Rating:  Summary: The Emerson's are back! Review: I was thrilled when I discovered that there was a new Amelia Peabody available, and wasn't disappointed in the slightest. Reading The Golden One was like visiting a group of old friends, and the Emerson family is just as intelligent, zany, and enjoyable as ever. Some have taken exception to the two distinct storylines, but I thought they gave us a fine chance to see a large cast of characters interact, and didn't find it disconcerting (in fact, the only way I was able to put the book down was to pause at before the second and third sections. Ms. Peters was in top form writing this novel, and I have grown to love Ramses (when he was young and loquacious, I found him trying) and particularly enjoy the narrative he and Nefret give...a nice contrast to Amelia's decidedly opinionated point of view. The archaeological portions were, as usual, very interesting, though one is forced to wonder why Howard Carter was so put upon in this installment. I don't regret spending the money for the hardcover, I have found that the Amelia Peabody series is one of the few that I can re-read over and over and still recapture the enjoyment of the first time through. And I got the signed first edition!
Rating:  Summary: Really Golden Book Review: I read the other reviews saying the plot wandered or Ms Peters doesn't know what to do with WWI. So not true. The people who said the series got stale after Ramses and Nefret got married are also off the beam. I have enjoyed equally the different nuances the series has taken at all junctions. I loved Ramses when he was a tiny boy. The descriptions of him in his little nightshirt with toes peeking out lisping were hysterical. The description of him dumping a smelly old bone onto the lap of a snobby woman Amelia wanted to get rid of were a riot. The descriptions of Ramses as he got older lecturing ponderously as his mother would interrupt him were great. I loved it when Ramses, Nefret and David got older and got their own lives. The parts where Ramses was in complete shambles because Nefret had touched him, or made an innocent remark but his family could not see his agony were great. I enjoyed the between the lines parts of Ramses and David having adventures in the suks that was only hinted at. The book that left Nefret and Ramses hanging in mutual agony over misunderstandings was agony. I was so overjoyed at their happiness when they finally discovered each other. I am enjoying their marriage very much. The between the lines bits of marital life as their parents look on at a distance are great. In this book, the bit in which Ramses and Nefret are reunited in the harem and their mother reminds them as they totter off to bed there are peep holes she may not have found and covered up; and they had better just...sleep, was so apropos. When they finally have children, I will love that as much. Yes, I miss David and Lia. But as Ms Peters has pointed out in answer to where they have been the past couple of books, she can only manipulate so many characters in one book without it spilling into thousands of pages. This book, The Golden One, has the war intrigue, the murder ingrigue, the interworkings of characters from past books. In short, it has it all. I liked the minor characters, Lord Edward, Jumana and Jamil, and the pimp (I forget his name) pop up to become bigger characters in this book. I will not go into the ins and out of characters and plots the other reviewers have covered. I will close by saying, if you have not experienced Amelia Peabody and Elizabeth Peters, do yourself a favor and do so. Start with "Crocodile on the Sandbanks."
Rating:  Summary: A little slow in parts but good Review: I am a longtime fan of Ms. Peters, and I always enjoy any new Amelia Peabody mystery. Having said that, I found it entertaining. I didn't like the whole site switching thing. I see why they did it though. I continue to enjoy all the chaos that always surrounds them. I'm delighted that Amelia gets to be a gramdmother (again) I look forward to the next installment. Hands up for everyone who thought Maryam (Molly) would come after the Emersons for her mothers death. The book is certainly worth reading and for the most part well written.
Rating:  Summary: Peters Spins Gold Review: For those who worried that there was no where for the Amelia Peabody storyline to go after Ramses and Nefret married or that the elder Emersons would be phased out for the younger generation...Don't Worry! The Golden One is Peters at her best with interwoven storylines, multiple villians and all of the Emersons thouroughly engaged in the highjinks! With the very satisfying clues dropped at the end of the book hinting at future escapades, I can't wait for the next one!
Rating:  Summary: Wow and Wow again! Review: I am astounded by this book! The Golden One is full of supprises and adventrues. TGO is a wonderful blend of old characters and new. The book is genius and I completely commend Peters. The Emerson's are at it again, murders and hidden tombs tempt all of them while secrets are being discovered. But in the middle of the season, wartime calls and the family is split. They might make it, but may be not? Find out!
