The Pharaoh Key (Gideon Crew Series #5)

by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child

Overview

When his former employer goes missing, Gideon Crew, reeling from his terminal diagnosis, pursues the long-awaited translation of the Phaistos Disc, an ancient tablet that could end or save his life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455525829
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	06/12/2018
Series:	Gideon Crew Series , #5
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

The thrillers of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child "stand head and shoulders above their rivals" (Publishers Weekly). Preston and Child's Relic and The Cabinet of Curiosities were chosen by readers in a National Public Radio poll as being among the one hundred greatest thrillers ever written, and Relic was made into a number‑one box office hit movie. They are coauthors of the famed Pendergast series, and their recent novels include Bloodless, The Scorpion’s Tail, Crooked River, Old Bones, and Verses for the Dead. In addition to his novels, Preston writes about archaeology for the New Yorker and Smithsonian magazines. Child is a Florida resident and former book editor who has published seven novels of his own, including such bestsellers as Full Wolf Moon and Deep Storm.

Readers can sign up for The Pendergast File, a monthly "strangely entertaining note" from the authors, at their website, www.PrestonChild.com. The authors welcome visitors to their Facebook page, where they post regularly.

Place of Birth:

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Education:

B.A., Pomona College, 1978

Website:

http://www.prestonchild.com

Editorial Reviews

★ 2018-05-15
Doomed by a fatal illness, Gideon Crew embarks on one wild, series-ending adventure (Beyond the Ice Limit, 2016, etc.).Crew has AVM, a brain malformation that will kill him in about two months, although he'll feel fine until his sudden death. He and his engineer colleague Manuel Garza lose their jobs with no warning when their employer, Effective Engineering Solutions, suddenly stops paying them and shuts down without a word of explanation. While they're cleaning out their desks, they discover that a computer in the office has just finished a calculation that it's been working on for 43,000 hours—almost five years. Garza sticks a USB drive in the computer and downloads the information, which is about a secret project to decipher the ancient Phaistos Disk. Garza proposes that they find whatever treasure it may lead to and sell it "for the most dough we possibly can," no matter what it turns out to be, even if it's a "fucking centerfold of the Mona Lisa." So they trek to the desolate Hala'ib Triangle in southeastern Egypt, a journey involving one blasted thing after another. They ride an ancient ferry that sinks on the Red Sea, drowning hundreds. A woman outbids Crew and Garza when they try to rent camels, their guide cheats them, and they nearly die of thirst in the desert, where they try to survive a haboob—"the worst kind of dust storm"—and find a "mist oasis." The pace never slackens as they get closer to the GPS coordinates they're looking for, and they have an encounter that changes everything. Crew's legerdemain and Garza's nifty engineering skills get them out of serious jams but may not save them from the one-eyed leopard or the fearsome warrior who is determined to fight Garza to the death. Through all of this, Crew faces the ultimate clock, the one ticking inside his brain. This is a cleverly plotted yarn with some laugh-out-loud twists, the best ones involving Garza's bravery and ingenuity. There are numerous references to earlier books in the series, and fans might like to read Beyond the Ice Limit first. Still, this book stands alone just fine.When the end of a book with a dying hero makes the reader laugh, that's a neat trick. This is a great cap on the series.

Kirkus Reviews

PRAISE FOR THE GIDEON CREW SERIES:

"Preston & Child take all of the various elements from classic horror and sci-fi films and novels and spin them together to write what begins as an action adventure, but soon delves into paranoid terror ... scary good fun."—Associated Press, on BEYOND THE ICE LIMIT

"Preston and Child have been in the business of keeping secrets for years now and simply no one's better at knowing just how long to keep them... wildly entertaining and lightening paced... impossible to put down."
—Providence Sunday Journal, on THE LOST ISLAND

The eponymous Gideon Crew would be equally comfortable smack in a Ludlum tempest or striding onto the set of the Ocean's Eleven franchise. Preston and Child have crafted an electrifying, riveting thriller on which I could continue to heap praise, but instead I will just offer this: Read the book! And we can all look forward to the next appearance of Mr. Gideon Crew in the not-so-distant future."—David Baldacci, on Gideon's Sword

"One wild, series-ending adventure.... cleverly plotted...This is a great cap on the series."

—Kirkus (Starred Review)

"Entertaining...Fans of the Indiana Jones movies

will find plenty to like."

—Publishers Weekly

"Look up adventure in the dictionary and you're likely to find a picture of Doug Preston and Lincoln Child for reasons that are all on display in 'The Pharaoh Key'....This is lightning-paced, action-thriller writing of the highest order, a throwback to the best of Alistair MacLean and reminiscent of James Rollins and Brad Meltzer at their best."—Providence Sunday Journal

"[THE PHARAOH KEY] invokes classic adventure novels from the early 20th century. Mystery after mystery builds into a finale that even savvy readers won't see coming. If this truly is the last Gideon Crew novel, the authors have ended his escapades in grand style; fans will rejoice and newcomers will appreciate the sheer scope of everything."—The Associated Press

"As always with this team, Preston & Child have done their homework and taken a very interesting relic in order to produce, once again, a story that will have readers thrilled and excited and begging (still) for more of their creations to come as fast as possible."

—Amy Lignor, Suspense Magazine

From the Publisher

The eponymous Gideon Crew would be equally comfortable smack in a Ludlum tempest or striding onto the set of the Ocean's Eleven franchise. Preston and Child have crafted an electrifying, riveting thriller on which I could continue to heap praise, but instead I will just offer this: Read the book! And we can all look forward to the next appearance of Mr. Gideon Crew in the not-so-distant future.

on Gideon's Sword David Baldacci

Look up adventure in the dictionary and you're likely to find a picture of Doug Preston and Lincoln Child for reasons that are all on display in 'The Pharaoh Key'....This is lightning-paced, action-thriller writing of the highest order, a throwback to the best of Alistair MacLean and reminiscent of James Rollins and Brad Meltzer at their best.

Providence Sunday Journal

Preston & Child take all of the various elements from classic horror and sci-fi films and novels and spin them together to write what begins as an action adventure, but soon delves into paranoid terror ... scary good fun.

on BEYOND THE ICE LIMIT Associated Press

Preston and Child have been in the business of keeping secrets for years now and simply no one's better at knowing just how long to keep them... wildly entertaining and lightening paced... impossible to put down.

on THE LOST ISLAND Providence Sunday Journal

Doomed by a fatal illness, Gideon Crew embarks on one wild, series-ending adventure…The pace never slackens…This is a cleverly plotted yarn with some laugh-out-loud twists, the best ones involving Garza’s bravery and ingenuity…When the end of a book with a dying hero makes the reader laugh, that’s a neat trick. This is a great cap on the series.”

Kirkus Reviews

[THE PHARAOH KEY] invokes classic adventure novels from the early 20th century. Mystery after mystery builds into a finale that even savvy readers won't see coming. If this truly is the last Gideon Crew novel, the authors have ended his escapades in grand style; fans will rejoice and newcomers will appreciate the sheer scope of everything.

Associated Press

In the course of their quest, Gideon and Garza escape from a sinking ship on the Red Sea, join forces with an attractive British geologist named Imogen Blackburn, and discover a lost civilization in a remote valley. The authors keep the tone light and the reader guessing right up to the open ending, which leaves some major plot points unresolved. Fans of the Indiana Jones movies will find plenty to like.”

Publishers Weekly