The Abraham Enigma

by Jack M. Lyon

Egypt was hot as a furnace, as a refiner’s fire; even the Nile breezes as they crept through Cairo made little difference. But the men were meeting anyway, in a private room in the back of a coffee house near Orabi Square. One of the men smoothed back his thick, white hair, then looked around the circle before turning to a large man, dressed in black. “All is ready in America?” “Yes. The attacks will be sudden— and devastating.” The big man paused. “But the FBI is investigating the embassy, so we must move slowly and carefully.” “You are a cautious man— maybe too cautious. Some might even wonder whose side you are on.” The whitehaired man narrowed his eyes. He looked up as a newcomer joined the group, settling his skinny frame into a chair by the door. “Soon it will not matter,” the man shrugged. “The embassy will be destroyed. Then the attacks in America will drive the point home, on their own soil. Perhaps then the Americans will keep to their own business.” When FBI agent and cryptologist David Hunter is temporarily assigned to decipher coded terrorist communications in Egypt, he imagines an extended honeymoon with his new wife, April, exploring the ancient land and pyramids. He could not have been more wrong. The symbols used in the code are nearly impossible to interpret, while other evidence points to a possible traitor inside the embassy. As David realizes that time is running out, he turns to an unlikely source for help— an authentic Egyptian document containing the pharaohs’ priestly writing code, hieroglyphics that bear a striking similarity to characters in the fascimiles in the book of Abraham.

Genres: Lds Fiction, Mystery, Lds, Fiction, Christian Fiction, Adult

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 28, 2010

About the author

Jack M. Lyon, managing editor at Deseret Book Company, helped compile the two-volume Best-Loved Stories of the LDS People and other books in the Best-Loved series. He and his wife, Anne, have four children and have two grandchildren and reside in West Valley City, Utah.

Reviews

[Victoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

David is back, this time in Egypt with his new wife. The story is so simplistic. The real point I think is comparing the Book of Abraham (in the Pearl of Great Price) with the writings of ancient Egypt. That was the only part of the book that was interesting. The story line wasn't,

[Ryviera Shayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun and unique read! Want to take a walk in a pyramid? Understand more about hieroglyphs? Learn a little bit about Egypt? Intrigue? You'll get all of this and more as well as some interesting insight into the connection between Egypt and Abraham. This is one you won't want to miss!

[Ranee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was definitely a book with an agenda but I found it a good agenda & interesting.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick and easy read that I devoured in a day. Overall I really enjoyed the story, but I would have preferred if everything hadn't been revealed so quickly; this book would have gained a lot just by gradually letting the clues build up before letting the double agents reveal themselves at the end, rather than telling us right away--after only one or two scenes with certain characters--not to trust them. When the climax finally came and the double agents' missions unfolded, there was no suspense in it for me as a reader because I had been waiting for it to happen from the beginning.

This book also contains an abundance of cheesiness in the relationship of the main character with his wife and the general "churchiness" of the novel. I have never used the word "churchy" in a negative way (I wish everyone was as devoted to God as Lyon's protagonists), but LDS fiction tends to walk a very fine line between portraying active LDS characters and being blatantly moralizing. Unfortunately, this story did have an ending that seemed to say, "Now, the moral of the story is..." Not that morals are bad to have in literature, but I find myself more responsive when they aren't pointed out to me. To this book's credit, there were a lot of positive messages that weren't totally spelled out, and I loved them: the power of a righteous example; spiritual strength and protection in return for the keeping of covenants; the blessings of scripture study; and the importance of family over worldly acclaim, just to name a few. This is a very uplifting book, and I feel inspired to be a better person after reading it.

All in all, I liked this book quite a bit. It kept me interested and wanting to know what happened next, and I admire any author that can do that. This one has the added bonus of combining three things I love: FBI agents, Egyptian tombs, and the scriptures. I would recommend it to just about anyone, but you'll get more out of it if you've participated in LDS temple ordinances.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a great plot and story - if only it wasn't so "molly mormon" and "peter priesthood" oriented (I mean seriously who goes to the temple the day AFTER they get married instead of on a honeymoon?) For lack of a better word - this book was seriously way too "churchy". On the other hand, I did enjoy the relationships that the author found between the Abraham Scrolls and Hebrew fascinating... I loved how he really showed how when you "study" the scriptures - amazing things can be learned.

Brief Synopsis: David is called to go to Egypt by the US government to help prevent terrorism in the United States. When he gets close to tracking down some serious problems - mysterious notes are left for him telling him that unless he stops his investigation he and his wife (April) will be in serious danger. He thinks it's a hoax until (SPOILER) the Egyptian guests he is staying with take things too far and really do try to kill him.

The other thing that REALLY, SUPER bugged me about this book was the "double agent" who was working for the US government, but was bribed by the terrorists (with a large sum of money) to let the terrorists into the US embassy in Cairo... but last minute (while meeting with the terrorists) she backs out - and they let her!?!?! C'mon - anyone who watches some serious Jack Bauer 24 TV realizes that if you are working with terrorists and you want out - the only way is by them killing you. What was the author thinking? I think he wanted a happy ending for everyone involved. And he created it - but it made for a very (hmmm.... haw....) boring kind of book instead of one where you don't know where you are being led because he is willing to kill off his favorite characters.

Overall, I think this book had too many uncomfortable, unrealistic "mormony" things to read about... but (hands down) I still loved the parallels that he drew in the book... so that keeps my rating at a safe 3 stars.

