact, the only way I was able to put the book down was to pause at before the second and third sections.

Ms. Peters was in top form writing this novel, and I have grown to love Ramses (when he was young and loquacious, I found him trying) and particularly enjoy the narrative he and Nefret give...a nice contrast to Amelia's decidedly opinionated point of view.

The archaeological portions were, as usual, very interesting, though one is forced to wonder why Howard Carter was so put upon in this installment.

I don't regret spending the money for the hardcover, I have found that the Amelia Peabody series is one of the few that I can re-read over and over and still recapture the enjoyment of the first time through. And I got the signed first edition!