The Jackals Head

Rating:
Summary: Thanks to Ms. Peters, I have this desire to visit Egypt.
Review: A truly fantastic book, full of suspense and wit. Tommy is one Peters' toughest heroines yet. She is not the stereotypical wimpering female who sits and waits for impending doom. She is stubborn and clever enough to find her way out of precarious situations (like being trapped in a tomb). The thing about Elizabeth Peters' novels that leaves me hungry for more is her technique of weaving historical fact into her stories. I always close one of her books feeling a satisfying feeling of having gained knowledge.

Rating:
Summary: Before Peters hit her stride
Review: I didn't realize when I bought this book that it was first published back in 1968. I'm not a Peters expert, but this must be one of her very early works, before she honed her craft. It is short and would be even shorter if it didn't fall back on annoying misunderstandings among the characters to maintain the tension. I didn't find the characters to be appealing, and the book lacks the wit and verve of her later works. Personally, I don't think this measures up to the Peabody books, although I notice several other reviewers differ. What can I say? I'm right and they're wrong, naturally.

Rating:
Summary: Full of excitement and suspense
Review: The Jackal's Head is an extremely entertaining mystery set in Egypt. I read this right after I finished The Ape Who Guards the Balance, the latest in the Amelia Peabody series; The Jackal's Head has some of the same settings, and it's interesting to see what these places looked like 60 years later. (This book was published in 1968; the newest Amelia takes place in 1907.)

In "The Jackal's Head", the heroine, Althea "Tommy" Tomlinson, returns to Egypt after ten years to learn the secret behind her father's death. The mystery is tied to what may be one of the greatest archaeological discoveries ever. But I don't want to give too much away!

Readers who enjoyed this book might want to go on and read Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series. I completely disagree with the reviewer who said this series was formulaic and boring. As much as I enjoyed The Jackal's Head, I love the Amelia series even more.