Book Confessions of an Ex-Ballerina

Book Review: Cries From the Lost Island by Kathleen O'Neal Gear

Title: Cries From The Lost Island

By: Kathleen O'Neal Gear

Genre: Fiction 

Pages: 320

Release Date: March 10th, 2020

Publisher: Daw Books

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Summary from Goodreads: 

This standalone fantasy brings an ancient Egyptian mystery to life against a modern background, in a tale expertly crafted by a seasoned anthropologist

Set against the glory and tragedy of ancient Roman Egypt, this novel brings to bring to life the greatest love story of all time.

Sixteen-year-old Hal Stevens is a budding historical scholar from a small town in Colorado. A virtual outcast at high school, he has only two friends: Roberto the Biker Witch and Cleo Mallawi. Cleo claims to be the reincarnation of Queen Cleopatra. She also believes she's being stalked by an ancient Egyptian demon, Ammut, the Devourer of the Dead.

But when Hal and Roberto find Cleo murdered in the forest near her home, it appears she may have been telling the truth. Her last request sends them journeying to Egypt with famed archaeologist Dr. James Moriarity, where it quickly becomes clear that Cleo has set them on the search of a lifetime: the search for the lost graves of Marc Antony and Cleopatra.

But they are not alone in their search. Cleo's murderers are watching their every move. And not all of them are human...

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Review: 

At first, I was drawn to this book because the story was so promising. We start off with a bang, when there is a murder and the main character is thrown into a world of confusion. We follow them to Egypt, where they try to piece together the reasoning behind the murder.

The story was a little slow for me a full of historical information fed to the reader through dialog. I got a little bogged down but was able to finish this short novel within a day.

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.