Flesh of the God

Rating:
Summary: This is actually the first Bak mystery... a must read!!!
Review: "Flesh of the God" was published in Germany (in German) a couple of years ago under the authors real name (L. Haney is a pen name). I saw it in the library and read it. It was thrilling. The story is about a demoted charioteer in the time of Queen Hatshepsut, who fell from grace and subsequently was exiled to police service in Wawat (The Belly Of Stones = Nubia)where he is stationed at the fortress of Buhen. In this episode (actually the first of the whole series) the fortress commander Nakht is found murdered and his foreign and auburn-haired wife Azzia becomes the prime suspect. Bak is called on to investigate the murder while Azzia becomes the love of his life. She is always vaguely referred to in the following volumes, but has not made a re-appearance since. Its good that after those many years the first Bak volume is available in English after all. Haney creates a convincing atmosphere and remains the best writer for mysteries set in ancient Egypt.

Rating:
Summary: Bak Revealed
Review: After reading a series of historical murder-mystery novels detailing what happened after Lt. Bak, a charioteer in the ancient Egyptian army, is demoted and exiled beyond the border to Buhen (in the desert of the Nile Valley, near the Second Cataract), we finally get to learn why he was demoted, and how he began his career as police chief. Bak, the "detective," is larger than before, in this recently-published but first-written book in the series: he falls in love, he resents his exile, he makes mistakes, he has a harder time judging his fellows, and he has some doubts about how much in control of matters he is. He is also smaller: his supposedly promising service in the Regiment of Amon turns out to have been all war games, his "crime" turns out to have been a minor episode of upsetting elite Egyptians' small applecarts rather than the major run-in over military policy or the failure of nerve on the battlefield (or even joining the inner circle of the young Thutmose III as he plots against his aunt, Hatshepsut) that I thought was hinted at in the other volumes.
The series' virtues continue. Lauren Haney's intricate plotting remains fascinating. She creates even-tempered, accurate (and since we know little, spare) descriptions of the features of life for ancient Egyptians and their southern neighbors in the heady times of Egypt's greatest Queen and her pushed-aside young nephew. In this book we learn about the gold mines which brought great wealth to the ruling family. We also continue to see how everyday people dressed, constructed their houses (and, somewhat, their daily lives), ate, played. Haney's for me strange refusal to depict that ancient lifestyle as harsh on the lowly and poor, as relatively full of hateful and dangerous intrigue among the powerful, as very stratified (the life of Egypt seems pretty democratic and well-off for most, especially as contrasted with that of the Hittites) continues to mark her work.
Some of this description, though unremarked upon by Haney, is startling and pleasing: the absence of money, the isolation of Egyptian civilization and its people from attack because of the enveloping desert and the consequent harmony and seeming lack of change it bred in everyday life, the absence of racism, the rotation of regular folk through the offices of the priesthood, the easy acceptance of sexual relations outside marriage. Other parts are not: there are a few remarks linking the Egyptian concept of the "ka" with modern notions of a soul which I found grating and intruded, for example, and Bak in love seems astoundingly like a modern 20-something cooing and idealizing. Haney's characterization has always been thin, and it is no different in this book. The superiority and resentment which the Egyptian conquerors must have felt towards the "natives" of this southern land--and vice versa--is briefly dealt with, but since it disappears entirely from the rest of the series it seems only an element of plot rather than the permanent fixture of Egyptian life it must have been. Haney is not strong on social upset and conflict.
It is interesting to watch Bak grow as a sleuth, and as a leader of his squad of "natives" sent to police a sleepy Egyptian colonial outpost. Haney continues to write plain, pleasant, fascinating (if not very sophisticated) mysteries.

Rating:
Summary: a treat for historical mystery fans...
Review: For those of us who always wondered what it was that Lieutenant Bak had done to anger Maatkare Hatshepsut so very, very much that she had him sent into virtual exile in Wawat (Lower Nubia),"Flesh of the God" answers that question in spades. It reads like the first installment in the Lieutenant Bak mystery series, and is (no surprise) a truly exciting and compelling read, dealing with murder, theft and corruption.

