Masks of the Lost Kings was a fast tempo book with an intellectual momentum that will challenge your mind. It was fun and easy to read, but stuffed with astounding facts and intriguing details, real Mayan temples and artifacts of the boy king Tutankhamun. Tom Bane wrote with an evocative writing style, and produced gripping prose that maintained the reader through the early tours of Oxford University.

This was a thriller, adventure and mystery all rolled up into one. I enjoyed reading this book and the scientific and archaeological background was well researched. If you like archaeology and enjoy some action, then you will enjoy this book immensely. The heroine was a female Indiana Jones to be sure.

Rating: 4

Heat rating: Sweet

reviewed By: Susan Faatz,My Book Addiction Reviews ( )

Susie da Silva is an archeologist student attempting to do her thesis on Ancient Egypt and its relationship to the Ancient Mayans and Christianity. Throughout her research which has been paid for by the Horus Corp., there has been attempts on her life,murders of her friends and a Black Ops team is after her.
This was a book I could not put down, I enjoyed it immensely. I must read more in the Suzy da Silva series. ( )

Original review from Little Book Owl

The Short
Masks of the Lost Kings was a fascinating and gripping story. The historical elements were very interesting - I am so intrigued by Egyptian history! Furthermore, the action and suspense kept me wanting to know what was going on and how everything would unfold. The ending was certainly not what I was expecting; it was a revolutionary ending within the story's world that I didn't see coming.

The Long
Suzy was a feisty little thing. She had a very interesting back-story that was quite touching which led to some traits which made her pretty bad-ass and strong both physically and mentally. Suzy is very intelligent and knows how to take care of herself.

The story had a slower pace during the first few chapters, with the exception of the first chapter. You are introduced to Suzy's world and interests through lectures concerning Egypt and although I feel that it was necessary to understand the mysteries of the story, it did slow down the pacing. Personally, I have always been extremely fascinated by Egyptian history, so I did not find all of the information boring. In all honesty I am surprised by how intrigued I was! I don't usually read books with such strong historical knowledge, I generally prefer to jump into action from the get go. That first chapter though kept you in anticipation for later action, and curious as to what the heck just happened!

About the action: it was intense! The violence could get a little visually gruesome at some points, but it added so much suspense to the story. The identity of the assassins was a well kept mystery until later on in the book, leaving me guessing who was after Suzy and why. My assumptions constantly changed as new information was revealed that led me to question new people.

The Good 
Egyptian history, action, mystery solving!

The Bad
Slower pace at the start

Review copy provided by Marketing Representative in exchange for an honest review ( )

4.5 Stars from Between the Bind

First, I'd like to say that this book is not a typical read for me. I really wanted something new and challenging from an author that I'd heard great things about and when Worthy Marketing Group contacted me - I was thrilled to read MotLK.

Now, on to the review. The blurb does a great job of summarizing the book so I'm going to skip that this time and really focus on the reasons why you should most definitely purchase a copy for your bookshelf.

Suzy, our heroine, is a B.A. I LOVE her intelligence, wit, humor, and even her back story. I enjoyed all that she taught me about Egyptian culture and although some may find this book to be information overload, I never once felt lost or overwhelmed by the history. In fact, I found it fascinating and written well enough to keep me interested page after page.

If anything overwhelmed me, it was how much depth was in this novel. There was so very much to uncover about our characters, what was happening, who it was happening to, who is connected - it was absolutely a stunning plot filled with wonderous twists and turns.

I have a love for Egyptian culture and although I wouldn't say that I'm well-versed in their practices, religion, or history in general, I would say that I have an above-average understanding of their practices. This really helped me get involved with Suzy's almost obsession with uncovering the past and learning about this culture.

However, my missing half star came from the lack of romance between Suzy and Tom. There was a tension missing and I really was just expecting there to be MORE. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of personal relationship development.

MotLK had me guessing until the end - and then I guessed again - to still be thrown for a loop! I love the way Bane writes - how much knowledge and research and just plain AMAZINGNESS went into this book astounds me. THANK YOU for such an edge of your seat, intelligent, fun read - I can't wait to see what Bane writes next! ( )