The Murder of King Tut

Very Disappointing

James Patterson tried to draw readers into the story with an introduction that detailed his fascination with the death of King Tut. That's truly where the drama ended. By the conclusion of the book, I was asking why it had been written. Patterson talks about all of the projects he has going on at any given time. I think he should focus on a few good books rather than hordes of mediocre ones.

6 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

Laughable

Did Patterson actually do ANY research for this book? His theories are preposterous and with no citations as to where his theories come from how is any intelligent human being supposed to follow through on the research and see where the ideas came from originally (preferably from an expert in the field)? It received one star only because it wouldn't let me post without one. UGH!

6 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

The Murder of King Tut by James Patterson and Martin Dugard

Another great book by bestselling author James Patterson. I truly enjoyed reading this book and could not put it down. This is a great nonfiction Thriller and brings to life the history of Eqypt. I still wonder if the Child King Tut got really killed or if he died of the accident. This will still be out for debate. I would recommend this book to anyone.

6 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

KING TUT CONSPIRACY READS LIKE A NOVEL

With the hugely successful and amazing non-fiction book, AGAINST MEDICAL ADVICE in 2008,Patterson showed another side to his mystery writing. Patterson co-authors with Martin Dugard and they present their theory of how Tut, so often known as "the boy king", died and why.
James Patterson writes in the prologue how important research is in ANY kind of book that is written. Martin Dugard makes the trips to London, to Egypt, and to Tut's tomb, while Patterson concentrates more on the books and online references and data in order to get the historical background correct.
The book is cleverly and yet cohesively divided into three time periods and goes back and forth between the three, and even includes maps to help visualize locations.
Present day is one of the time periods and is where Patterson explains how he got the idea to do this book. Their details enabled me to get a mental image of the pyramids, the time periods, and most of all, brought about in me a sympathy for young King Tut. In the end, Patterson does give his idea of what actually happened to the young king.
The second time period is from 1891 to 1939 and takes place initially in London and moves on to Egypt. This part is the amazing story of Howard Carter and how he started out as a sketch artist in London getting paid to sketch people's pets and was then hired to be a sketch artist on an expedition to Egypt. Howard Carter is one of the most famous Egyptologists of the 20th century and the way he started out, with a fascination for Egypt and his drawing skills to become who he was, is so interesting and reads like a really good novel. He spent years excavating tombs in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt until he "struck gold" in November of 1922.It was then that Carter found King Tutankhamen's burial site.
The third and oldest time period of the book is 1492 BC to 1319 BC where we meet young Tutankhamen. This part amazed me as it described how the city of Armana had been built by Pharaoh Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti. Their relationship was detailed down to how the Pharaoh was dying from sand that was eating away the enamel in his teeth allowing disease and decay to poison his body. I had never heard of such a thing but it certainly makes sense.
This oldest part also told how and why Tut married his half sister as well as told how and why the tomb was so hard to find. There seemed to be some reason for people to want to totally erase everything there was about King Tut. He was just beginning to acquire the skill he needed to lead when he died, very mysteriously during the night. After Nefertiti (who was Tut's stepmother) and Tut died, Armana was destroyed by one of the people involved in Tut's murder, if you are to believe the conspiracy, and that seemed such a waste.
The way that Patterson weaves these three parts together was very well done and I found myself thinking I really was just reading a really good mystery. The research that Dugard did is a huge part of what makes this a successful story. Even if you aren't an expert about this subject, and I am not, you have to have that research to make it feasible. AND, if you don't have a master storyteller like Patterson to add his research and then his writing skills to put the pieces together fluently and fabulously, then you wouldn't have THE MURDER OF KING TUT-and a really, very good book. I found this to be a great end of the summer read!(Review by Karen Haney, edited to meet size requirements)

6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

The Murder of King Tut

James Patterson and Martin Dugard's non-fiction thriller "The Murder of King Tut" reads like a Patterson novel but filled with facts. The authors have the theory that Tut was murdered and develop that idea with thorough research. The book has you going through three time period. The period of Tut, which was quite fascinating to read; the tale of Howard Carter, the archeologist obsessed with finding the tomb in the early part of last century and present day (Patterson's life being consumed by the mystery of Tut). In Patterson's usual style, the chapters are short, making it an easy read. He presents his theory, but I am not sure he convinced me. It was a thrilling read and I enjoyed it much better than some of his other recent works.

5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

It could have been More

My first Nook book and it was a dud. I was looking for more forensic research but got a pinch of research, a lot of fiction, and a mildly interesting read. I did learn that I like using the Nook. If a reader didn't know a lot about Tut or Howard Carter it could be an interesting primer. If you want more then there must be better resources. There was a TV special that was light years ahead of this, though it drew similar conclusions. How could you not love a who dun it book on Ancient Egypt- now I know, read this one.

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

What a pile...

Forensics aside, it is fun to think that this Pharaoh was murdered. However, so is the idea of a curse! Modern medical forensics has demonstrated that Tutankhamun died from an accident resulting in his death and not the famous "blow to the head theory". It was an interesting premise now disproved by up to date medical results. Sorry...no cigar!

