Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Eye of the Desert by N K Bauer

Elizabeth Stanford's grandmother has been missing for five years. Many believe she is dead, but Elizabeth is certain her grandmother is just lost. She leaves for Egypt to look for clues as to where her grandmother Victoria might be, taking Victoria's journal with her. When she arrives, she meets Violet Teasdale, who allows Elizabeth to stay with her. Elizabeth finds a dirty old amulet in a store, and the moment she puts it on, it becomes like new. An earthquake occurs a few days later, after which Violet takes Elizabeth to see Unas and Iraeus, a pair of strange museum curators. These people tell Elizabeth her journey will be much more than rescuing her grandmother. With help from an oracle and a mysterious benu bird, Elizabeth must conquer a great evil. However, if Elizabeth rescues her grandmother, can she stop the evil from stealing Victoria away a second time?

I do not usually like books portrayed as mysteries, but Eye of the Desert was amazing, and seemed to be more adventure than mystery. The author chose an intriguing point of view to tell this story. I liked how each character had a different ability, such as Elizabeth bonding with the benu bird. It was an interesting twist when Elizabeth's friend turned out to be a powerful and evil magiana. I was only slightly surprised to learn that the Tetrad were forms of some of the Egyptian gods. I would recommend this book to anyone unless they truly dislike the supernatural or odd events, such as pouring rain in Egypt.

Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Lake City, IA USA