Customer Reviews

A Path of Shadows

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2 star:		(4)
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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.

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.

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.

I really enjoy the series set in Ancient Egypt. I think this is one of the better titles in the Series.

I have read all of Laren Haney's Lieutenant Bak novels. I can honestly say I have enjoyed every one of them, including this one. For anyone interested in Ancient Egypt they are a must have. If you also like a good 'detective' story then they are a double bonus. The settings and stories are very believable as are the characters who are aslo very likeable - our hero, Lieutenant Bak and his Medjays anyway! One of the best things I like about them is that the stories are about mostly ordinary people - unlike many other writers who feel it essential that the their novels have to be about some exalted nobel or king or queen to be interesting to the public. That's one of the reasons these novels are so good - and it certainly helps that they are also good stories in addition. As for this particular novel it keeps up to the standard of the previous ones. Bak finds himself sent into the Eastern desert searching for the son of one of his superiors freinds. Naturally he is accompanied by an odd and interesting bunch of fellow travellers - not to mention the nomads that live in the desert -any of whom could know of the sons fate.

I have read all of Laren Haney's Lieutenant Bak novels. I can honestly say I have enjoyed every one of them, including this one. For anyone interested in Ancient Egypt they are a must have. If you also like a good 'detective' story then they are a double bonus. The settings and stories are very believable as are the characters who are aslo very likeable - our hero, Lieutenant Bak and his Medjays anyway! One of the best things I like about them is that the stories are about mostly ordinary people - unlike many other writers who feel it essential that the their novels have to be about some exalted nobel or king or queen to be interesting to the public. That's one of the reasons these novels are so good - and it certainly helps that they are also good stories in addition. As for this particular novel it keeps up to the standard of the previous ones. Bak finds himself sent into the Eastern desert searching for the son of one of his superiors freinds. Naturally he is accompanied by an odd and interesting bunch of fellow travellers - not to mention the nomads that live in the desert -any of whom could know of the sons fate.

I enjoy archeological and anthropological mysteries, so when I found this series, I thought it would be right up my alley.

In some ways, it is. However, Doherty's Egyptian books are much better, mainly because they give us the setting and environment of the stories without overkill. I get really tired of all the detail in Ms. Haney's novels, and it's always the same.

Additionally, although I know the old world really didn't have a lot of names, Ms. Haney uses the same name over and over again, but for different characters. This tends to be quite confusing at times. Surely there were enough ancient Egyptian names that it isn't necessary to call a soldier one name in one book, and a priest by the same name in another.

I keep trying but cannot get interested in the stories by this author. They seem to drag out with her style of "he said/she said" writing with nothing exciting, except perhaps one part in this book. The story begins as the famous Lt. Bak is asked by his commander Thuty to investigate the disappearance of an explorer named Minnakht. His guide, Senna tells Bak of the disappearance and attraction to turquoise mines near the sea. The land is hostile and murder and death come as Lt. Bak questions each man over and over. The ending was not exciting or unexpected. Lt. Bak's constant referrals to the donkeys (we know how he is sympathetic to animals, this big strong medjay!! I had to make myself sit and finish it.