A Path of Shadows

Lieutenant Bak #8

by Lauren Haney

The Gods blessed Lieutenant Bak, head of the Medjay police, with a rare brilliance -- which is why he is the one to whom his commander turns in a time of need. The explorer Minnakht has vanished into the vast and merciless Egyptian desert -- or perhaps has strayed perilously close to Queen Maatkare Hatshepsut's well-guarded turquoise mines -- and before Bak sails north on a new assignment he is to seek out the missing man. But evil is traveling with him and his Medjays in the caravan they accompany eastward. Someone -- or something -- is responsible for the strange rash of deaths that is rapidly thinning the numbers of their fellow travelers. A straightforward search for a missing adventurer becomes a twisted knot of treachery and blood -- one that threatens to strangle the life from Bak and his men and leave them buried for all eternity beneath the blistering sands.

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

320 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2003

About the author

This is a pseudonym for Betty Winkelman.

Lauren Haney, a former technical editor in the aerospace and international construction industries, is the author of several ancient Egyptian mysteries featuring Lieutenant Bak. She lives in Sante Fe, New Mexico, and travels to Egypt at every opportunity.

Haney's novels have been published in German, English and French, and in the Czech Republic. The german editions of her novels have been published unter her real name Betty Winkelman.

Reviews

[Jeff Dickison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good entry in the Lt. Bak series. Bak and his medjays are sent into a rarely explored desert in search of a lost commander's son. Is he deliberately missing or has he ben murdered? Rest assured, Bak will find out. Recommended to Haney fans.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sadly, this is the last book in my favorite Egyptian series. Lieutenant Bak’s last adventure takes him on a dangerous trip through the desert and in search of a missing explorer.
While I missed some of the regular characters that have been in the previous books, this story had sufficient breadth and action to keep my attention and have me wishing there were more.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good mystery - lots of twists and turns with lots of interesting facts about life in the 18th Dynasty Egypt.

I am sad, however, since this is the last volume in the series. I enjoyed every book. The mysteries themselves were top notch. Lauren Haney was a master of presenting life in ancient Egypt.

I highly recommend this books to anyone who likes mysteries and who likes historical fiction.

[Bibimus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ancient Egypt is always fascinating. In this period with a woman as the Pharoah, it is especially fascinating and very different from most other Egypt stories. Haney writes so well that you can believe you are living this story, and it's a very engaging and enthralling story.

[Karen Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun read. Full of historical stuff.

[Virginia Adi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun stories, but a bit repetitive.

[Anne Wingate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Minnakht Was Lost in the Desert . . .

or was he?
Nebenkemet was a carpenter . . .
or was he?
This eastern desert was far different from the no

[Dorothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the best book in this series so far. Lauren Haney's skills at plotting and drawing her characters seem to improve with each new entry.

In this story, Lieutenant Bak is enlisted by his commander on behalf of one of the commander's friends to go into the forbidding desert to search for the friend's son who has disappeared there. The man was an adventurer who loved the desert and the nomads who live there and who had spent some time there searching for gold and other precious minerals. The rumor is that he found them and the fear is that he was killed because of that find.

Bak sets out with a few of his Medjay and a guide of questionable character who also served as a guide for the missing man. Almost immediately, they encounter trouble and a mystery when they find an unknown man slain in the desert. They subsequently join forces with another group that is crossing the forbidding territory and further mayhem ensues.

Three more men die violently, including one of Bak's Medjays, and Bak becomes aware that the group is being followed, shadowed by a lone man who stays just out of their reach. Is he the murderer or is there some other purpose to his interest in the group?

Once again, Bak faces dangers as he is kidnapped and as attempts are made on his life. Where will it all end? Will Bak get his man once again? Can there truly be any doubt?

Okay, I've spent enough time in Hatshepsut's Egypt for now. Time to move on to something completely different for my next read, I think. But I'm sure I'll be back.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

# 8 in this ancient Egypt mystery series. A proud officer in the service of Queen Hatshepsut, it was Lieutenant Bak's great misfortune to lead his charioteers in a raid of a house of pleasure frequented by Egyptians of very high station. Reassigned for his transgressions, Bak is exiled to Buhen -- a fortified city in the most desolate part of the Nile valley where he put in charge of the police force of Medjays.

This follows Bak successful solving on the Flesh of the God mystery and Bak's commander asks him to help out an old friend whose son has gone missing before they move on to their new posting. The missing son is an explorer who travels in the desert hoping to find gold or some other precious minerals. Bak is unfamiliar with the this area and and his group searching for missing man quickly becomes involved in murders of party members as the search progresses.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of the best in this series featuring Lieutenant Bak of the Medjay police in the era of female Pharaoh Hatshepsut. While on a quest for gold, explorer Minnakht has vanished into the very dry Egyptian desert. His father is an influential army commander so Bak is sent to locate the missing man. Most of the book is spent wandering around the desert with recalcitrant donkeys in a makeshift caravan. Bak is still an interesting character but the setting does not offer much to fill out the plot.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lieutenant Bak and a Medjay team are sent into the desert to find a Commandant's missing son. A mysterious man is watching their caravan from the mountains above their trail, and murder after murder is occurring close to their camps. Did the missing man really find a gold mine, to stir up such protective vigilance?

We vividly experience Egypt's eastern desert and the mines so far from civilization, and meet reclusive, admirable nomads. I enjoyed this much more than the previous Lt. Bak books, because there wasn't the city life to distract the author from her story.

[Jadetyger Sevea · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars. I thought this an engaging read, although the author overuses some words and phrases to excess.

[Barb in Maryland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent outing, as always.
Very distressed to hear that the publisher pulled the plug on this series. I loved Lt Bak! and was looking forward to his next adventure when I read the news. Bummer.