Papyrus

A Thriller

By: John Oehler

Narrated by: Martha Harmon Pardee

Rika Teferi, a young woman who formerly led midnight raids in Eritrea's war for independence from Ethiopia, is working on her doctorate in the Cairo museum when catastrophe strikes. An accidental tea spill damages the royal papyrus she has been struggling to interpret, the papyrus purported to be Queen Tiye's last message to her son, Tutankhamun. But the spill also exposes hidden writing below the surface hieroglyphs. Horrified at the damage but aching to read the entire secret text, Rika agrees to let visiting remote-sensing expert David Chamberlain smuggle the priceless document out of the museum and scan it with instruments on his aircraft.

The results are stunning. They show Tiye, previously a footnote in history, to have been the power behind the thrones of her husband and sons, as well as the architect of a monotheistic religion unique in ancient Egypt. Riveted by these revelations, Rika and David devise a covert plan to locate Tiye's tomb. But Major Hassam of the Egyptian Secret Police misreads their activities as a plot to overthrow the government and vows to stop them at all costs.

Reared in revolution, Rika feels a spiritual bond with Tiye, an African commoner who revolutionized Egyptian society by introducing a religion that freed Egypt from the tyranny of the Amun priests. Rika's quest to find Tiye's tomb parallels the queen's last journey up the Nile, 3000 years before, to be buried alive in a tomb like no other.

©2013 John Oehler (P)2016 John Oehler

Amazing tale!

Not sure how accurate the facts are ...but I am sure that they don't really matter! Definitely a tale worth listening to!

Among the best thrillers I’ve ever read

I am so glad to discover John Oehler. Papyrus is the first book of his that I’ve read, and I’m eager to begin the second. The story is intriguing, the characters real, and his descriptions of events and technology show an extraordinary amount of research. Be sure to read the epilogue, which gives details of how Papyrus came together. You won’t be disappointed.

I've Got A New Favorite Author

Narration was excellent!!

Storyline was exciting, informative and interesting beginning to end. Starting with a horrible war accident that the primary character, Rika, was set to be starkly of one particular opinion that time and experience changes. Had the same intense impact that Nelson Demille's "By the Rivers of Babylon" had on me....Can't stop thinking about it. Anyone who uses essential oils for healing or loves Egyptian history will get a lot out of this book. It's not a true story fictionalized, but because it's wrapped around true historical events, it feels like one. This was the author's debut work...well, I've got a new favorite author.

Ugh

I'm less than two hours in and I already can't take the bland characters and borderline mysogenistic plotline. I often give thrillers a pass on their "damsel in distress" narratives if they are at least an entertaining romp, but this is so bland I just can't take the underlying narrative...

Not worth time or money

could not finish. terrible vocal narration. Maybe book is decent but story was ruined. do not waste money.

Should Come With a Warning Label - Animal Abuse

This book showed promise in the first few chapters, with an interesting premise and plot. However, several chapters in, I was completely unprepared by a scene of such horrific animal abuse that I felt physically sick. It is an image that will not leave my mind, and probably won't for a very long time. I had to stop listening.

With respect to the narrator, while she does a good job with voices and inflection, her over-enunciation of each individual syllable makes the narration choppy and tiring to listen to for any sustained period.

Unfortunately, there were too many downsides to this book for me.