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52nd out of 59 books
—
116 voters
The Last Secret Of The Temple (Yusuf Khalifa #2)
by
Paul Sussman
A pulse-pounding, roller coaster of an adventure.
When the body of hotel owner Jan Weiss is discovered at Malqata, an archeological site on the west bank of the Nile, it looks like a routine investigation for Inspector Yusuf Khalifa of the Luxor police. But the more the detective finds out about Weiss, the more he is reminded of the brutal killing of an Israeli woman at Kar...more
When the body of hotel owner Jan Weiss is discovered at Malqata, an archeological site on the west bank of the Nile, it looks like a routine investigation for Inspector Yusuf Khalifa of the Luxor police. But the more the detective finds out about Weiss, the more he is reminded of the brutal killing of an Israeli woman at Kar...more
Paperback, 713 pages
Published
June 5th 2006
by Bantam
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Nov 06, 2011
David Elkin
added it
So far a very different take by the author-looking at the world through the eyes of a female Palestinian/English journalist and an Egyptian Detective. About 175 pages in and you must push a little bit to get started in the book, but it has picked up.
Finished. It was an uneven read, at points very well paced, other parts of the book seemed to drag. I would rate it 7 out of 10, primarily because of the very different viewpoints shared in the novel. Another character that became very important was...more
Finished. It was an uneven read, at points very well paced, other parts of the book seemed to drag. I would rate it 7 out of 10, primarily because of the very different viewpoints shared in the novel. Another character that became very important was...more
الرواية جيدة جدا، حاولت أمنع نفسي من مقارنة بول سوسمان ب دان براون لكن فشلت و ده لأن الروايتين بينتموا لنفس أدب ال thriller .
من ناحية الحبكة يتفوق دان براون على بول سوسمان في كتاباته، لكن من الناحية الأدبية فالأفضل بول سوسممان، أنا استغربت من أسلوب كتابة سوسمان عشان كنت متوقع انه تقريري لا أكتر لكن فاجئني أسلوبه.
الجانب المعلوماتي جيد فمن الرواية حصلت على معلومات جيدة عن الدين اليهودي و بعض الطقوس التي لم أكن أعرفها، و لا يمكن نسيان طبعا الموقف الظاهر من الرواية من تجريمه لممسارسة اسرائيل للقتل ا...more
من ناحية الحبكة يتفوق دان براون على بول سوسمان في كتاباته، لكن من الناحية الأدبية فالأفضل بول سوسممان، أنا استغربت من أسلوب كتابة سوسمان عشان كنت متوقع انه تقريري لا أكتر لكن فاجئني أسلوبه.
الجانب المعلوماتي جيد فمن الرواية حصلت على معلومات جيدة عن الدين اليهودي و بعض الطقوس التي لم أكن أعرفها، و لا يمكن نسيان طبعا الموقف الظاهر من الرواية من تجريمه لممسارسة اسرائيل للقتل ا...more
5 likes · like · see review
When I started reading this book, I was overwhelmed with the sheer size of it - I hadn't read such a thick book before (except 'The Bourne Identity'). And I'm happy I read it. :-) Because the satisfaction I'd received after reading The Bourne Identity was comparable to what I received from reading this book here. Till now I'd only heard of the unrest in Israel-Palestine region, never knew the details of it. Though I must admit, even after reading this book I'm still not sure I understand the 're...more
I would not have found this book if not for the Nook free Friday offerings. I am so glad I did though. A “thriller set against the tumultuous politics of the present-day Middle East” is not a book I would normally pick up, but this was a pleasant surprise. There is an intriguing mix of history, politics, religion and mysticism that grabs you and keeps you in the story.
My knowledge of the Middle East as it currently exists is probably on par with most Westerners. My historical context is perhaps...more
My knowledge of the Middle East as it currently exists is probably on par with most Westerners. My historical context is perhaps...more
The DaVinci Code can't hold a candle to this book (no pun intended?)! Unlike the DaVinci Code which can be figured out a hundred or so pages before the end, I thought the same of this book at first. It was an interesting formula that worked very well and kept me turning pages all the way to the end and was anything but utterly predictable, and this was the satisfying part.
