The Alexander Cipher: A Thriller
Written by Will Adams
Narrated by David Colacci
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
An unconquerable warrior king, Alexander was the single most powerful man on the planet and thought to be a god. Now, nearly 2,500 years later, the discovery of his tomb, seemingly lost forever, is within reach, triggering a deadly hunt for one of the greatest treasures of all time. Knox is not the only seeker; others are after the prize, and they would kill to win it.
In the spirit of the great adventure-thrillers by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, Clive Cussler, Raymond Khoury, and Steve Berry, The Alexander Cipher is a rip-roaring ride through history, archaeology, and the great deserts of Egypt.
Will Adams
Will Adams has tried his hand at a multitude of careers over the years. Most recently, he worked for a London-based firm of communications consultants before giving it up to pursue his life-long dream of writing fiction. His first novel, The Alexander Cipher, has been published in sixteen languages, and has been followed by three more books in the Daniel Knox series, The Exodus Quest, The Lost Labyrinth and The Eden Legacy. He writes full-time and lives in Suffolk.
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Daniel Knox
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The Alexander Cipher: A Thriller Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Exodus Quest Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for The Alexander Cipher
173 ratings22 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Digging Up AlexanderThis past march, Will Adams has burst onto the archaeology thriller scene with his new debut to an upcoming series involving ancient history archaeologist Daniel Knox. This first installment titled The Alexander Cipher, has our hero Knox in more than a bit of hot water. It seems Daniel is wanted by just a handful of Egyptian bad guys and governmental officials for a few past deeds, misunderstandings, accidents, and quasi-unprofessional secret digs. Early in our story while aboard a boat, hired by a wealthy artifact hunter to dive Alexandria?s waters for sunken treasures, Daniel accidently comes upon this mogul as he rapes a young woman on board. Daniel?s temper gets the best of him and he proceeds to attack and beat the man, soon fleeing for his life knowing his professional reputation is once again skating on thin ice, and that another heavyweight with power will be out for revenge, this time to kill. While on the run, under cover of darkness, dodging bullets and screeching car chases, Daniel hooks up with old friends for help and the chase is on for him to avoid being shot, to install his reputation back to high esteem among his peers, and to come out ahead of the game as he also gets knee deep into the current latest and greatest Egyptian archaeology dig that will prove to be the most significant and spectacular find since Carter?s excavation of Tut?s tomb. The premise of this story that offers the reader history, love of archaeology, and the romance of lore and legend, is the story of the missing tomb of Alexander the Great. One of the greatest history mysteries of all time is the question of where his body and treasures landed. Following one lead after another, Daniel and his friends, the government, the antiquities experts, the terrorists and rich Egyptian moguls, all jockey for position trying to beat each other to the finish line, all following clues and coded ciphers to find where old Alexander is interred under the blazing sands of Egypt. Lots of action, great history, well developed characters, humor and adventure, all act as essential ingredients that allow Will Adams debut novel to rank right up high with William Dietrich, Raymond Khoury, James Rollins and all the other popular art/history mystery fiction thriller writers. In fact, I thought the author?s attention to historical detail and extremely talented writing skills were actually a cut above the rest by offering more meat and substance to the tale. I highly recommend this book and eagerly await the next.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Boilerplate Archeology thriller/mystery. Not bad, just nothing special.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a fast paced action thriller involving the final resting place of Alexander the Great and two countries who want to claim it. It's full of political intrigue and history. If you're a fan of the Indiana Jones movies then you'll love this book.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The book was interesting but it lacked the suspense factor that would have made it an outstanding book. I liked the character of Daniel Konx and I believe he will develop over time...but the majority of the characters were just a little too much on the unrealistic side in their reactions. Fans of the thriller genre with an interest in Egyptology and Alexander The Great will find that there is a great deal to like here...but those of us that seek more action and adventure in our books will find they are bogged down in too many subplots and historical facts.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grand Central Publishing, ISBN 9780446404709, March 2010
Once again, I listened to the audiobook. The narrator is excellent.
