I want to present Cleopatra to the World,” Lady Stanhope sighed and reached for her purse. Two very young and inexperienced detectives, Flinders Petrie and Thomas Pettigrew, were unexpectedly presented with the case of a lifetime. Flinders and Pettigrew, recent graduates of Oxford and rivals of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, suddenly find themselves confronted with the task of finding Cleopatra’s tomb. The tomb’s location, as they quickly discovered, was protected by the adherents of an ancient cult. Their quest leads them to Cairo and Alexandria. They meet a mysterious woman, who is possibly the descendant of Cleopatra. Their story weaves between the ‘City of the Dead’ in Cairo and the ‘Mound of Shards’ in Alexandria. They discover that becoming a detective is more difficult than they imagined as students. Set against the background of the River War in the Sudan and written by an expert in archeology and Middle East history, readers will find this story a worthy successor to the Conan Doyle legacy. “Find me Cleopatra, and I will pay for all this….
When a group of students in America heads to Cairo in the heat of a political uprising, there are bound to be cultural shocks and some danger. Egypt is in the middle of a political crisis, but these students knew what the journey entailed. The Student by John Amos follows nine Ph.D. students as they juggle Egypt’s novelties and attempt to find a balance between their sense of self and the differences in Egyptian culture. Readers witness all the events through the eyes of a young man who sees himself as James Bond. He narrates his interactions with himself, other students, and Egyptian culture. A keenly observant person, this “James Bond” also gives us meaningful glimpses into the lives and relations of other characters, along with some history lessons about ancient Arabia.
This imaginary James Bond is a quirky character. He makes a lot of references to actors and movies to describe other characters. His peculiar descriptions were fun and helped the story flow better, readers who follow American pop culture will especially enjoy this. But the narrator’s references can easily be confusing to readers with no knowledge of American pop culture. The protagonist is also widely read, as his explanations were thorough and even touched on the most mundane details.
The author mentioned that knowledge of mundane details is what differentiates the amateur from the professional who has firsthand experience, and I could not agree more. John Amos demonstrated his extensive knowledge of the Middle East, especially Egypt and ancient Arabia. However, the protagonist’s tendency to constantly launch into mini-lectures took away from the fiction and turned the book into a history book. I quite enjoyed the lessons but felt it would be wrong to tag this book as fiction. History buffs will enjoy the lessons about ancient kings, and if you enjoy politics too, that’s a bonus. Readers who have an appreciation for the Middle East will also find most of the historical facts enjoyable. But readers who only want a fiction story will be exasperated.
A first-person narrative style usually focuses on the narrator, making it ‘difficult for readers to appreciate the created world holistically. However, the protagonist here is very in tune with his surroundings, so we get to see much more of the world around him than we get to see of him and his thoughts. For example, during an Israeli raid, the narrator successfully immersed me in the panic of other characters instead of focusing on his feelings. I found that this creative decision gave the protagonist an air of mystery (his name is never even revealed). However, a downside is that the narrator was not as relatable as I’d have liked.
As a history and political enthusiast, I thoroughly enjoyed The Student and got an immersive experience. But it was a little disappointing as a fiction book. The Student confused me with its unclear timelines; the narrator recounted the story and would switch from the present timeline to his past time in Egypt with no clear distinction on which time was which. So even though this book is a well-written one that received professional editing, my rating is 3 out of 4.
