The book is woven into three stories - (1) Modern day as James Patterson researched and wrote his version of the life and death of King Tutankhamen and his only wife Queen Ankhesenpaaten. (2) The life of Howard Carter, the Egyptologist who discovered Tut's tomb in the early 1900's A.D. (3) And, of course, the lives of Tut and Anhke. But, Chapter 1 starts in 1492 B.C. with the death of Tuthmosis I, the first pharoah buried in the Valley of the Kings.
After King Tut's death, the pharoah was Ay (or Aye). After him was Horemheb, former General/Commander of the Army and advisor to Tutankhamun. Horemheb obliterated images of the Amarna queens and kings so much of the 18th dynasty history was lost. Tut's life was probably pieced together by the artifacts and paintings in his tomb.
Patterson wrote a very good story about these Egyptians. The life and death of Tut and Anhke are especially compelling. There is so much controversy about King Tut that scientists and scholars cannot agree to the identity of his mother, whether Queen Ankhesenpaaten was Tut's half-sister, and whether Tut died from murder, accidental or by natural causes. In fact, his age for his reign are questioned. Somebody believe it was 8 years old to 17 years old. Some say not until he was 9 or 10. Whatever...either way, he was quite young.
Patterson does a well enough job with his version of King Tut's story. It's enjoyable, but it's not true history. Patterson's conjecture is plausible enough for a "recommend."
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