In The Murder of King Tut James Patterson attempts to solve the mystery of King Tut’s death by approaching it the way he approaches mysteries solved by Alex Cross, for example. This book has three distinct timelines – 1300BC, early 1900′s and present day time. As might be expected the first timeline revolves around Nefertiti and King Tut, the second timeline around Carter and his discovery of King Tut’s tomb and the final timeline revolves around James Patterson and his research (and thankfully there’s not much in the book about this timeline).
There are a few things I got out of this book.
1. No matter how hard an author or excavator or scientist .. or whomever is curious and wants to solve the mystery tries, there are some answers that will just never be found. Patterson’s theory is an interesting one but it is also one that’s been bantered around before.
2. James Patterson is an incredibly self-assured proud man. I appreciated learning the tidbits about his life and how he works, but honestly it was a little self-promoting to see him praising himself by quoting the New York Times description. Yes, we know you are a successful author, Mr. Patterson, you don’t need to rub our noses in it.
3. Ancient Egypt is/was a fascinating time period. If you haven’t read Michelle Moran’s Nefertiti and The Heretic Queen I highly recommend them.
I find it amusing that Patterson labels this book as a “non-fiction thriller” when portions of the book are non-fiction, but other portions are more.. historical fiction. Hence my confusing labels. Was the book an interesting one? Sure. I was captivated by learning more about Carter and his struggles and subsequent triumph(?) from finding King Tut’s tomb. I’d learned a little bit about him when I saw the King Tut exhibit when it passed through, but nothing to the extent that Patterson wrote about. Overall, an interesting book, not what I had expected, but interesting nonetheless.
