A Path of Shadows [Mass Market Paperback]

Lauren Haney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2003

The Gods blessed Lieutenant Bak, head of the Medjay police, with a rare brilliance -- which is why he is the one to whom his commander turns in a time of need. The explorer Minnakht has vanished into the vast and merciless Egyptian desert -- or perhaps has strayed perilously close to Queen Maatkare Hatshepsut’s well-guarded turquoise mines -- and before Bak sails north on a new assignment he is to seek out the missing man. But evil is traveling with him and his Medjays in the caravan they accompany eastward. Someone -- or something -- is responsible for the strange rash of deaths that is rapidly thinning the numbers of their fellow travelers. A straightforward search for a missing adventurer becomes a twisted knot of treachery and blood -- one that threatens to strangle the life from Bak and his men and leave them buried for all eternity beneath the blistering sands.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lauren Haney, a former technical editor in the aerospace and international construction industries, is the author of four ancient Egyptian mysteries featuring Lieutenant Bak: The Right Hand of Amon, A Face Turned Backward, A Vile Justice, and A Curse of Silence. She lives in Sante Fe, New Mexico, and travels to Egypt at every opportunity.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Avon; First Edition edition (September 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060521902
• ISBN-13: 978-0060521905
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #885,592 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an exciting and suspensful read, October 11, 2003

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Path of Shadows (Mass Market Paperback)

Another exciting installment in the Lieutenant Bak of the Medjay police mystery novels. And like previous mysteries in this series, "A Path of Shadows" is intriguing, suspenseful and clever.

Lieutenant Bak and his unit are getting ready to leave Waset in order to take up their posts at Mennufer when Bak's commander, Commandant Thuty, asks Bak to take on an investigation into the disappearance of an explorer, Minnakht. Minnakht is the son of Commandant Inebny, the ranking officer at the garrison at Waset, and a friend of Thuty's; and when Minnakht fails to return from his latest trip across the Eastern Desert, his father is naturally quite anxious. According to Minnakht's guide, Senna, Minnakht vanished in the desert somewhere between Kaine and the turquoise mines on the far side of the sea. Apparently Senna had become ill during the trip and Minnakht had decided to proceed without him; but both had agreed to meet at a specific spot later. And when Minnakht failed to make the rendezvous, Senna tried to retrace Minnakht's trail, hoping to find him. But to no avail. Now, both Thuty and Inebny want Bak to make that same fateful trip that Minnakht had across the desert in order to discover what has happened to the young man. Bak on the other hand is quite horrified at the thought of setting out into so hostile a land. But he is curious to discover what became of Minnakht, especially when rumours that Minnakht was looking for gold begin to surface. As Bak, Senna and a few other Medjay officers make their way across the desert, it soon dawns on Bak that the stark and harsh desert is the least of their worries, for someone seems to be keeping an eye on them; and when murder raises its ugly head, Bak cannot help but wonder if there is more to the disappearance of Minnakht than meets the eye...

I absolutely love this series. Lauren Haney does a wonderful job of bringing the Egypt of Lieutenant Bak with all it's noise and colour to life. Perfectly depicted also is the prejudice that of the city dwellers had for the nomads of the desert. As for the mystery in this particular installment, it was clever, intriguing and so carefully paced that the level of suspense became more and more heightened as the book progressed. The Lieutenant Bak mysteries is one of my favourite's -- actually it probably is my favourite. The mysteries are always carefully and meticulously plotted, the historical details are brilliant, and the plots are always clever and suspenseful. And "A Path of Shadows" proved to be no exception to this rule.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not up to par with prior entries in the series, February 28, 2004

By 

Susie L. Mclean (Tucker, GA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Path of Shadows (Mass Market Paperback)

I've admired Haney's Lieutenant Bak stories, but have to admit that this one just doesn't live up to her best. Bak strikes out on an interminable trek in the desert to find the son of big-wig. By the time the mystery is solved, you feel like you've spent WAY too much time in the desert yourself. The solution is not particularly satisfying.

I'm hoping that when Bak moves north for his new assignment, the series will regain its spirit.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars a path of shadows, October 15, 2003

By 

L. Schofield - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Path of Shadows (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm glad a previous reviewer enjoyed this book and the previous one, but I did not. I too am a great fan of this series, but the last two books seemed flat to me--not very engaging. I certainly will continue to read Haney's books about Lieutenant Bak because when they are good(which they usually are) they are very very good.