The Deceit

by Tom Knox

High-concept adventure thriller set in Egypt and Cornwall. What connects a lost hoard of ancient religious texts with a revival in satanic rituals? Perfect for fans of Wilbur Smith.
AN ANCIENT SECRET
When a renowned historian is found dead in a cave in the Sahara, his former student Ryan Harper vows to find out what happened. Rumour suggests he'd uncovered a priceless religious text, obsessively hidden for centuries by a network of holy men.

BROUGHT TO LIGHT
Meanwhile, on Cornwall's remote western moorlands disturbing rituals are taking place - rituals that appear to have Egyptian connections. Working the case, DI Karen Trevithick is caught up in a dangerous mystery that will threaten the person she loves most.

WILL SHAKE THE WORLD
With the help of filmmaker Helen Fassbinder, Ryan finds himself in a race against time to decipher the ancient text. Pursued across Egypt by those who would use its secrets to devastating effect, Ryan draws ever closer to an unspeakable truth. A truth that will expose the most shocking deceit the world has ever known...

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Crime, Mystery Thriller

451 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Sean Thomas is a British journalist and author. As a journalist he has written for The Times, The Daily Mail, The Spectator and The Guardian, chiefly on travel, politics and art. When he writes under the name of Tom Knox, he specializes in archaeological and religious thrillers.

Reviews

[William Peace · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Deceit is a complex tale of the occult. It begins with a prominent, old Egyptologist who is searching for the Sokar Hoard, a collection of ancient documents, which, rumour has it, will alter our concepts of religion. Meanwhile, in Cornwall, England, there is someone practicing very sinister witchcraft, which involves the burning of dozens of live cats. A detective inspector gets involved when a body is found – in mysterious circumstances – at the bottom of an abandoned tin mine. The young protégée of the famous Egyptologist sets out to find the Sokar Hoard, on the basis of rumours that his mentor actually found the Hoard, but is now dead. The young protégée is joined by a freelance movie maker and they discover part of the Hoard, but are – at first – unable to translate it. Back in Cornwall, the detective inspector begins to home in on the practitioner of the deadly black magic. The protégée, the movie maker and the detective inspector are threatened by various sinister forces, but they decipher the key message of the Hoard, and understand the nature of the black magic, respectively. They also learn the connections between the message of the Hoard and the black magic. If it were true, it would surely make your hair stand on end!

There are many twists and turns in this story. Some of the twists seem more like diversionary devices, than essential elements The characters seem two-dimensional; their purpose is mainly to facilitate the story. The language is story-telling language; it does not aspire to literature.

What contributes substantially to its believability is the author’s compelling knowledge of ancient Egypt. The places, the ancient culture and beliefs are all very real, and form the platform from which the occult tale can be launched. Unfortunately for me, it’s a leap too far. Too much of my religious understanding and my knowledge of science is called into question, but for those who do not suffer from credibility blockages, this novel may be just your cup of tea.

[Beatrix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Logically, it's a little bit far fetched. i had to google some of scientific terms used as it's really confusing!

But nonetheless, it's an interesting read if you have some time to spare.

I kinda like the overall story. What with the mixture of science, magic, religion, occult and etc.

And similar with The Marks of Cain, the ending is quite rushed.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dark and frightening thriller set in Cornwall and Egypt. As with the last Tom Knox thriller, it was let down severely, in my opinion, by the final third. 2.5 stars would be more accurate.

The review is now up http://forwinternights.wordpress.com/...

[Annette Gisby · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real page-turner with an intriguing plot. I might have given 5 stars except for near the end when there was a lot of discussion about various parasites and what they can do, made be feel a bit ill reading those to be honest!

[Kitap Ezgisi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Herkese selamlar,

Mükemmel bir roman ile yine buradayım. Tom Knox’un sanırım şu an için bütün kitaplarını okudum ve bu kitap da ilk 3’e girmeyi hak eden bir macera.

Sahra Çölü’nde ölü bulunan bir tarihçi, ona ne olduğunu araştırmaya karar veren öğrencisi ve bu olayı haber yapmak isteyen bir serbest haberci. Diğer tarafta ise bir dağ başındaki evde gerçekleşen esrarengiz olaylar ve bu olayları çözmek için çabalayan bir polis memuru.

