The Alexander Cipher

Perhaps it is because I haven't read one of these action-packed, Hollywood-style thrillers in a while, but Will Adams's The Alexander Cipher hit the nail on the head with its action, mystery, historical intrigue and entertaining characters.I've always had a love of Alexandrian history and this has it aplenty. The chance at discovering Alexander the Great's tomb was as exciting for me as it was for Daniel Knox and cast. The action was there in balance with intellectual, historical retelling, as well as the recounting of a few myths too. The Egyptian setting developed too, travelling from one side of Egypt to the other.Yes, it is slightly unoriginal, especially in today's market, but that doesn't mean you still cannot enjoy it for what it is. The 'baddies' are a little cliched, but again, entertaining. Daniel Knox always tries to do the right thing, but ends up being seen as a rebel archaeologist, one that is likeable to the audience.Not quite as twisty-turny as Dan Brown, but completely up there with the likes of Raymond Khoury and Sam Bourne.

This is an action-packed adventure that gallops determinedly across the ancient and modern worlds. There are lots of strands in the story that come together (too neatly?) in the end and I enjoyed the historic elements of the story a lot. However, I did feel there was something missing - maybe the story skittered around the 'cast' a little too much for me to feel any sort of empathy with the characters and perhaps choosing a couple of them to develop more vs trying to say a little about all of them would have worked better for me. But I'd still recommend The Alexander Cipher as an enjoyable and pacy romp through one of history's most famous puzzles.

This was one of those books where the hero always managed to escape every impossible odds. It was also a book that relied heavily on faction to fill its pages with characters "discussing" the details in such a way to inform the reader.The story centres on the accidental find of an ancient tomb in Alexandria, Egypt. Various players turn up interested in the find. One of them is Daniel Knox, a part time dive instructor and archaeologist. The other is a Macedonian Nationalist, called Nick and his father. Add to the mix an Egyptian playboy who Daniel is fleeing from and throw into the mix a couple of feisty women and an Egyptian builder with a terminally ill daughter and that is the essence of the plot.It takes place in Alexandria and Silwa, Egypt with the objective of locating and looting the tomb of Alexander the Great. Nick wants to bring the tomb back to Macedonia to fire up Nationalism there and start a war with Greece to regain territory lost to them over the years.It's a non-stop action book with clicked characters. To appreciate the intricacies of the story you really need a grounding in Macedonian Nationalism, Alexander the Great's life, Egyptology and Greek/Macedonian conflict.It'd give it 2.5 but you can't, so it gets a 3.

I really, really enjoyed this book - short, snappy chapters; believable and well defined characters with clarity of purpose; an excellent historical basis (ie. Search for the tomb of Alexander The Great); fast pace, keeping the reader bumping along... all good stuff to me, which is why I'm slightly surprised by some of the more lowly ratings this debut novel has received.The central character of Daniel Knox is likeable and completely believable. He's flawed (but knows it), has high levels of knowledge in some area's but doesn't have the answer to and for everything (ie. not at all like the 'know-it-all' Robert Langdon from the Dan Brown books) and his reactions to events and circumstance are understandable, including the twist at the end, where the good guys don't necessarily triumph over the baddies.The action runs along at a quick pace, with the various story strands and characters all well interwoven to ensure that the various elements remain current and connected, even if distanced by space/ time in the book.I especially enjoyed the historical and archaeological aspects of the book, which the author presented well and I'm pleased he didn't shy away from the shocking loss of an ancient artefact (which was written as the lesser of two evils, providing food for thoughts perhaps).Top marks from me - would highly recommend as a good summer beach read.

I like this style of archeological mystery and intrigue and it's great to find one that reads like a good film.I loved the characters which were very easy to get into and the sory unfolded, like I say, a film would do. It was fast paced, action packed and interesting. That in itself is a minor miracle as so many of these books can waffle too in depth about the historical descriptions, dates, theories, names of the past millenia etc rather than keeping the momentum in the story.I found it hard to put down and looked forward to reading it, mainly in bed at night, it was something to look forward to and didn't take very long to read although it's quite a wedge of a book too. I like some the theories and so on but just not too much - I get the gist - just give me the story!'And, Action'!

It's difficult to believe this is a first novel. I've read dozens of archaeological thrillers and this one can stand tall amongst the likes of Scott Mariani, Kuzneski, Morrison and yes, the holy Dan Brown himself.I'm not going to talk about the plot, that's been done enough and it becomes difficult without spoiling a reader's discovery for themself. I have one minor criticism, there are so many significant characters it can be a bit difficult remembering exactly where they fit in, so a little more placing them in context more often would help. And I have one major recommendation - if you like any of the other authors I mentioned, BUY THIS BOOK!

I read this just after finishing my Dan Brown books and wanting some more of the historical thriller in my days. Turns out I would not find it in this book. No one can seem to do it like Dan Brown even though so many have tried since it was released. This book suffers from trying to be another copy cat in my humble opinion. Read it for yourself and by all means you may love it but it just was not my cup of tea.

Il ne suffit pas d'aligner les mots et de balancer des références historiques à tour de bras pour faire un bon livre.Après un début prometteur, tout part en sucette : trop de personnages, trop de points de vue, trop de faits historiques qui alourdissent l'ensemble. Les chapitres sont relativement courts, les personnages à peine définis, ça n'arrête pas de courir dans tous les sens, parfois on ne sait même plus qui fait quoi, où et pourquoi !Je cherche un résumé de la fin du livre sur Internet, ça ne m'arrive jamais, mais je n'arrive pas à finir ce livre...

A surprisingly, Nice read wasn't expecting it but I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series either on line or paper back really enjoy the historical fiction.

This is a very detailed and enjoyable thriller. Would love to see matt Damon as Bourne in this story. Lustbader has captured Bourne entirely

The historical background and the physical adventure and storyline made for a fun read. Great to learn Alexander's life story