If this had just been a financial conspiracy thriller it might have worked well. The author is skilled and very knowledgeable and produced a pretty good financial thriller. Unfortunately he had to mix it up with some historical conspiracy nonsense which completely spoilt my enjoyment of the book.
CIA Agent Curtis O'Connor and archaeologist Aleta Weiszmann make a strange combination. In a back alley bookstore in Alexandria Aleta stumbles on some ancient papyrus that give her clues to the location of the lost famous library of Alexandria that disappeared beneath the sea after an earthquake at the time of the Ptolemy pharaohs. At the same time as they dive into Alexandria harbour a mysterious group of very powerful individuals from throughout the Western and Muslim world are meeting in the city to discuss plans for world financial domination.
Thousands have tried to find the library over the years and Aleta not only finds the remains of the library first go but also discovers some key papyrus stored in watertight containers that contain the key to the Giza pyramids. Mission impossible!
d'Hagé then leads us through two major plot themes, world financial domination and possible radio active terrorism, and a hunt for documents that would change the understanding of the meaning of the great pyramids of Giza, I can understand the former but the latter is so much fantasy as to belie my imagination. Connecting the two plots are unscrupulous art collectors who will kill to get their hands on treasures such as a lost Van Dyke painting and have the contacts to arrange a robbery at the Egyptian museum to steal the gold death mask of Tutankhamun.
Does this sound too complex to be believable? Of course it does. I could have given a reasonable rating if this was just a financial conspiracy thriller but the inclusion of the historical conspiracy stuff left me reeling.
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