Product Description

In 523 BC, the Persian emperor Cambyses dispatched an army to destroy the oracle of Amun. Legend has it that the army was overwhelmed by a sandstorm and destroyed. Then a mutilated body washed ashore in modern Luxor brings old secrets and new dangers for Inspector Khalifa.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #330368 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 592 pages

Valerio Massimo Manfredi, author of The Spartan
'A tremendous adventure, one of the most intriguing mysteries of the past, a great novel masterfully written'

Crime Time
'Adrenaline-packed...combines all the elements of a truly great adventure story...superbly evocative, with a huge epic sweep'

Dr Barbara Mertz, archaeologist
'A tough, sometimes brutal, but always engrossing thriller. Sussman knows his Egypt, past and present, and has the gift of creating engaging heroes'

Customer Reviews

a veritable treasure trove of military memorabilia - the background for a gripping mystery
In 525 BC the Persian emperor Cambyses II invaded Egypt and successfully overthrew the native Egyptian pharaoh, Psamtek III, last ruler of Egypt's 26th Dynasty to become the first ruler of Egypt's 27th Persian Dynasty. Cambyses II sent his army to Siwa Oasis in the Western Desert to seek (or seize) legitimization of his rule from the oracle of Amun, much as Alexander the Great would do in the 4th century BC. However, the army was overtaken by a sandstorm and buried.

For centuries adventurers and archaeologists have tried to find the lost army, and at times, tantalizing, though usually false glues have been discovered. Within recent years all manner of artifacts and monuments have been discovered in Egypt's Western Desert. Here and there, new discoveries of temples and tombs turn up, even in relatively inhabited areas where more modern structures are often difficult to distinguish from ancient ruins. Very recently, when a geological team from the Helwan University geologists found themselves walking through dunes littered with fragments of textiles, daggers, arrow-heads, and the bleached bones of the men to whom all these trappings belonged.

So far so good the reality which forms the background of this amazing crime story which will hold you from page one and only lets you go with the very last page. It is a page turner where fact and fiction merge into a one. Paul Sussmann knows how to hold the reader's interest, develops the personalities and the story in a convincing and interesting way. The various leads merge at some point, the twist are not outrages in the sense that one asks oneself "Where the hell is this coming from".

There are some aspects one needs to think about: terrorism, its roots and its effects.

All in all a book I highly enjoyed and can equally recommended.

The Lost Army of Cambyses
Dan Browne who? This beats the Da Vinci Code hands down. I hope film bosses read this book.
I picked up The Last Secret of the Temple in duty free recently and could not put it down so I thought I would go for Sussman's first book. I was not disappointed!
Fantastic read - good characters, plot twists and the baddies are exceptional. It was good to read about my now old friend Khalifa - he's in 'The Temple' and you get to feel a real empathy for him. It makes a change for the characters not to be American.
My only criticism would be Sussmans, sometimes excessive use of swearing - especially certain words uttered by his female character... Its hated by alot of women but don't be put off by this criticism just read through it as its worth it.
Keep writing Mr Sussman.

The Lost Army of Cambyses
I read this book on holiday in Egypt. It was a fanatastic read blending ancient history with modern day events and it was great to be able to identify where things were happening. I'm usually quite quick in guessing what's going to happen in a book and although you can pretty much predict what's going to happen in the chases between the goodies and baddies there's a really good twist which I didn't see coming. It certainly kept me entertained and I'm now reading the Last Secret of the Temple.