Daniel Knox is an archaeologist who, due to some unfortunate events a few years previously, is currently earning his living as a dive instructor, currently employed by an Egyptian gangster, Hassan. When he gallantly, if foolishly, rescues a young woman the gangster is raping, he finds himself on the run and in hiding, and is quickly abandoned by the young woman he "rescued," since she has figured out that she's slightly safer if Hassan doesn't think she wanted the "rescue."
Knox discovers that his new nemesis has a very long reach, and he isn't fast enough getting to the border. He's barely fast enough getting away from the border, and retreats to Alexandria, where he seeks the help of an old friend, French archaeologist Augustine, creating a false identity and getting employed on a local dig Augustine is involved in.
Also involved in this dig is Gaille Bonnard, an ancient languages expert who blames Daniel for the death of her father, who was Daniel's friend and mentor, and, because this site turns out to have connections to Alexander the Great, and Egyptian archaeology is badly underfunded, Nicolas Dragoumis, a Macedonian nationalist and wealthy industrialist whose father Phillip is, Daniel believes, responsible for the deaths of his parents and sister.
Really, I'm making this sound too simple and straight-forward. It's really much more complicated than that.
However, Adams keeps all the balls in the air, and drops in the necessary historical and background information smoothly and without slowing down this face-paced story.
If you enjoy a good thriller, this is well worth a read, with the promise of more in the series if you find at the end that you haven't had enough of Knox and...well, but that would be telling.
I borrowed this book from the local library. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I enjoyed this book a lot. It belongs to the now-commonplace genre of thriller based around historical fact and/or conspiracy, but it does it well. It's fast-paced enough to keep the reader interested, and enough twists and turns in the plot to keep you guessing.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fun book, I really enjoyed listening to this one. a great Indiana Jones type adventure, and Daniel Knox was a great character to go along for the ride with. Knox is looking for Alexander the Greats funeral carriage around the straights of Suez, and doubling as a dive instructor to pay the bills. When he crosses a very powerful and dangerous man. This sends him off running for his life. While hiding he stumbles upon an interesting mystery. And this mystery just happens to have an old enemy mixed up in the middle of it. And he also meets the daughter of an old friend as well. Knox has a lot of work to stay out of the clutches of either man and try and save the tomb of Alexander the great from being plundered by a rich man intent on starting a civil war.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I loved the pace and adventure of it all. Though the switching of point of view was a little difficult sometimes. Overall the story kept me engaged the entire time. I can't wait to get my hands on the second volume and to see what sort of mischief Daniel and Gaille will get themselves into next.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Read The Alexander Cipher from cover to cover in one sitting.
Loved it. What a fascinating ride. Huge drama, interesting characters. Great history lesson. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Daniel Knox is an outcast archaeologist and part-time dive instructor working in Egypt when a piece of gallantry suddenly means that he must go on the run to Alexandria to avoid painful and probably deadly retribution. At the same time an ancient tomb possibly linked to Alexander the Great is uncovered in Alexandria. This attracts some pretty unsavoury Macedonian separatists who wish to recover Alexander's body for their own nefarious motives.Knox begins to work on the site of the tomb but soon finds that he has jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. Having read some of the other reviews for this book I feel that some of the readers seem to have extent missed the point. This is a 'thriller' and as such it is meant as an entertainment,a page turner rather than some great,in depth literary masterpiece. In many respects the plot does what it is meant to do, with short punchy chapters it motors along quite merrily to a reasonable climax which I personally found all the more pleasing as the good guys don't necessarily win and although Knox does escape from some pretty precarious situations how he does so is reasonably plausible and not as far fetched as say the Indiana Jones movie franchise. On the whole I felt that the character of Knox was well drawn. He is knowledgeable about Egyptology without knowing absolutely everything ala the insufferable Robert Landon,despite the predicaments he finds himself in he is no real muscle bound hero wreaking mayhem wherever he goes and he is generally likeable with a core of common decency. In fact most of the male characters are well drawn even if their female counterparts,especially Gaille,are vague to put it mildly.In particular I liked the little side story of Mohammed and his daughter which was a nice touch. The author has obviously done his research and the factual background to the overall story is informative to a novice without being too bookish. That said it isn't without its problems but on the whole the book does what it is meant to do,it opens a window of another realm away from the routines of daily life without being too taxing on the little grey cells.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Robert Ludlum, in a tv interview I saw once, said that he always gave his books three word titles. Bang, bang, bang. Was the impression he wanted to give, as I remember. Easy to remember and all unnecessary fat, pared away. Like his writing style really.
