I so enjoy reading these Wilbur Smith books set in Egypt. This book follows 'Taita' in his doings after "Warlock". I believe this is now the 4th book in the series. The others I have always rated as a 10. This one an 8. I'm not sure I can put my finger on it but I think it may be because the others seemed to stick a little more to plausible history of Egypt. Taita, being a man of supreme powers, has always been able to conger up some magic etc. But in this book it just seems more than usual and even the plot itself is not as believable as in the past. Too much witchery for me and not as much real Egyptian history/culture as before. Still, it was engaging and I enjoyed reading it. After my daughter reads it (she's also a fan of Smith) I will let it go to charm another fan.