It is not a great book, it is an entertainment and a good one at that, with a historically feasible reliability. One criticis...more
It is not a great book, it is an entertainment and a good one at that, with a historically feasible reliability. One criticis...more
Recommended to me, by a friend -it's a solid effort, if not spectacular. The writing itself is nothing to "write home about", you're not going to carry many images of this one with you when you put it down.
Still, the story moves at a good pace - the characters are flushed out, and the plot itself does its best not to insult you (save one character twist that is a little too hard to see as anything but a cheap plot device).
The strength of the book is its backdrop of the Palestine/Israeli conflic...more
Still, the story moves at a good pace - the characters are flushed out, and the plot itself does its best not to insult you (save one character twist that is a little too hard to see as anything but a cheap plot device).
The strength of the book is its backdrop of the Palestine/Israeli conflic...more
This book attempts to present the reality of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict within the context of a fantasy story. The whole clichéd Raiders-of-the-Lost-Arc Nazi treasure secret-coded-message Cathar Castle of Shadows plot clashes with the tragic reality of the middle east.
I found the writing rather ponderous and there is far too much extraneous material. The development of the mystery is very slow. In Part One we are treated to a suicide bombing at a wedding which has nothing to do with the pl...more
I found the writing rather ponderous and there is far too much extraneous material. The development of the mystery is very slow. In Part One we are treated to a suicide bombing at a wedding which has nothing to do with the pl...more
لمن يحب الإلمام بقطرات تاريخية عن الأديان, ستعجبه هذه الرواية ..
حبكة جيدة.. لا ترتقي لأسلوب دان براون .. بالرغم من محاولتي التخلص من عقد هذه المقارنة, إلا أني أجد أنها مقارنة حتمية.. ربما لأن لدان براون السبق في الدخول لموضوع الديانات و أسرارها و تاريخها ..
أسلوبها شيق نسبياً.. المعلومات الواردة فيها كثيرة جداً لكن العديد منها لم أجد له تفاصيل بعد سؤال العم غوغل.. استخدم الكثير من الأسماء, مما قد يسبب تشتتاً للقارئ..
فيها إظهار للجانب الإنساني البطولي للعدو الأبدي "الصهيوني" بشكل فيه نوعاً من ال...more
حبكة جيدة.. لا ترتقي لأسلوب دان براون .. بالرغم من محاولتي التخلص من عقد هذه المقارنة, إلا أني أجد أنها مقارنة حتمية.. ربما لأن لدان براون السبق في الدخول لموضوع الديانات و أسرارها و تاريخها ..
أسلوبها شيق نسبياً.. المعلومات الواردة فيها كثيرة جداً لكن العديد منها لم أجد له تفاصيل بعد سؤال العم غوغل.. استخدم الكثير من الأسماء, مما قد يسبب تشتتاً للقارئ..
فيها إظهار للجانب الإنساني البطولي للعدو الأبدي "الصهيوني" بشكل فيه نوعاً من ال...more
1 like · like · see review
Nov 21, 2012
Rou'a
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
literature,
thriller-crime
جاءت قراءتي لها في وقت مناسب .. وقت العدوان على غزة
لا سلام مع هؤلاء القوم لا سلام لا سلام
Allow me to speak my Arab tongue
before they occupy my language as well
Allow me to speak my mother tongue
before they colonize her memory as well
I am an Arab woman of color and we come in all shades of anger
All my grandfather ever wanted to do
was wake up at dawn and watch my grandmother kneel and pray
in a village hidden between Jaffa and Haifa
my mother was born under an olive tree
on a soil they say is no longe...more
لا سلام مع هؤلاء القوم لا سلام لا سلام
Allow me to speak my Arab tongue
before they occupy my language as well
Allow me to speak my mother tongue
before they colonize her memory as well
I am an Arab woman of color and we come in all shades of anger
All my grandfather ever wanted to do
was wake up at dawn and watch my grandmother kneel and pray
in a village hidden between Jaffa and Haifa
my mother was born under an olive tree
on a soil they say is no longe...more
An above average thriller with religious overtones, a la "The Da Vinco Code". The one has a much more realistic story line, with much more interesting characters and in general contains much better writing.