Whenever I see a paperback book with a three word title, I think of Robert Ludlum. And having read more than my fair share of that sort of thing down the years; I'd say that that is unarguably how the various post-Robert Ludlum authors want us to think.
Few match up, beyond the titles, however.
Will Adams, for instance.
It's an interesting book, interesting theme - the hunt for, and of course the finding of, the final resting place of Alexander the Great. Our hero - Knox - I think has featured in a previous Will Adams book I've read, can't be sure. He's a pretty normal guy, maybe a little less normal than you and I, in that he knows his archaeological onions, but he's no gun-toting, hard-hitting superman. That's good.
But beyond the surface of the story; not so good. After the general themes are clear - possibly mad old Macedonian family (super-rich, of course), want to find Alexander the Great's body/tomb/treasure to bring back to Macedonia (anyone can surely tell you that his wish to be buried close to his father, wasn't carried out as we would think of it, his 'father' having a different meaning to those with control over his body back then), so that it can be used to gather all Macedonians under their banner and start a war to create an independent Macedonian state. It really doesn't pay to think too much in this direction. And it would seem that that has also applied to Will Adams.
It also grates that even relatively minor characters are so well versed in ancient history/archaeology and classical history and literature, to be able to have quick-fire discussions involving instant recal of all sorts of minor details about even the most insignificant Classical figures. Involving dates, rumours, connections from history and modern research. Eyes were casted to ceilings a few times while reading this kind of thing, I can assure you.
What is good, beyond the book's concept, is that the love-interest is kept to an minimum and is not really an integral part of the plot. There's a fair bit of action and the characters tastes in luxury rarely extend beyond a warm bath and some clean clothes. It is also nice that Adams is developing the thought that Alexander the Great's body was used for personal advantage back in (or just after, really) his own time, just as it undoubtedly would be today. But that's maybe a concept too far, for a book of this genre.
I read it ok, I have one other of Adams' on my iPad and I'll read that as well. I like this sort of thing and I go in with my eyes open. If you're after something to divert you for a couple of days, it'll do the job. It's no work of literature. It's no Robert Ludlum either. But then, what is? - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Daniel Knox is a down on his luck archaeologist stuck in Egypt where he’s radioactive and cannot work on any dig. So he takes a job as a dive instructor for a notorious gangster so he can earn enough money to pursue his own quest for anything having to do with Alexander. When Knox, knowing better but doing it anyway, defends a young woman from the gangster he suddenly finds himself pursued across Egypt.Meanwhile, several other people suddenly come upon clues that might lead them to Alexander’s tomb. Knox, hiding out with an old friend in Alexandria, passes himself off as a diver gets a low level job at the dig. Certainly not fine literature but this is the sort of thriller I really enjoy. Archaeology, ciphers, clues and a race to find a tomb. I couldn’t put it down and will definitely try book two of the series.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A fun action-adventure read with historical & archaeological appeal. I felt character development was a little lacking, but it did not stop me from eagerly finishing the book.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A good intriguing read
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A megalomaniac and an archaeologist fight over a priceless artefact. Sound like Indiana Jones? Well it isn’t. Daniel Knox is an outcast Egyptologist who is fascinated with Alexander the Great and is on the run from shipping tycoon Hassan al-Assyuti. When a tomb that has Alexandrian associations is found in Alexandria he has to see it and know more. This leads him down a path of danger and a lot of infodumping.Oh yeah there’s a lot of infodumping going on here, the author did their research and are determined to share it making me feel occasionally like I was watching a documentary on Alexander for children. It wasn’t a bad read it just sometimes felt like the author crammed in too much to the story to really make it flow. The occasional casual racism also broke the flow of the story for me.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This was the first book that I have read by this author. It was OK but, not great. I was familiar with some of the settings having been to Egypt but, found it hard to keep track of the many characters. However, I plan to give the authoe another chance by reading his next book.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5This really is airport trash – I struggled to finish it.We’re on the hunt for Alexander the Great’s sarcophagus, which is somewhere in the Middle East. We have corrupt Egyptian politicians, businessman and archaeologists, a painful caricature of an Australian, a reckless British archaeologist who happens to be a deep-sea diver too… the characters just don’t fit together at all.The historical story-telling is competent enough, but it gets lost in the Middle Eastern politics and corruption and the struggle for Macedonian independence. Fine for Singapore airport. Otherwise, give it a miss.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Whew! I now want to become an archaeologist and dig in the dirt and learn more about Alexander the Great...There was a lot of backstory that I hope will be covered in the future books of this series. The explanations of Alexander and his demise were interspersed with a whole lot of action and people getting whacked and drugged and kidnapped while searching for the final resting place of Alexander. A good mixture for me to get me back in the thriller mode that I've been neglecting for, lo, these many months. I could compare the style to a Dirk Pitt novel, but Daniel Knox actually feels pain and takes a while to get up from getting beat up. I've never had the feeling that Dirk ever really feels pain, but that's okay. I read the Dirk Pitt books for other reasons, mainly because I picture Matthew McConaghey as I read them thanks to the movie Sahara. Still working on who I cast as Daniel Knox....Four treasure trove beans.....