Tom Knox yine iki farklı coğrafyada iki farklı olay döngüsü içerisinde ilerletiyor hikayeyi. Kitaplarını okuyanlar bilir ki, bu tarz onun tarzı. Sonrasında eşsiz bir yetenek ile iki hikayeyi birleştiriyor ve siz kitap boyunca iki farklı yolculukta yol alıyorsunuz.

Kitabın değindiği noktalar ve dikkat çektiği kısımları ben çok sevdim. İnanç konusuna sağlam bir dalış yaparak bunu biyoloji ile birleştirmiş olması ve “Acaba mı?” soru işaretini beyinlere serpmiş olması hoşuma gitti. Yazarımız yine esinlendiği konular gerçek olaylardan olsa da, kitabın ana konusu tabi ki hayal ürünü… Ama imkansız bir hayal mi? Orası muamma…

Mistik, merak uyandıran kitapları seviyorsanız eğer Tom Knox kitapları tam size göre…

Herkese keyifli okumalar…

[Katie King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely an interesting read that I have been recommending to the people around me. I was after a book with twists and turns and revelation at the end and I wasn’t disappointed!

The book took a few unexpected turns, although I picked it up not really knowing what to expect, and was pleasantly surprised. Everytime I thought the mystery had been revealed and the story would conclude, it took it somewhere else to another plot twist!

The story switches between two viewpoints, one story in Egypt and one unrelated story unfolding in Cornwall, UK and they obviously join together at the end as you would expect. It is well written, you get two or three chapters in each story before switching, and is just enough new information to make you want to read on and find out what happened before the narrator changes and you’re in a different scene!

[Steph · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me a month to finish this one. It was okay, I realized I'm really not into history. There's just too much information, it's overwhelming at times.

But the chants were terrifying, I'm not reading it anymore thinking I might awaken something! Hah!

One part that stayed with me was when Karen searched hopelessly for her daughter, I felt that moment, how scared she was, how every time she opens a door I fear on what she might see! That part was very well written.

I could try another Tom Knox book. :)

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose this book because of its links to Egypt, my brother is an Egyptologist so it tweaked my interest. I quite enjoyed the back and forth of the story from Egypt to England and vice versa. And i enjoyed the writing style, i found it quite Dan Brown esq. All in all a good book and a good story, which is quite exciting at times. My only criticism would be tbat he seems to go off track sometimes.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

You would really need to suspend disbelief in order to make it through this book. It started off alright but turned into an absolute mess towards the end. I cannot even begin to comprehend what was going through the author’s mind when he plotted this…strange brew. Giving this 2 stars for the creativity and in-depth research on Egyptian history.

[H C · Rating 1 out of 5]

The conclusion - OMG how silly. I also despise the way atheism is portrayed as a life without meaning. How would a believer know anything about that? Also bogged down with info-dumps, the Egyptian part really boring. If only about Cornwall and withcraft it probably would have been better.

[Catherine Edgson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some thrilling and a few gory moments
Takes a while to get into it
Possibly prefer some of the authors other works over this one
Was a little disappointed to find out what the problem had been (no spoilers)

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very exciting tale which bowled along at a good pace. Again Tom Knox runs 2 parallel stories to great effect. An excellent read.

[Ceri · Rating 3 out of 5]

An archaeological action adventure reminiscent of Dan Brown. Suspend your incredulity and it's a fun ride.

[Isabel Ogilvie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The end was a bit confusing. Wasn't really sure what happened to the policewoman.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, good characters, but a bit slow and rather predictable.

[Aylin Koç · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tom Knox düşüşe geçmiş. Evimde son kitabı var bir daha alacağımı sanmıyorum. Gereksiz detaylarda boğulmak istemiyorsaniz uzak durun. Yazik!!!

[Ella · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only reason why I didn’t give it 1 start is because some of the egyptology is interesting…

The book DRAGGED. The final reveal ia ridiculous, the characters are uninteresting, there’s one of those “it was all a dream” sort of moments and it was just… not good.

Also, I heard it as an audiobook and the narrator loved to make weird voices and accents which were annoying lol

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Knox returns with another great novel, with a strong religious undertone. When an Egyptologist is found dead in a cave in rural Egypt, his protege is on the scene to discover what's happened. Finding a set of ancient scrolls appears to be the key to the entire rationale, but that mystery is a little more complex than meets the eye. Meanwhile in Cornwall's quaint tonwships, a mysterious killer is using old satanic magic to mutilate and kill people and animals. As things heat up in both areas, a bridge bringing them together could solve both cases and yet cast doubt on monotheism forever.