Once a proud officer and a trained warrior, Bak has been stripped of his rank and sent from Kemet (Egypt) to the Buhen fortress in Wawat (Lower Wawat) as punishment for having raided a house of pleasure much frequented by powerful Egyptian men. Now, instead of leading his charioteers into battle, Bak has been placed in charge of the Medjays (a police force of sorts) under Commandant Nakht. The situation at Buhen is a bit tense and complex. While many men and women from Kemet live within Buhen, it is still in the heart of Wawat, a land brutally conquered by the Egyptians many years ago. The Egyptains still do not fully trust the Nubians, esp given that the rebels still attack the caravans. But the really sticky point is that the Medjays are made up mainly of Nubians who have trained and grown up in Kemet, men with a foot in each camp and distrusted by both the Egyptians and the Nubians. It is up to Bak to make the people of Buhen realise that the Medjays are here to enforce the law and that they can be trusted. Not an easy task at all. But Bak's job becomes even more difficult when on his very first night on the job, the Commandant of Buhen (Nakht) is murdered and all the evidence seems to point to the Nakht's beautiful foreign wife, Azzia, as having committed the murder. In spite of all the circumstantial evidence however Bak is not so sure of Azzia's guilt. Pressured by the Chief Steward of Buhen to bring charges against Azzia, Bak is not sure what to do. Is Azzia guilty of murder? Or is Bak reacting to his attraction for her when he refuses to believe that she is guilty of Nakht's murder, by believing in the hunch that's telling him that there is more to all this than meets to eye? With only three days to unmask the real killer Bak must use all his intelligence and wits so that his lack of experience will not jeopardize an innocent lady's life...

"Flesh of the God" proved to be a fantastic read. And it answered all the questions that had nagged at me while I was reading the other mysteries in this series. At some point someone has to explain why books in a series are not always published in sequence. The storyline was a thrilling and exciting one, with quite a few twists and turns, as we follow Bak trying to solve the mystery at hand, bump into new ones and deal with his lack of experience and expertise. Character development was superb (esp that of Azzia and Imsiba, Bak's right hand man), and the plot unfolded smoothly and flawlessly. "Flesh of the God" was a real treat, and one that historical mystery fans (esp those who like mysteries with ancient Egypt as a setting) should not miss.

Rating:
Summary: A good read, but not a great book
Review: I enjoyed the book, and I'll probably keep my eye out for more books by this author. The background was well enough researched that I never was pulled out of the story, the main characters were interesting. I particularly liked reading a historical novel were the people were not historical characters, but lived about in the middle of what was possible economically in that time. I also liked the mystery and how Bak went about solving it.

Rating:
Summary: A good read, but not a great book
Review: I enjoyed the book, and I'll probably keep my eye out for more books by this author. The background was well enough researched that I never was pulled out of the story, the main characters were interesting. I particularly liked reading a historical novel were the people were not historical characters, but lived about in the middle of what was possible economically in that time. I also liked the mystery and how Bek went about solving it.

Rating:
Summary: The Prequel to the series? Not Really...
Review: I usually abhor prequels categorically; however, after faithfully reading the first half dozen novels in this series, I was hoping to learn the full story of Lieutenant Bak's exile from the charioteers to his placement in Buhen as an inexperienced policeman. Unfortunately, in this latest published novel from Lauren Haney, there was less than adequate information in this area. Instead you are given a bit more of an expanded story that has been alluded to before, and instead you get to join the freshly appointed policeman on his first investigation.

With that said, 'Flesh of the God' is a highly entertaining addition to this series and explores the real reasons why Buhen was located so far along the Nile - as a convenient access for routes to the gold mines found in the southern deserts. Haney deftly tells volumes about Egypt by guiding the reader through Bak's investigation of the murder of Buhen's capable commandant. What would otherwise have been a conventional murder mystery is transformed into an educational and entertaining story that keeps you guessing until the very end.

Rating:
Summary: As wonderful as all of the other Lt. Bak novels
Review: This is another wonderful novel in the Bak series...but if anyone is expecting a "prequel," he or she will be disappointed...this books deals with Bak's first case in Buhen after his exile...it doesn't give us any more information about his fall from grace than the last book did. So..it may be the first book in the series, but it's not a prequel!

Rating:
Summary: Flesh of the God
Review: This was a great book. I hated to put it down. If you love ancient Egypt, and a good mystery, this is the book. I could not figure out who the guilty person was till the very end of the book. What a great read!