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Summary: He Shall Thunder In The Sky: An Amelia Peabody Mystery
Review: Elizabeth Peters and Amelia Peabody (Emerson) have done it again! A fantastic story, well told; full of drama, suspense, adventure, romance, and action. I received my copy and couldn't put it down until it was finished. I laughed and cried, gritted my teeth in anger and frustration when the family's plans were thwarted. Silently cheered as they finally won out and saved the day. The hardest thing was not to turn to the back of the book to read the ending first! The characters of Amelia, Emerson, Ramses, Nefret, David, and their extended household are always so real and vastly entertaining. I grieve that they are only fictional and I will never be able to meet them for real,(because they certainly have become that way to me). The settings in Egypt are clearly described and produce a vivid picture. The history and attitudes of the times are also well laid out, and you can feel the strain the characters are going through. This is by far and away Ms. Peters best Amelia Peabody Mystery yet! Keep up the GREAT WORK!
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Summary: Smashing, my dear Peabody!
Review: This is one of the most satisfying books I have ever read. The whole Emerson family both in England and Egypt are dear friends and what better way to close out an era than in the smashing conclusion of Thunder. The book was filled with the usual humor and adventure but the surprising turn of events was the best. It is as if Peters has decided that it is time to face new challenges so the Master Criminal was finally unmasked and dispatched...all in a very satisfying manner. She has in place a wonderful cast of young people to take her into this new post World War I excitement. Thankfully, Amelia and Emerson are still available to join in the fun. So, get your parasol ready, dear Peabody, your fans are waiting!
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Summary: Amazing
Review: I think I've fallen in love with Ramses, a main character in this series. This book is so good!
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Summary: Peters has outdone herself (No Spoilers)
Review: As a faithful reader for some 10+ years now, I was a little disappointed with the previous Peabody book (A Falcon at the Portal). In fact, I nearly threw it out of the car, in which I was reading, at several points in the story. The joy I feel after finishing this book is 100 times greater than any problem I had with the last book. I am deeply indepted to Elizabeth Peters for creating characters that provoke such strong emotions. This book delivers the all wit, adventure, and plot twists I have come to expect from an Amelia Peabody mystery and more. While this is a wonderful book, if you don't read the rest of the series first you will not enjoy it one tenth as much as you could. Start with Crocodile on the Sandbank and don't stop until you've finished this one. You won't regret a minute of it.
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Summary: Best so far! Juicy!!!
Review: I couldn't put it down. Couldn't wait for the end and never wanted it to end at the same time. Ties up loose ends from previous books in the series. Can't wait for the next one.
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Summary: Don't Start Here(or stop!!)
Review: This is just one in a series of wonderful books by Elizabeth Peters about Amelia Peabody, her husband Emerson and her family.
But don't start reading the series here if you are the type of person who likes to read things in order! Start with _Crocodile on the Sandbank_ which is the first book where she meets Emerson and marries him. If you don't care about reading them in order, then this is an excellent book, so get started! I got the first one out of my public library and fell in love with the series and now own many of them. Elizabeth Peters also writes about other topics/characters and I highly recommend all of her books. The Peabody series is her most involved and if you are at all interested in mysteries and Egyptology, these are the books for you!
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Summary: Best in the series!
Review: This book is one of my supreme favorites! It was great, and I totally recomend it for any fan of the series. Still, if you're not up to speed, don't bother until you read some of the others in the series. Otherwise, it's a great read. Enjoy!
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Summary: Fantastic!
Review: There are three or four series that I especially love and this is one of them, perhaps the #1. Elizabeth Peters has created, over the years, characters that are so 3-dimensional that they become almost real in the reader's mind. In this particular episode, WW I has begun and its affects are being felt in Egypt as with most other parts of the world. I found this book particularly impelling because of the way in which Ms. Peters treats subject of the war - showing the affects without actually taking the reader into the battlefields. The premise of the book is that Ramses is a coward, refusing to fight; that misconception is soon righted for Amelia, Emerson, etc. although they never believe that he is a coward, anyway. The book moves along at the usual Peters-pace and the ending is fantastic. Have already purchased the next book in the series and look forward to many more exploits with these characters who have almost become friends to me.
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Summary: The best Amelia mystery yet
Review: This novel is by far my favorite of the Peabody novels - but you CANNOT read it first if you are new to the series. Read at least the three previous installments first! Please! This engrossing mystery serves as the culmination of a four-book saga within the larger Amelia series. In addition to the usual archaeology and criminal mayhem, we have some espionage thrown in as the world enters the Great War. Amelia and family are, of course, in the thick of things. By the end of the book comes the resolution of a certain plot that has been stewing for several books now - and the family experiences some surprising revelations as well. Peters has outdone herself with this novel. Descriptions of Egypt are as colorful, and her characters as lovable, as ever. But in this book Ramses, Peters' best character, truly comes into his own. For the first time the action really focuses on him rather than Amelia, and we see inside his head more than ever before. This book is a must-read for fans of mysteries, historical fiction, or romances. So pretty much everybody!
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Summary: The hagiography of Ramses . . .
Review: What are this book's good points? Well, it's fat (if you like that kind of thing), densely written, atmospheric in its setting, and full of intrigue. There is more time with your favourite characters, if you're a fan of the series, and some amusing moments. There are also many loose ends tied up, and some astonishing revelations about the villains of the piece.
What are this book's bad points? Sometimes it is unclear whether it is supposed to be a romp or deadly serious, fun or high art. Archaeological digging and mystery is kept to a minimum, and Amelia and Emerson do not get much of a role. The focus is squarely upon the boring Ramses and Nefret, their son and ward, respectively.
Exactly why Peters has chosen to go with this departure from what made the others in the series I have read (with the exception of Falcon at the Portal) so much fun, I really couldn't say. But since I care just as much about a good plot as I do about the characters, I would not class this change as a success. In Thunder in the Sky, the bulk of the plot is concerned with Ramses' double-dealing as he attempts to unmask a traitor within the British administration in the early stages of World War One. Woven within this is the unresolved romantic tension between him and Nefret. They love each other, but the usual litany of misunderstandings, assumptions, and misplaced pride still keep them apart. As with Amelia's manoeuvrings with the Master Criminal, it's really only of interest if 1) you have read the other books in this vein and 2) want the focus upon family drama and tying up loose ends. Myself, I prefer the usual archaeological adventure with a mysterious twist.
Thunder in the Sky is competently written, by Peters' standards, though I do think she overreaches herself occasionally in tone. For example, some of Ramses' internal thoughts about the virtues of Nefret after his rescue - honestly, you would think that Nefret was the most perfect woman that ever existed and this book high art. But the story is just not particularly interesting. And I am getting very, very tired of Ramses' perfection.
One for the fans, and then only for a certain type of fan. I could not, in all honesty, recommend this book to someone who has not read an Amelia Peabody book before. If you are new to Elizabeth Peters, start at the beginning of the series.
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