Customer Reviews

Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Sphinx

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

When I got this book, I was very excited. I'd been waiting for it for what seemed like forever. I own every book in the series, and was on pins and needles waiting to read it. I was devastated, well, maybe not devastated. I was upset to find out that the publisher had decided not to continue the series.

In this book, McCoy takes us to Egypt where Indy searches for the Book of Life, the mythical book spoken of in the bible that lists every person who ever has, and ever will live. It tells how, where and when they die, etc. Imagine how this could be used for evil! Indy does it again, and does so in smashing Indy style!

Read through the entire series and have been disappointed that this was the final volume in the series. Perhaps with the much anticipated Indy IV movie in the works, we can get some more novels.

These books are a lot of fun and breezy Summer reads. Recommended!

Indiana Jones, an archeology professor at the London University, has a fascination for ancient artifacts and finding them. In this heart-thumping page-turner Indy finds himself plunging into another dangerous adventure.
Jones, a magician, and her assistant join Jones after certain circumstances. The team begins to look for the all-powerful Omega book. The book can control his fate and the fate of the entire world!
Unfortunately, on their tail is a vengeance-crazed Japanese spymaster. Though, they aren't the only things in their path to the Omega book. Lepers, hurricanes, the Yezidi people, and the crazy Japanese will or will not stop the fearsome trio. Will the Japanese get him first or will Indy and his companions stop the Omega book from fall into the wrong hands? The only way to find out is to read Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Sphinx.
My favorite part is when the author, Max McCoy, describes the single tear rolling down the magicians face. It's just the power and description of that moment and what's happening around her before and after the moment occurs.
I love this book and I think you will too! You can't put it down after you pick it up. It's full of nonstop action, adventure, and amazing detail. Once you read this book you'll want to read it again and again!

After reading all of the Indiana Jones books by Max McCoy, I can only think of one word to describe them: awesome. The way that he writes the stories is almost similar in fashion to Rob MacGregor in the sense that they both capture the personality and character of Indiana Jones. It's almost as if you can hear Harrison Ford speaking in the dialog. Max also makes use of a constant element throughout all 4 of the Indiana Jones books which makes for an even more exciting read. In doing so, you see the progression of Indy's character throughout all 4 books and as such, I recommend reading the books in order.

This is te first bok I've read by Max McCoy. I didn't even realize it was a part of a series (other than being an Indiana Jones bok, obviously) until he was talking about his old girlfriend and I realized this was supposed to be familiar ground to the reader. Undaunted, I soared ahead, enthralled by the adventure. I enjoyed the bok up until the last twenty or so pages, when it becomes glaringly necessary to have followed McCoy's series in order to appreciate what's going on. I wouldn't have minded this, had the cover said something like "Fouth Installment in this Series" or something. Then, that time-travel thing came out of left field. I hope the earlier boks in the series give some sort of justification for that, although from reading the reviews here, it seems doubtful. That's why this bok didn't get 5 stars from me. Other than that, the bok is great. The pacing, dialogue, flavor, action, and scenes/locations are right out of an Indy movie. So far, only other book by McCoy I have is "Philosopher's Stone." Sounds like I ned to pick up a couple more before reading any further...

Smashing finale to Max McCoy's tenure as resident Indiana Jones storyteller ! A great adventure---couldnt help thinking it would have been a TERRIFIC movie. McCoy SAVED this series over the last 4 books-- HE had the dialogue for Indy down pat -I kept hearing Harrison Ford in every word. Well done Max, well done !

While I must say that Max McCoy is my favorite of the Indiana Jones authors, and I'm sorry that this is his last book, Secret of the Sphinx had a couple of odd moments in it. There are veiled references to Indy looking older than he should and cryptic comments about past events that we don't seem to be privy to. Most disapointing is the total lack of explanation as to why they went to Egypt... a vital bit, considering the title. I've heard McCoy had "creative differences" with Bantam on this book... something to do with time travel. It makes me wonder if they've clipped passages from the book.

This is the last of a series of books written after Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and leading up to the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

In order to make sense of these series of books, you need to read them in order. As near as I can make out, this is the order of the books:

Indiana Jones and the Peril at Delphi (Indiana Jones, No. 1)

Indiana Jones and the Dance of the Giants (Indiana Jones)

Indiana Jones and the Seven Veils (A Bantam Falcon Book)

Indiana Jones and the Genesis Deluge (A Bantam Falcon Book)

Indiana Jones and the Unicorn's Legacy (Falcon)

Indiana Jones and the Interior World (A Bantam Falcon Book)

Indiana Jones and the Sky Pirates (Indiana Jones)

Indiana Jones and the White Witch

Indiana Jones and the Philosopher's Stone (Indiana Jones)

Indiana Jones and the Dinosaur Eggs (Indiana Jones)

Indiana Jones and the Hollow Earth (Indiana Jones)

All of these books are available from Amazon - many being reprinted to take advantage of the May 22nd release of Indy 4.