[Linnae · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Hunter is a cryptologist for the FBI, so it's not too big a surprise when he's sent over to Egypt to intercept terrorist communications. Better still, his brand new wife gets to come along. As a terrorist group plans a devastating attack on the embassy, David has to figure out who he can trust and how to stop the attack. Oh, and how to keep his fragile new marriage alive, too. And himself. Yes, that too.

I thought the storyline on this one was fine, but all the bits comparing the Book of Abraham (part of Mormon scripture) with discoveries in Egypt were fascinating. I was entertained and intrigued. The "Notes for the Curious" at the end left me wanting to know more.

Oh and somehow, I came in on #2 of the series again. I'm getting a list of books that I need to go back and read the first one for.

[Sherrill · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very quick read. It is short and pretty good. There is a lot of tying into the Book of Abraham and some interesting comparisons with ancient Egyptian religious practices with the LDS temple rites and other significant practices. I have looked in to this a little when we were in Turkey and see some interesting similarities. Of course we answer that with the belief that the Lord taught these practices to Adam and throughout the centuries they have been altered or adulterated. This is why so much of the Masonic rites seem familiar. It was all taught clearly and correctly a very long time ago. I am not that in to reading about terrorists and smart CIA agents so wasn't that into this little read.

[Dottie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has no suspense and no substance. It gives away the double agents without letting you figure it out on your own and everything is just so one-dimesional. Super corny with the main character and his wife. This could have been a great story, but it was too underdeveloped leaving the story to fall flat. I just had high hopes considering Jack Lyon had been an editor for 25 years, over books like the Hearts of the children series and the Children of the Promise series. I was even more annoyed that I had purchased this book before reading it, because my library doesn't carry that many LDS authors, total waste of money.

[A.L. Sowards]

Interesting and an easy, enjoyable read. I felt like I was reading a heavily-abridged Dan Brown novel. The plot was good, but I felt like it was missing depth. I thought the characters needed a little more development, but this book is a sequel and I haven't read the first one, so maybe if I had I'd already know the characters and like them more than I did. I wouldn't recommend the book to non-LDS readers, but as far as LDS fiction goes it's not bad. The editing and writing are probably better than average for the genre.

[T · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some very interesting parts to this book, but overall, it feels shallow, like it needs more development. There was suspense and intrigue, but I was never drawn in. April is still a mystery to me, and not in a good way. She seems to shift from being immature, to mischievous, to academic to motherly. What a nightmare, you would never know who she was going be.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to say that the sequel was better than the prequel. Going to Egypt as an extention of their honeymoon seemed like a dream for David and April--a dream that turns into a nightmare. Besides the suspense, I got caught up in their study of the book of Abraham. It seems the Egptians and Jews used symbolism in everything.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute book and story. I'm LDS, but it was a bit heavy on LDS scripture. Not really sure it helped the story, but it didn't really hurt. It's worth a read and it reads very quickly. It got to a point where I couldn't just read at work here and there so I brought it home and finished it last night. Really good.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was so, so, so cheesy and naive. I literally made gagging noises while reading it. Not a total loss, though; the description of the Egyptian temple ceremony was interesting, as was the discussion of the similarities among Egyptian, Hebrew, and modern characters. Basically I didn't like the fiction bits.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

learned alot about hebrew language and symbols of drawings, language, scripture terms, etc...all in an easy-to-read fictional story.
More enjoyable than I thought it would be and would like to see what he comes up with next, also about times of Jewish people in Egypt in history...

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

So this is an LDS fiction book. I was kind of bummed. It was a little more churchy than I thought it would be. I did think it was interesting to read about the book of Abraham. But it was kind of cheesy and perhaps predictable. Oh well.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very quick read, and the plot had some cheesy, predictable elements, with a few stock or type characters, but I still liked it--learned some interesting things about the Pearl of Great Price and ancient languages. And a fairly good message.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting fiction novel for LDS members. An FBI agent brings his newleywed wife to Egypt with him on assignment. The story compares ancient egyptian symbols and things in the book of Abraham.

[Linda Brough · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to learn more about the story of Abraham but it turned out to be a bit shallow for me. The story line was okay but not too developed. Very predictable. I did learn a few facts about the book of Abraham which I appreciated.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book cheap at Deseret Book. It was a fun, quick read. It is a modern day mystery set in Egypt with lots of Abrahamic symbolism mixed in to help the main characters to solve the mystery and to survive.

[Lachell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't a big fan of the author's writing style and found the plot predictable and the characters cliché. However, I did find the "correlation" between the Book of Abraham and the Egyptian temple interesting enough to keep me reading to the end.

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting idea but not fleshed out enough and not "tied together."

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting storyline. I really like the parts that brought out interesting ideas about the book of Abraham, Egypt and relating to symbols.

[Cathi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good, short and simple, very easy to read. I wouldn't have minded it being longer or a bit more complex.

[Cherie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is an example of simplistic LDS fiction trying to pose as an international thriller. It just doesn't make the cut!

[Andrew Heath · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was interesting, but not as good as the first book.

[Sheridan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy, fun read. Some interesting insights into the scriptures.

[Kari Garrett · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story had a few exciting parts, but overall it wasn't as good as I had hoped.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this "mormon" DaVinci Code. Pretty simply writen but characters are cute and fun.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Didn't love the story, although the parallels between ancient Egyptian religion and modern day Mormon religion were fascinating.

[J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Left me feeling like I'd read a synopsis of a good book. It was fun but skimpy on details in all areas except those dealing with the book of Abraham and Egyptian temples.