When his former employer goes missing, Gideon Crew, reeling from his terminal diagnosis, pursues the long-awaited translation of the Phaistos Disc, an ancient tablet that could end or save his life.
...readers must understand up front that it has been deliberately written to fall into the “lost world” sub-genre of late-Victorian adventure fiction ... It could have been lifted wholesale from a lost manuscript by Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Rice Burroughs, or Jules Verne ... The Pharaoh Key is an entertaining read if approached with appropriately lowered expectations ... a bouncing, page-turning camel ride across an exotic landscape we thought had been left behind a century ago, if it ever existed at all.
Even if readers are new to the Gideon Crew saga, Preston and Child do an admirable job of bringing folks up to speed ... The Pharaoh Key marries high-tech chops with a rollicking Raiders of the Lost Ark-style adventure. Refresh your knowledge of Biblical mysteries, suspend your disbelief, and enjoy the treasure hunt.
The Crew novels have an air of fun and mischief about them ... The Pharaoh Key is never short on surprises or new adventures as they seemingly lurk around every corner ... Thankfully and expectedly, Preston & Child wrap things up in highly honorable fashion and allow for their terrific fictional creation to get the send-off he deserves.