It starts with the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in AD 70 when something very important to the Jewish religion is hidden from the Romans before the city is destoyed. Cut to today and an Egyptian cop and Israeli cop and a Palestinian reporter all converge on a secret kept hidden for almost 2...more
It starts with the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in AD 70 when something very important to the Jewish religion is hidden from the Romans before the city is destoyed. Cut to today and an Egyptian cop and Israeli cop and a Palestinian reporter all converge on a secret kept hidden for almost 2...more
Sussman's novel delves into the intriguing thought that some of treasures looted by the Romans from the temple that they sacked in 70 AD, might be hidden somewhere. Out of this mystery, Sussman has built a rather good plot involving an Egyptian police detective, Khalifa and an Israeli cop Arieh Ben-Roi. Between them Sussmans also weaves the story of beautiful but distant Palestinian journalist, Layla al-Madani.
The case involves the mysterious connection between the murders of a Jew-hating hotel...more
The case involves the mysterious connection between the murders of a Jew-hating hotel...more
قرات الرواية مترجمة وهى رواية شيقة و جميلة ولكن لا اعتقد انها بنفس جودة شفرة دافنشى . سعة اطلاع الكاتب عالية جدا والتنوع فى الرواية ممتاز لكن لا زال يغلبها مصادفات بدت لى غير منطقية و موضوع علاقة خليفة بالظابط الاسرائيلى والاتصالات لا يمكن ان تكون بهذه الطريقة ..ممكن ابعت فاكس للقدس ..هكذا يسال خليفة فى احد الاماكن ..جاسوس علطول :)
الكاتب كان شكله ماشى على حبل وهو بيحاول يكون متوازن فى عرض الرؤى والافكار الخاصة بكل طرف
اعتقد جهده يشكر عليه . خاتمة الرواية جيدة وفى المجمل تستحق القراءة
الكاتب كان شكله ماشى على حبل وهو بيحاول يكون متوازن فى عرض الرؤى والافكار الخاصة بكل طرف
اعتقد جهده يشكر عليه . خاتمة الرواية جيدة وفى المجمل تستحق القراءة
This book outdoes The Da Vinci Code, so if you liked the Da Vinci Code, you'll like this book! It starts slow, but Paul Sussman excels at character building, so the first 100 pages are firmly grounding you in who and what the characters are, with their secrets, hatreds (a lot of those) their loves and their disappointments, they are fully realized and human. It does take awhile and I was almost wondering if there was a Last Secret or not, then fasten your seatbelt you are in for a ride! I won't...more
THE Last Secret of the Temple karya Paul Sussman, novel berlatarbelakangkan sejarah agama Yahudi dan konflik Palestin-Israel di Asia Barat ini, membongkar rahsia yang disembunyikan rumah ibadat Yahudi di kota Baitulmaqdis pada 70 Sebelum Masihi (SM) apabila diserang tentera Rom.
Rahsia yang juga dianggap keramat dan disimpan rapi sejak ratusan kurun itu terungkai lewat kematian pemilik hotel, Piet Jansen di tapak arkeologi di Lembah Raja-Raja, Luxor, Mesir.
Melihat mayat Jansen yang menimbulkan mi...more
Rahsia yang juga dianggap keramat dan disimpan rapi sejak ratusan kurun itu terungkai lewat kematian pemilik hotel, Piet Jansen di tapak arkeologi di Lembah Raja-Raja, Luxor, Mesir.
