Nefertiti by Nick Drake

Release: October 13th 2009
Format: Ebook
Publisher: HarperCollins e-books
Source: Random Things Tours
Find it at: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N

She is Nefertiti—beautiful and revered. With her husband, Akhenaten, she rules over Egypt, the most affluent, formidable, sophisticated empire in the ancient world. The inauguration of Royal Couple’s enlightened new religion and the construction of a new capital brings in an epic power struggle. The priests get a shock when they forfeit their traditional wealth and influence and the people resent the loss of their gods. There is an enraged army with a growing turbulence around them. Then, just days before the festival to celebrate the new capital, Nefertiti vanishes.

Rahotep is the youngest chief detective in the Thebes division, reputed for his unorthodox yet effective methods. Akhenaten entrusts Rahotep with a most secret investigation. He has but ten days to find the missing Queen. If he succeeds, he will bask in the warmth of Akhenaten’s favor. But if Rahotep fails, he and his entire family will die.

About the Author:

Born in 1961,Nick Drake lives and works in London. He won the Forward Prize for Best First Collection in 1999 for The Man in the White Suit , a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. Bloodaxe Books published his From The Word Go n 2007.

Nefertiti, his first book in the Rahotep detective trilogy, was short-listed by the Crime Writers Association for Best Historical Crime novel.

He is a screenwriter. Besides, he was part of Cape Farewell’s trip to the Arctic to explore climate change.

Website | Twitter | Goodreads

Nefertiti Review:

A thriller with a noir feel surrounding the ancient days of Egypt? Sign me up!

The first thing that stood out was the author’s detailed narrative. The author did a very nice job of building the world. He steps away from the traditional feel of Egypt and makes the characters down to Earth. Pharoahs like Akhenaten and Nefertiti come across as normal people that you can connect with. The story gets intense as it progresses, where Rahotep has to solve the mystery before the Festival or risk his family.

Another reason why I really enjoyed the story is because the author changes the direction of the plot midway. I will not go into the details, but it was fun to see the tone of the story change from finding a missing person to solving a bigger conspiracy. There are also some shocking deaths that I did not expect. On a side note, I also liked some passages written in hieroglyphics as that gave the story an authentic touch.

Rahotep is nice in the lead and I liked how he carried out his investigation in a systematic process. Khety was a fun sidekick and I enjoyed his dialogues with Rahotep. Mahu is also interesting as the negative police who targets Rahotep on his mission. I also liked the sub plots like the rivalry between Ramose and Meryra
However, the story does take time to setup. The author spends significant time setting up the environment. Although this sidetracks from the plot, I still enjoyed the author’s details to make the story realistic. Additionally, the story also concludes in a nice manner that sets the tone for the following book. Overall, this was a interesting and thrilling book set against Egyptology as the backdrop and I really liked it!