Rating:  Summary: Two Books in one Review: I really enjoyed all of the "Amelia" stories, however, I felt as if this was two storylines stuffed into one book - the missing tomb and the adventures in Gaza. It would have been much more fun to have two books written; one on each topic instead of two unrelated storylines. Having said that, it was still a good read and I loved the development of Sethos and his daughter. Can't wait for the next one to come out.
Rating:  Summary: enjoyable even if plot is somewhat predictable Review: This latest Amelia Peabody Emerson novel was more of an adventure book than it was a mystery novel. However, it was still an enjoyable read, even if it did follow along on predictable formulaic lines. The Emersons and entourage have returned to Luxor for another season of 'digging,' where they learn that tomb thieves have been ransacking a newly excavated royal tomb. Of course Amelia, Emerson, Ramses and Nefret, immediately hunker down to discover who is behind these thefts and to put a stop to them, and discover that an enemy from a previous adventure ("The Lord of the Silent") may be involved in these felonious goings-on, and that he is bent on revenging himself against the Emersons... Halfway through this storyline however, the novel veers off into another direction, when officers from the British Military Intelligence ask Ramses to resume his espionage activities and to discover the fate of one of their operatives, Ismail Pasha (also known as Sethos, one time foe of Amelia's and Emerson's, and who also happens to be Emerson's half-brother), who seems to have disappeared. Normally, I'm not much of a fan of sudden plot departures that go really off tangent for no apparent reason. But I must say that I'm glad that Elizabeth Peters did introduce this subplot as it proved to be a highly entertaining one with some really humorous moments. All in all, "The Golden One" was quite an entertaining read even if the storyline was not a very original one. It was nice to visit with the incredibly adventurous and eccentric Emersons again. And I liked that Jumana (a character from "Lord of the Silent") made an appearance again, even if she seems to have lost some of her edge and been reduced to hand wringing and light histrionics. (Perhaps her character will revert to type in the next Amelia Peabody adventure?) However, I would have to agree with the previous reviewer, Kathy Farrell, either borrow this book from the library or else wait for the paperback edition. Because while I DID ENJOY reading this book very much, there really is no earth-shatteringly compelling reason to go out and buy this expensive hardcover edition.
Rating:  Summary: Enjoyable Amelia Peabody Emerson entry Review: By the beginning of 1917, the Great War makes travel across the Mediterranean unsafe. Still, the archeologist Peabody-Emerson family journeys from England to Egypt to begin another season digging up ancient history. However, their arrival at Luxor is accompanied by the word that thieves attacked a royal tomb with one of the criminals left behind dead. Before the matriarch Amelia Peabody Emerson can fully investigate the crime as she always does, British intelligence draft her son Ramses to work for them. They need Ramses to ascertain whether Ismail Pasha, an individual quickly rising to power in Gaza, is really Sethos his brother and a criminal. Unable to resist, the Peabody brood follows Ramses on his trek to keep him safe and to learn first hand if Sethos has surfaced. Fans of this series will enjoy this mixing of a World War I espionage tale with a who-done-it. However, historical mystery readers will feel disappointed as the intel mission intrudes on the investigation, which is left dangling while completing the espionage assignment before the family returns to solve the murder. This leaves the audience with two distinct story lines that never merge and a feeling of a novella inset inside a historical amateur sleuth mystery. Elizabeth Peters provides a wonderful look into Egyptology during the encroachment of World War I that along with the fourteenth return of the clan will delight series fans. Harriet Klausner
Rating:  Summary: At last Review: Well, I got it and finished it. It was pretty good but I was thrown off at the beginning with Emerson calling his wife 'sweetheat' and 'my love' before we even got three pages into the book. (It just bugged me for the rest of the story) But I loved it. I was glad to see Sethos back and prowling where and when he shouldn't be and Peters left the book with such a cliffhanger that I find that I'll have a VERY hard time waiting for the next book.
Rating:  Summary: A Wonderful Read Review: I very much enjoy the entire Amelia Peabody series, and this is a fine addition. There are very few mysteries whose characters have much depth or history, which I appreciate, so I espcially enjoy the length of this series (14 so far). The 30 years of the Peabody /Emmerson adventures have kept me highly entertained. Ms. Peters is one of the few mystery authors who allows her charecters to develop significant relationships, and then builds those charecters into the story (so tierd of the cynical loner types)! Amliea & co. continue to deal with archeological, world and family events which are both suspensful and amusing. The plot wanders a little, but that just gave me more to read. If you haven't read the whole series, you should. Enjoy!
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