Melihat mayat Jansen yang menimbulkan mi...more
Missed this book completely when it first came out & just picked it up by chance off library shelf. So glad I did. Read it on the heels of Blood Gospel (James Rollins) and, on the surface, it has many similarities. Both start 2000 years ago with the hiding of a sacred relic in Israel to stop it falling into the hands of the Romans, the secret is then dug up by the Nazis during the 1940s and lost again at the war's end and it is up to modern day treasure hunters (2 males, 1 female) to find it...more
A fascinating story taking you from the streets of Jerusalem to the desert of Luxor and the mountains of Germany. Two detectives working the same case, one an Egyptian Muslim and the other an Israeli Jew, neither one quite trusting the other due to years of persecution and fighting between the two religions. Years earlier a German woman was murdered and her accused murderer sentenced to prison. Egyptian police officer Yusef Khalifa has never been comfortable or satisfied with the outcome and whe...more
This story took awhile to get into. The first half of the book established the back story and really was the start of two different stories without much meshing, it felt very disjointed. I kept plugging away (I am the type of reader who very rarely stops reading a story before it is done, this one almost did me in).
By the time you reach the second half of the book you get sucked into a very fast paced story that blends the two back stories nicely. Lots of suspense, twists and turns, much feeling...more
By the time you reach the second half of the book you get sucked into a very fast paced story that blends the two back stories nicely. Lots of suspense, twists and turns, much feeling...more
If you are fan of DaVinci Code-style historical mystery/thrillers you will enjoy this book. I give it three and one half stars. It follows a mystery of ancient Israel from Biblical times, that resurfaces again and again. Sussman follows the thread to the Crusaders in the Holy Land, then to Europe in the Middle Ages, on to Nazi artifact hunters in World War II, to events in the present day. He has assembled an unlikely trio of investigators each of whom plays a part in discovering the truth: a fe...more
Briliant. I could not put the book down till i finished it. Extremely well written. Inspector Yusuf Khalifa is a simple, honest man caught in an extraordinary situation. Yusuf's character is brilliantly brought to life by Paul Sussman that u cannot help but cheer with his every triumph and sympathize with his sorrow.
The Israel/Palestine conflict is very delicately handled. This book makes you think about the sorrow and anguish suffered by the people of both sides. In the end you cannot help but...more
The Israel/Palestine conflict is very delicately handled. This book makes you think about the sorrow and anguish suffered by the people of both sides. In the end you cannot help but...more
ثاني رواية أقراها للكاتب بول سوسمان وشكلها بتكون الاخيرة !
أسلوب الكاتب بسيط ومتوقع لأي شخص قد قرأ له آي مؤلف .. لغز يبدأ الحديث عنه في اول الصفحات , بداية بطيئة للتعريف بالتفاصيل مع غموض بسيط يستمر حتى يحصل تويست يقلب مجرى الراوية فوق تحت وهذا يكون في آخر مية صفحة.
النهاية ما أعجبتني لانها كانت باردة وغير منطقية بطريقة مستفزة نظراً للأحداث اللي صارت , هذا غير بعض التفاصيل اللي وضحت أشياء مهمة واللي كان من المفروض انها تكشف بطريقة تبهر القارئ بدلاً من الطريقة البسيطة اللي استعملت واللي خلتني افقد...more
أسلوب الكاتب بسيط ومتوقع لأي شخص قد قرأ له آي مؤلف .. لغز يبدأ الحديث عنه في اول الصفحات , بداية بطيئة للتعريف بالتفاصيل مع غموض بسيط يستمر حتى يحصل تويست يقلب مجرى الراوية فوق تحت وهذا يكون في آخر مية صفحة.
