FROM THE SHADOWS. A NEW EVIL WILL RISE.
FACELESS. NAMELESS.
Since his appointment as Nomarch of Memphis, by the God-Pharaoh Rameses, Piay has thrown himself into pulling the city back from the brink. The famous white city walls have been rebuilt, the once starving inhabitants fed and every day caravans have arrived from the desert wastes, filled with the many riches looted and hidden by the Hyksos. But when the body of a murdered scribe is found sealed inside the newly constructed city vault – the mark of Anubis, god of death, scrawled next to him in his own blood – panic sweeps the city. Only the wisest man in all Egypt can solve this mystery – Piay’s mentor, the great sage Taita.
Called from his place at the God-Pharaoh Rameses’ side, Taita’s arrival in Memphis calms the populace, but it isn’t long before the mark of Anubis appears again, and again. Taita and Piay are drawn into a battle of wits against a criminal mastermind turned warlord, his aim – with the demise of the Hyksos – to see the kingdom of the Red Pretender restored and the forces of Rameses crushed.
Will everything that Taita has fought for be torn asunder? Or will he and Piay finally reunite the two kingdoms? Only time will tell. And time is running out.
Book 4 in The New Kingdom Sequence and book 10 in the Ancient Egyptian series from the master historical adventure writer, Wilbur Smith.
Praise for Wilbur Smith
‘A master storyteller’
Sunday Times
‘No one does adventure quite like Smith’
Daily Mirror
‘Best historical novelist’ Stephen King
Circa l’autore
Wilbur Smith was born in Central Africa in 1933. He became a full-time writer in 1964 following the success of When the Lion Feeds, and has since published over fifty global bestsellers, including the Courtney Series, the Ballantyne Series, the Egyptian Series, the Hector Cross Series and many successful standalone novels, all meticulously researched on his numerous expeditions worldwide. An international phenomenon, his readership built up over fifty-five years of writing, establishing him as one of the most successful and impressive brand authors in the world.The establishment of the Wilbur & Niso Smith Foundation in 2015 cemented Wilbur’s passion for empowering writers, promoting literacy and advancing adventure writing as a genre. The foundation’s flagship programme is the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize.Wilbur Smith passed away peacefully at home in 2021 with his wife, Niso, by his side, leaving behind him a rich treasure trove of novels and stories that will delight readers for years to come. For all the latest information on Wilbur Smith’s writing visit www.wilbursmithbooks.com or facebook.com/Wilbur Smith