Day of the False King: A Novel of Murder in Babylon Hardback - 2006

This book was more for older readers, not middle-schoolers. Some of my friends got bored with the book. Personally I wish there was more fun in the book, like if Semerket's wife Naia was trapped and it turned into an action movie. Instead he just looks for his wife, without the action part. If you like very informative books, then this one is perfect for you. If you like young adult books (like me) then this book isn't for you. Semerket is mourning the loss of his former wife Naia, after her banishment to Babylon to become a slave, due to her current husband's involvement in a plot to kill the Pharaoh. When Ramses becomes ill, he sends Semerket to Babylon, to request that the idol of Bel-Marduk, believed to have healing powers, be allowed to come to Egypt to cure the pharaoh. He also gives Semerket papers to free his wife so that she may return to Egypt.

a reader

This book was more for older readers, not middle-schoolers. Some of my friends got bored with the book. Personally I wish there was more fun in the book, like if Semerket's wife Naia was trapped and it turned into an action movie. Instead he just looks for his wife, without the action part. If you like very informative books, then this one is perfect for you. If you like young adult books (like me) then this book isn't for you. Semerket is mourning the loss of his former wife Naia, after her banishment to Babylon to become a slave, due to her current husband's involvement in a plot to kill the Pharaoh. When Ramses becomes ill, he sends Semerket to Babylon, to request that the idol of Bel-Marduk, believed to have healing powers, be allowed to come to Egypt to cure the pharaoh. He also gives Semerket papers to free his wife so that she may return to Egypt.

a reader

I suggest that you don't read "The False King" if you have a short attention span because things can get boring. If you're more into history and would like to learn about the Babylonian ways, then I advice you to do so and read it. It is the second book in the series of, "Semerket, Egyptian Clerk of Investigations and Secrets", it may be confusing if you don't read the first book to the series. I personally love books, mostly fiction or romance and this book is neither, it was hard to concentrate and get a picture in my head of the story. It really just depends on what type of genres you like to read about to actually want to continue and and get into the story. The time is about 1150 B.C. The main plot of the story is of Naia who was banished to Babylon as a slave, which is not that great of kingdom to be, for there are too many people battling to rule it. Semerket believes that he must go and save her from the terrible people of Babylon because he gets a note describing that she is in some danger. He is also trying to complete a task which will cure the Pharaoh Ramses health, which is a challenging task, with people trying to fight for the land as well. It is a very interesting book about old Babylon, and the vulnerabilities shown by Semerket because he is mostly known as the more serious manly type. I enjoyed this book in some ways, by how Greagley described Semerkets emotions and how well his wording was in putting forth all thoughts of everyone. I would give it 3 and ½ stars in rating.

a reader

The murder in babylon The book the false king was a book i was not very interested in at the beginning it started out slow but as i read the book it slowly became more interesting. I like that it takes place in ancient babylon if you like mystery and adventure this will be a good book for you, if you don't like slow moving serious books i would not recommend it. But it has some humor, it's not all serious i liked this book and i think you would to so as you know it takes place in babylon. The pharaoh died from an assassination and his son is placed on the throne but is scared that they will kill him to and set in a regent because his heir is too young for the position of Pharaoh so he asks semerket to retrieve a statue that is believed to have healing powers and semerket says he will fulfill this task because by doing this he will be able to see his ex-wife because she is in babylon because her husband brought her there so he goes on his journey and has an interesting time,i liked this book and you probably will to.

a reader

I find that Day of the False King wasn't what I expected, not in a good way. First of all this is my opinion and I haven't reviewed many books in my lifetime however I just find the book well, plain. At first I picked up the book thinking that I would be immersed in the ancient culture of ancient Egypt and the middle east. But that wasn't the case. The book didn't really talk about the surroundings and great and diverse culture of the area and also did not offer any complex or immersive dialogue. As for the plot. Same thing. A detective story in ancient Egypt, what? The ideas of detective agencies and detectives are a very western idea and doesn't really fit in ancient Egypt. The main protagonist at the beginning has the stereotype detective intro, a mysterious man sitting at a bar but doing something out of the ordinary was just plain. Well the list goes on and I do not want to start blabbing on forever. My final rating on the book is a 4/10.

a reader