النهاية ما أعجبتني لانها كانت باردة وغير منطقية بطريقة مستفزة نظراً للأحداث اللي صارت , هذا غير بعض التفاصيل اللي وضحت أشياء مهمة واللي كان من المفروض انها تكشف بطريقة تبهر القارئ بدلاً من الطريقة البسيطة اللي استعملت واللي خلتني افقد...more
Thriller, I suppose. It was a Nook freebie and i didnt have anything else to read. Set primarily in Egypt and Jerusalem it follows police investigations into two related Egyptian murders but other bodies fall by the wayside as we go along. It involves the present day search for a sacred Jewish treasure which had been entrusted to a young man and his sons and his sons as infinitum by the high priest at the fall of the Temple in AD 70. Several different takes on Israeli Palestinian conflicts are w...more
This nook book was 416 pages, but was rather fast moving. There are three main characters--the Egyptian Khalifa, a detective, a Jewish policeman--Ben-Roi and the journalist, Layla, a woman who, when a child, saw her father bludgeoned to death. Ben-Roi's fiancee was killed by a bomb which severed her legs, and Khalifa seems to have a normal happy background with a wife and children. The prize in this case is The Menorah--a giant statue stolen by the Nazis and hidden away. These three, though enem...more
The overall impression of the novel was like putting back a beautifully intricate jigsaw puzzle.
The book doesn't really have to coax me into liking it because I am already in love with 50% of it - Egypt, history, culture, food, etc. The Holocaust, Nazi, Israel and West Bank are bonus.
The pace is slow in momentum, giving background for tempestuous events. The writer doesn't just did his research but lived, dwell and in fact convinced me that he had been to this places and saw everything. The lit...more
The book doesn't really have to coax me into liking it because I am already in love with 50% of it - Egypt, history, culture, food, etc. The Holocaust, Nazi, Israel and West Bank are bonus.
The pace is slow in momentum, giving background for tempestuous events. The writer doesn't just did his research but lived, dwell and in fact convinced me that he had been to this places and saw everything. The lit...more
تدور احداث هذه الرواية في مصر- فلسطين بشكل رئيسي، بين كلا من الاسرائيلين والمصريين والفلسطينيين، حاول الكاتب بطريقة ما على اعتماد اسلوب مشابه لاسلوب دان براون في شفرة دافنشي، ولكن للاسف لم يجد ذلك معه، الالغاز كانت ركيكة ، مبهمه احيانا وساذجة بالغالب، الترابط بين الاحداث التاريخية واحداث القصة بشكل ما لم يضف عليها عنصر التشويق المطلوب، كما ان الحبكة الروائية لم تلفت انتباهي وليست فريدة من نوعها..
أكثر الأمور التي لم احبها في هذه الرواية تقطع الاحداث والتسلسل، بمعنى انك تكون في نصف صفحة تتجول بالا...more
أكثر الأمور التي لم احبها في هذه الرواية تقطع الاحداث والتسلسل، بمعنى انك تكون في نصف صفحة تتجول بالا...more
I picked this book up randomly and one of the reasons it grabbed my attention was not only the subject but the quote on the cover by Jim Rollins. I have always been drawn to the conspiracy theory / religious artifact / historical fiction / modern Indiana Jones books, but from what I read on the jacket, I was captivated. However, it took me about a quarter of the book to really get into it, but once I was, I was not disappointed. The character development was better than most of this genre (Brown...more
Dua tokoh sentra yang berbeda,..lokasi berbeda,.intrik pribadi berbeda dengan satu benang merah kasus yang sama berlatar belakang isu konflik Israel-Palestina. Untuk ukuran penggemar aksi action-thriller dengan alur yang lompat2 kodok,..saya agak bosan dengan alurnya,..plotnya saya kurang nangkep,..critanya lompat2 kodok dengan setting yang lompat2 kodok sehingga saya seperti merasakan 'jetlag' saat 'mengunjungi' 2 negara yang diceritakan bergantian.
poin positif pada isu yang coba diangkat,...bi...more
poin positif pada isu yang coba diangkat,...bi...more
Kommt mit ins Urlaubsgepäck. Ob ich all die Bücher schaffe? Im Zug sitze ich ja lange genug...
