The Pharaoh Key by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
Grand Central Publishing: 6/22/18
eBook review copy; 320 pages
ISBN-13:
9781455525829
Gideon Crew Series #5
The Pharaoh Key by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child is a highly recommended final novel and fitting ending (?) to the Gideon Crew series.
Gideon Crew has a brain arteriovenous malformation or
AVM, and has about two months left to live, however, he will remain
strong and mobile right until the end so the doctor's advice is for him
to live every minute the best way he can. He and his engineer colleague
Manuel Garza have also discovered, after not being paid for months and
no word of warning from their employer Eli Glinn that they no longer
have a job with Effective Engineering Solutions, EES. Garza calls Crew
telling him that they have a few hours to clear their belongings out of
the office.
While gathering what they can, they discover that a code-breaking
computer at EES, after working on it for almost five years, has cracked
the code found on the centuries-old stone tablet, the Phaistos
Disc. With some sleight of hand, the two smuggle out a copy of the
findings on a flash drive. The two work on deciphering the data and
agree to split the treasure they expect to find. Their destination is
the remote and forbidden zone of the Hala’ib Triangle in southeastern
Egypt. The treasure hunt involves one mishap and disaster after another,
but still Crew and Garza keep pressing on to the remote location.
The Pharaoh Key is a fast paced, enjoyable action/adventure novel
that involves more than one unexpected twist. Although reading the
previous novels will give you additional background information and
character development, I think you can enjoy this one as a stand-alone
for the sheer value of the escapism and adventure it will provide. Are
there some unanswered questions? Sure. Lucky coincidences? Yup.
Miraculous escapes? Uh huh. But is it a page-turner? Oh, yes! Adding to
the action, Preston and Child manage to keep the tone light and even
evoke a few laughs while providing an entertaining adventure, which, in
the end is worthy of at least 4 out of 5 stars (and only rated in
comparison against their other novels). Preston and Child know how to
write well-paced entertaining story and that was certainly the case
here. I enjoyed reading The Pharaoh Key
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Grand Central Publishing
via Netgalley.
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