Last Secret Chamber

The plot is a little bipolar in that it starts out seemingly inspired by the likes of National Treasure, only to take a ninety-degree turn near the last third and land somewhere between paying homage to, and blatantly apeing, the Star Gate franchise. I have mixed feelings about this since I'm a fan of both. It's just an odd mashup that failed to smoothly transition from a plot perspective. It's the literary version of shifting without using the clutch.

That criticism aside, as with the first book in the series, Philips does a great job of getting the reader invested in the characters. Their motivations are reasonable, at least within the confines of the series. And perhaps most impressive, the author seems particularly well versed in Egyptian subject matter. The nuances of the research were interesting and thought-provoking.

To be clear, I deducted a star for the strangely disjointed plot mashup, but then gave a star back to the rating for the nuances and intricacies surrounding the Egyptian research. I would recommend the book to anyone who enjoyed the first in the series.