The last 10 to 15 pages of my 1999 paperback edition are an afterword of short chapters from author Max McCoy discussing whether or not magic is real, the Staff of Aaron actually existed, and why he placed the final chapter in the Sphinx. In between he discusses the Omega Book, apparently the original title of this tome. On page 193 he states, "The title of MY BOOK comes from the last character of the Greek alphabet." I use capital letters since Amazon doesn't have a way for me to use italics.

This book has much to recommend it to the Indy fan. There's a lot of action, predictable dialogue and a strong female and teen character.

That said, it can be a little disjointed in parts. The setting jumps from China to Calcutta to Egypt in rapid succession. Since one of the characters is a teenager, (the significantly named "Mystery Maskelyne") you know that she's going to be bright, agile, and gifted with total insight - more than her mother and a professor of anthropology. It left me with an eye-rolling "are you kidding me" feeling as she revealed clue after clue that our intrepid Dr. Jones failed to see.

***WARNING: Spoilers ahead. If you haven't read the book - stop now! ***

The strong female in our tale is Faye Maskelyne, who manages to discern the secrets of Aaron's Staff and bring down the plagues of Egypt on the villains, including frogs, flaming hail, and a rain of blood. After dispatching with Indy's adversaries she simply discards this token of ultimate power and walks away. Indy and Sallah agree to keep this a secret, assuming, against all reason, that no one will discover the staff and find a way to misuse it.

Chapter 12 is entitled "The Crystal Skull" and refers to plot lines in earlier books in the series, "Indiana Jones and the Philosopher's Stone" and "Indiana Jones and the Dinosaur Eggs."

Setting all that aside, this is a great book for fans of the Indiana Jones series. It has evil villains, virtuous characters and the ever enduring character of Indiana Jones.

I hope that there will be a similar series of books to sustain us through the long years following the release of the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Egypt has the subject of much study and writings, fictional and fact. Its magic is well studied and known. Max McCoy has taken Indiana Jones as I regard him, a seasoned traveller and explorer, not the lesser light of his youth, and lets him know and do things but as an older man. He has his likes and dislikes, and takes them out on some Japanese. The Japanese at first are the stronger but tables are turned and Sokai, Musashi and some common soldiers chase Indy but two women, Faye and Mysti Maskeiyne help him evade capture. Now the chase is on but Indy acts as though unknowing of it, no one is after him.
Indy uses his contacts to reach India, gets arrested, breaks free and heads to Iraq. He is the leader, Faye and Mysti tag along in search of Faye's husband. The rod of Aaron appears, Faye uses it and they gain an ally and search for the book of Life. The search takes place in Egypt, in the valley of Giza and the sphinx. A secret passage is found, Sokai and Musashi appear again and take the group captive, then magic takes over and people begin to die. Sokai, who has been blinded earlier and blames Indy for it, is the first to go, then Murashi and the story goes on with Indy doing a job he should have done earlier and thus ends the book. All loose ends are tied up satisfactorily and we are ready for the next book. It is easily readable, would make a good movie if all the subplots are ignored and it is simplified to normal movie length. But reading the book works well, Indiana Jones knows what he is doing.

In the final title in Bantam's popular Indiana Jones series, Indy travels to China, India, Egypt, and places beyond. The novel has a typical prologue sequence that has very little to do with the real story except to get Indy into danger and illustrate how brave he is. The main objects that Indy seeks in THE SECRET OF THE SPHINX are the Omega Book (aka Book of Life) and the Staff of Aaron. Indy's joined on this adventure by Faye Maskelyne and her teenage daughter, Mystery, a traveling pair of magicians traveling around the globe searching for Faye's missing husband. Eventually, the meet up with Sallah in Cairo and discover a secret chamber in the Great Sphinx. Of course, this wouldn't be an Indiana Jones story without bad guys chasing Indy and the main bad guys in this tale are the Imperial Japanese who chase Indy and crew from one continent to the next.

Not only is this the last of the Bantam series of Indiana Jones books, but it's also the concluding part of the multi-book sequence concerning a crystal skull. In the last chapter of the book, Indy returns to the temple in South America where INDIANA JONES AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE began and returns the crystal skull.

I enjoyed reading INDIANA JONES AND THE SECRET OF THE SPHINX. Of the four Indiana Jones novels by Max McCoy (those are the only Indy novels I've read so far), this was my second favorite, behind INDIANA JONES AND THE DINOSAUR EGGS. The story has a great action sequence near the beginning with Indy escaping from a Japanese prison, but it kind of goes downhill after that. It's pretty much a rehash of things that have happened before, except elements have been changed around, e.g. Japanese instead of Nazis as villains, the Staff of Aaron instead of the Ark of the Covenant, etc. I realize that in a serial action story like Indiana Jones, there's going to be a bit of repetitiveness. However, things fall on the side of too much we've seen before instead of the side of originality. Also, though I'm glad to see the conclusion of the crystal skull subplot, I felt that the conclusion was a bit too mystical. Kudos to having Marcus Brody and Sallah involved in the plot, though Sallah feels more like a gag instead of a character.

Indiana Jones fans will probably enjoy the story (I did-even though I was taken back by the magic stuff a bit) as well as casual readers who enjoy action stories.