Name of the Beast

by Daniel Easterman

As terrorists ravage Europe and fundamentalists rule the Middle East, ex-British agent Michael Hunt and A'isha Manafaluti, a noted archaeologist, enter the war-torn region and are trapped in the plague-ridden City of the Dead. Reprint.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Horror, Historical Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Mystery, Egypt

Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

A pseudonym used by Denis M. MacEoin (aka Jonathan Aycliffe).

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Οκ, δεν είχα και τρελές προσδοκίες αλλά στάθηκε κατώτερο νομίζω ως προς το ότι ο συγγραφέας είχε την ευκαιρία να εμπλουτίσει το κείμενο του με περισσότερη αρχαιολογία/μυθολογία και να δώσει μια εσάνς αυθεντικότητας. Κατά τα άλλα ο αχταρμάς περί τέλους του κόσμου, ισλαμιστών τρομοκρατών, επιδημίας πανούκλας και συνομωσιολογικού πιστολιδιού, αφενός δεν πολυπείθει αφετέρου διαβάζεται αρκετά εύκολα και γρήγορα, νιώθοντας πως βλέπεις κατασκοπευτική ταινία που δε καταλαβαίνεις ωστόσο γιατί τρέχουν οι πρωταγωνιστές.

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

În acel an se aşternuse peste Egipt o iarnă ciudată. Nu cea mai rea dintre ele, ci sumbră şi lungă. Piramidele erau învăluite de pâclă, fapt nemaiauzit. În valea mormintelor, odăile regilor demult morţi musteau de atâta ploaie. Felucile zăceau înţepenite pe Nil, tăcute, cu fusurile cârmelor afundate în noroiul cleios.

Pe câmpiile întunecate, femei cu braţe firave şi copii treziţi în orele reci, de dinainte de răsărit, însămânţau orzul cu mâinile îngheţate. Era ploaie acolo unde nu plouase niciodată, ger unde nu fusese niciodată, păianjenii invadaseră casele victimelor neştiutoare, iar uşile celor care se sinuciseseră erau deja ţesute cu pânzele lor. Era ca şi când minunile sau supliciile erau ceva obişnuit.

În moschei, preoţii propovăduiau sfârşitul lumii. În Cairo, Shaykh Kishk profeţea din amvonul său venirea lui Dajjal. Anticristul cu un singur ochi. Spunea că paşii lui fuseseră auziţi chiar pe o alee îngustă din oraşul vechi. În Alexandria, un măcelar tăiase un viţel cu două capete. În Tanta, o evreică cu părul roşu născuse un monstru. În deşertul de lângă Wadi Natrun, căzuse grindină cât oul de porumbel. Într-un coridor pustiu, în Sayyda Zaynab, copilaşi cu mâini bătrânicioase se jucau cu tigva fără ochi a unei capre albe.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely whizzed through the first third of this book which was beautifully written, involved a touch of archaeology, religion and spying but then it started to get very cloak and dagger heavy and the descriptions of some rather nasty deaths was pretty disturbing so I must admit the second third took me quite a while to struggle through and that I did start to skip the more detailed descriptions of torture and death. The final third was still cloak and dagger mode for the most part and people trying to evade capture in a plague riddled Cairo under the control of religious zealots and perhaps something/someone more sinister...I was a tad disappointed with the ending. This is an OK book which is now somewhat dated, I must be honest I was expecting a bit more archaeological and esoteric adventure, rather than a spy and terrorist romp.

[Kristin Otti · Rating 1 out of 5]

By the name and the cover you'd expect mummy's curse or some ancient aliens but no its some wierd spy flick. In the middle of the book it turns out that some people just have the same nightmare about a black pyramid and thats it. I cant be certain but it feels like that the autor has done a lot of research in Cairo and its somewhat current history, but gets upper and lower Egipt wrong and I think the city of the dead read like it was on the wrong side of the river. Also the ending was, I dont even know what. Main character and his love interest survive. Would be several action movies in one but needs better plot and motives.

[Dan Woessner · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't have high expectations entering this book, and I would say that it met those expectations. The plot moved quickly and the story was easy to follow. I thought it missed some chances to enhance the story with more mythology and history, and at no point did I really connect with the main characters enough to really care what happened to them. There were a few scenes that were simply ludicrous, most notably the sex scene in the middle of the street in a plague quarantine zone. Nothing gets the hormones going like the threat of catching the bubonic plague.

[Tommy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my reading on the bus book. Low brow, non threatening and gets me to work in the morning.

Some good ideas, as spy novels go, with a menacing tone throughout, but a pot boiler nonetheless.

[Bojana Rimanić · Rating 5 out of 5]

So shocking, sometimes I had to stop reading cause I just couldn't stand the foolishness of some of the characters- especially the government of Egypt.

[Marsten · Rating 2 out of 5]

Me pareció regular.

[Baz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever plot.Twists & turns but easy to read. Daniel Easterman is up to standard.

[Huw Collingbourne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite a disappointment. I had big hopes of this book. Written in 1992, it predicts the rise of Middle Eastern Islamic fundamentalism resulting in spectacular terror attacks in Europe. So far so good. But instead of exploring that prescient idea, the author then turns the novel into a rather pedestrian adventure story that reminded me a bit of Modesty Blaise with a splash of James Bond and a dash or two of Rider Haggard for good measure. Oh well, it passed some time...

[Amrit Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one starts slowly. One might find oneself lost among the many characters and diverse places where the events are taking place. After reading a quarter of it, one begins to identify and understand the characters and what are they doing in the story (I recommend a little patience in the beginning).
The description of places is quite real. The events are described in chilling details whereas the underlying philosophy is easily relate able to things happening around in the world at present even, though it was written almost 20 years ago.

I recommend it to anyone who has interest in history, archeology, thriller, religion and mystery.

Though a few things remain unanswered , yet the book is a good entertainer and succeeded in me turning on the pages