3 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

waste of money

I was very disappointed in this book. It did not add anything new nor did it reflect any research. Rather than waste ink and paper on writing about himself and his projects, Patterson should have positioned this as what it is: historical fiction with some bits of reality mixed in. Why exactly does he disagree with the findings of an accidental death? Easy to read but that is about it.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Decent book

This was a good entertaining look at the possible murder of Kin Tut. I enjoy ancient history and this was not at all dry as so many books can be. I'm not sure if I believe Patterson's theory, but it is a interesting one and he did do his research. I especially liked his account of Tut's life in story form, it made the book zip by. It's worth a read if you are a nut for history, and enjoyable whether you think he 'solved the case' or not.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

It was o.k.

Maybe because of who the author is created a higher expectation for me, but I was left a little wanting. I wished more coul've been given to Tut's death and the conspiracy around it. I enjoyed Carter's part of the story but wished there was more about the murder, since it IS in the title.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Fiction or Non? Either way, very disappointing

The premise of "The Murder of King Tut" is very alluring, particularly with the power of two strong names in writing: James Patterson who's written many popular books and Martin Dugard who's written a couple of wonderful epic biographies.

The delivery on this promise, however, was a terrible disappointment. I give this 2 stars instead of 1 only because I was able to finish it; mostly due to its 250 pages which are broken up by a very consumable 99 chapterettes. Yes...99 chapters in 250 pages.

Mr. Patterson and Mr. Dugard didn't have much to say.

The book bounces back and forth between the early 20th century focusing on Howard Carter and his early career and eventual discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamen - and the early 1300s B.C. focusing on the Boy King's birth and demise.

The flashbacks to King Tut's era are filled with trite dialogue that I can only guess were drawn 100% from Patterson's imagination. Having read two other Dugard books, I would expect his involvement dealt exclusively with the non-fiction research. Much of Carter's chapterettes were taken from various diaries of his. Without any notes or bibliography, however, it was impossible to tell what was made up and what had at least some foundation in fact. These chapters were, though, interesting.

Patterson would have us believe that King Tut was murdered, a common analysis that's not at all unique (just search for books on King Tut). Within the last couple of years, scientists have performed and analyzed a CT scan on Tut's body and concluded that he probably died from an infection caused by a broken leg. While I understand that this recent analysis is open to interpretation, Patterson dismissed it out of hand. I would've liked a little deeper rationale here.

Patterson resolves this ancient whodunnit with the most simplistic of conclusions based on a painting within the room that contained the body of the Boy King. After reading about 220 pages and 90+ chapters, I'd come to realize that the masterstroke conclusion of who killed Tut would be as disappointing as the rest of the book.

On that, Patterson delivered.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A disappointing read

I'm a huge fan of historical fiction as well as James Patterson, so of course, I had to read this book. What a waste of time and money. This was such a wonderful idea for a story, but since the author positions it as "non fiction", what you end up with is a few facts and some informed speculation. It would have been a better read if the author had used the murder of the boy king as a starting point and built a fictional account of what could have happened. Such a book would have better employed his skills as a master story teller...and would have been more enlightening and entertaining as well.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Very Disappointing...don't bother buying

Instead of being published in book form, this could have been published in Readers Digest...in 2 monthly installments.

Nothing new in this book about Tut or Carter. Just the same old story re-hashed to sound like a murder mystery. I'm sorry I purchased it and wasted my money. The author said, this book was the most research he has ever done for a book, he really should stick to fiction that requires no research at all because I feel there was no research done for this book. Just a plot line, some fabricated dialogue between characters and a shiny cover on the book.

Save your money or get it at the library

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Good book

The hole in Tuts head would not have been put there during the embalming because they removed the brain through the nose. They didn't consider the brain to be important. I don't know why one of the interviewers made a crack about Patterson's writing, called it sophmoric. Pattetson is a writer, he doesn't consider what he writes as literature so why should he be judged that way? He is a writer that appeals to the mass market, if you don't like him, DON ' T BUY HIS BOOKS!

Awsomes book eva

You should read this book if you want to learn wat egypt and egyptology is all about

Great read!

The Murder of King Tut was a great, fast read. I've read many books over the years regarding Ancient Egypt and King Tut. This book was a fasinating close-up of James Patterson's thoughts regarding this book, Egypt and King Tut's time, and Carter's discovery. I loved the way it was written in 3 different times, 3 different views. The read went so fast and I wanted more at the end! It was great! I want more!

LOVED this!!! I couldn't put it down!

I'm a huge history buff and this was an excellent read! LOVED how the ancient characters came to life and were woven into the Carter archaeological adventure! AWESOME!!!

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

GREAT read!

True to James Patterson, this book is a page turner. I would recommend this book to anyone...James Patterson fan or not.

Sophomoric tripe - The Brothers Grim would have been proud.

Once again Patterson's lack of writing ability abounds, but then he can always blame the anonymous buffoons who actually write his, ahem, literature. Not one shred of historical accuracy in this vague attempt at writing serious history. Patterson ignores 90 years of historical, medical, and scientific research, and instead consults with Bozo the Clown. Maybe if he didn't spend so much ink and paper on patting himself so much on the back... (Glad I picked this up at a library sale in a grocery sack of books for $5 - Sorry B&N)

Fast, Enjoyable Read

I'm not sure if James Patterson completely convinced me of his solution to the mystery of King Tut, but he makes a pretty good case. Moving back and forth between Tut's lifetime and the discovery of his tomb by
Englishman Howard Carter, with a few intervals in the present time, the book clips right along at a brisk pace and is never dull. Especially interesting are the ups and downs of Howard Carter, the Egyptologist obsessed with finding Tut's burial place. This is a quick read, and very absorbing.