So, Urlaub fast rum und Buch gelesen. Also:
Auch wenn der Titel und das Buchcover suggerieren, hier handle es sich um einen der vielen historischen Krimis mit exotischem Hintergrund - Teile der Story könnten kaum aktueller sein (obwohl das Buch bereits 2005 erschienen ist). Zu Beginn werden mehrere Erzählstränge aufgebaut, die sich scheinbar zusammenhanglos nebeneinander weiterentwickeln.
In Ägypten unter...more
So, Urlaub fast rum und Buch gelesen. Also:
Auch wenn der Titel und das Buchcover suggerieren, hier handle es sich um einen der vielen historischen Krimis mit exotischem Hintergrund - Teile der Story könnten kaum aktueller sein (obwohl das Buch bereits 2005 erschienen ist). Zu Beginn werden mehrere Erzählstränge aufgebaut, die sich scheinbar zusammenhanglos nebeneinander weiterentwickeln.
In Ägypten unter...more
Yerusalem, 70 M. Tatkala pasukan Roma menyerbu Kuil Suci, seorang pendeta mengungkapkan sebuar rashasia kepada seorang bocah cilik, bahwa dia mesti berhati-hati dengan hidupnya....
Jerman Selatan, Desember 1944. Enam tawanan berbadan kerempeng menyeret sebuah peti misterius ke dalam bekas area pertambangan. Mereka juga mempertaruhkan hidupnya demi menjaga suatu rahasia: pembunuhan oleh tentara Nazi....
Mesir, Lembah Para Raja, era kini. Seorang arkeolog Belanda ditemukan tewas di Malqata, sebuah s...more
Jerman Selatan, Desember 1944. Enam tawanan berbadan kerempeng menyeret sebuah peti misterius ke dalam bekas area pertambangan. Mereka juga mempertaruhkan hidupnya demi menjaga suatu rahasia: pembunuhan oleh tentara Nazi....
Mesir, Lembah Para Raja, era kini. Seorang arkeolog Belanda ditemukan tewas di Malqata, sebuah s...more
Feb 11, 2008
Neel
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone who likes suspense and mystery
This book showed a lot of anti-semitism between the isrealis and the palestinians in jerusulam. The book also has alot of suspense from the murder to the search of the secret artifact. A great the thing the author puts in this book is how each of three characters find the information and they all put it together to figure out where the artifact is. Even though this book takes place in different places All the information the characters find is relevant to the other two characters in reaching the...more
just one thing this book is the greatest book i had ever read in this field.
real people great story and harmony .every this is on top limit.
i start reading and after page 2 i can not stop.
it is must to read for every who like mysteries books.
این کتاب به نظر من بهترین کتابیه در ژانر این سری کتاب ها خوندم
برام حتی از داوینچی کد بسیار جذاب تر بود.
شخصیت پردازی فوق العاده خط سیر طبیعی داستان پرهیز ار اغراق دست گذاشتن روی مسئله اعراب و اسراییل چینش استادانه شخصیت ها همه و همه این کتاب را به یک کتاب ای...more
real people great story and harmony .every this is on top limit.
i start reading and after page 2 i can not stop.
it is must to read for every who like mysteries books.
این کتاب به نظر من بهترین کتابیه در ژانر این سری کتاب ها خوندم
برام حتی از داوینچی کد بسیار جذاب تر بود.
شخصیت پردازی فوق العاده خط سیر طبیعی داستان پرهیز ار اغراق دست گذاشتن روی مسئله اعراب و اسراییل چینش استادانه شخصیت ها همه و همه این کتاب را به یک کتاب ای...more
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He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and St. John's College, Cambridge, where he won a Joseph Larmor Award and a boxing blue. His novels have been translated into 33 languages and are set mainly in Egypt, where he worked for many years as a field archaeologist, notably with the Amarna Royal Tombs Project in the Valley of the Kings. Among other finds, he unearthed the only items of pharaonic...more
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May 02, 2012 07:51am