Knox has a way of creating unique stories, all surrounding religion, that cast doubts within the reader both about their possibility and the larger effect of their truth. Planting such doubt, a la Dan Brown, makes the books all the more interesting. Here, Knox posits some massive hypotheses which, if true, could have more than the Catholics freaking out. Well written with a thorough attention to detail and a learning moment on every page, but not too preachy.

Kudos, Mr. Knox. You have surely got me wondering about religions and about what you'll think of next!

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't read any of Tom Knox's books before but was drawn initially by the cover and then by the blurb; codexes, ancient history, mystery and crime - all on my tick list of things I like to read.

Initially it appears two separate stories, which spend most of their time apart, a small link of ancient black magic keeping them together. I enjoyed both stories, probably the Cornwall side slightly more as, at times, I found the Egypt leg of the novel a bit heavy going. Whilst it was fascinating to learn about ancient Egypt, sometimes, I wasn't sure how this related to the plot or even really understood some of it.

There were lots of twists and turns in the plot and how it all came together in the end did give my brain a thorough work out!

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Conspirancy thriller, not my favourite genre but was a Book Club read so had to finish it. Lot of mixed up influences - think of Raiders of the Lost Ark + Curse of the Mummy's Tomb + The Da Vinci Code + The Exorcist, with a bit of modern science thrown in and you'll get the idea. If you like Dennis Wheatley/Dan Brown/Michael Crichton, you'll probably enjoy this, though it might have been better if he'd not tried to be all things to all readers. Even so, I got hooked and couldn't put it down, and the 'reveal' is provocative and controversial. I also thought his writing style and English was really good, so maybe one day he'll write a more serious 'literary' novel under his real name.

[Alicja Górska · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://recenzent.com.pl/1/recenzja-ks...

„Skarb heretyków” z pewnością szturmem listy bestsellerów nie weźmie, ale niecodzienność rozwiązania fabuły może odbić się echem wśród fanów gatunku. Jeżeli macie wrażenie, że wszystko już było, a kolejne powieści z tego gatunku jedynie powielają utarte schematy, spróbujcie z książką Toma Knoxa. Zaskoczenie w części finałowej gwarantowane, o ile nie zniechęcą Was świecące w ciemnościach piersi i podobne kwiatki.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Knox follows a tried and trusted formula that has served him well in his previous books, the action is fast paced, jumps from location to location and they are always well researched and informative. They are never going to win a Booker prize but they always keep you wanting to read one chapter more. This latest outing is no different, enjoy!!!

[Tiina · Rating 1 out of 5]

In so many ways, this was a disgusting book. I made an effort to finish reading but it would not get better, only more disgusting. Finally figured it would be a complete waste of time. I never want to read anything remotely resembling this, ever. One star is too many.

Sorry to be so negative but here was the line.

[Sabrine Cutting · Rating 2 out of 5]

A decent read while traveling over the weekend...not something I would ordinarily buy.

About 75% of the book had me hooked in, but the ending, albeit tongue in cheek, was disappointing. My expectation was that the explanation would be less scientific and more mysterious.

[Martin Rundkvist · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's some good writing and fun ideas here, but the plotting is strained (we even get dialog transparently inserted into the narrative in attempts to close plot holes) and the pacing isn't great. Religious folks will be annoyed while atheists like myself will chuckle.

[Cath · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird. Bizarre. Complex. Found it difficult to keep up at times with historical and political details but a page turner and fairly easy read. Very very strange idea although loved the twist in the last chapter.

[Mike Dishmon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Tom Knox stories, and this is a great story. I will not divulge the climactic ending to the story, suffice it to say it was very well written and enjoyable. I would really like to read what he used for research on this one.

[V.E. Lynne · Rating 2 out of 5]

'The Deceit' is a fairly good thriller that moves between Egypt and Cornwall where several, very disturbing occult happenings have taken place. Initially I liked the story but found the switches between settings and characters interrupted the flow too much and undermined my enjoyment of the novel.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy going read but felt the story/plot was missing something but idea was good though

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The basic story was enjoyable but the plot seemed very contrived in parts and the long explanations needed and given by apparently filming as they went along just became a little tedious.