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Will Adams creates a new thriller character destined to be a long-running series of best sellers. Daniel Knox is a knock-around archaeologist in Egypt with a history of interesting relationships with his brethren and sponsors.The supervisor of a construction project in Alexandria stumbles onto a potential site of the final resting place of Alexander the Great, whose body was coveted as a justification for power by his successors in Egypt, the Ptolemys, Alexander’s native Macedonians.The race begins in the fashion of an Indiana Jones movie. Knox is pursued by a bad guy for saving a young girl from being raped by the tyrant. Along the way, there is a budding love affair with a woman who blamed Knox for the odd death of her archaeologist father, an evil female colleague who seems easily seduced by lovers and sources of money, a little girl desperately in need of a bone marrow transplant, rich Macedonian nationalists intent on using Alexander’s body as the means, after more than 2,000 years, of fomenting revolution to establish a separate Macedonia out of Greece and Balkan states.The Alexander Cipher beautifully blends the history of Alexander and his successors into an entertaining, rip-roaring, action-packed, page-turning adventure. The past of Daniel also will not remain there, as the female protagonist in the story, Gillie, moves from a hatred attributable to the strange death of her father to something more beautiful.This is an excellent, well-crafted story. It cries out for a sequel in the adventures of Daniel Knox.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Very good. Couldn't put it down.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alexander Cipher by Will Adams is an adventurous novel that has it all. Political machinations, ethnic strife, power-hungry corporate types, greedy antiquities dealers, mercenaries, sick children, desperate parents, brainy scientific types and beautiful women. Sort of like Matthew Reilly, but better edited, without all the damn italics and exclamation points!! (Sorry, when I think Reilly, I think !! OH BOY!! Exclamation points!!!) But, I digress….Will Adams debut novel features a sort of nere’do well Egyptologist that everyone seems to love to hate, Daniel Knox, whose life long interest in Alexander the Great puts him right in the thick of things when the novels bad guy..the slightly crazy and wildly wealthy Nicolas Dragoumis, learns of that Alexander’s tomb may have been discovered. Nicolas has some wacky belief that the tomb contains secrets and treasures that will cause Macedonia to become an independent state once more, and he has the wealth, power and obsession to see his beliefs through. Its up to our hero, Daniel, and of course, his newly discovered gorgeous sidekick, Gaille, to stop him and save the antiquities. (Sort of like an Indiana Jones meets James Bond thing, but without MI-6 and spiffy weapons and toys.) And of course, there is history between Gaille and Daniel that has to be resolved for their adventure to be a success. I’m a bit of an ancient history buff, so I found the well-researched novel interesting, although occasionally confusing. There is a large cast of characters and apparently my old brain had a little trouble keeping up. Once I figured everyone out though, I really enjoyed the book. It’s a bit slow here and there, but overall, a good solid read.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A formulaic archaeological quest novel that suffers from having too many richly described characters. These interesting characters and their interactions are not really compatible with the breathless quest to find the tomb of Alexander the Great. The publisher associates this with the works of Sam Bourne and James Twining, which suggests that the hero Daniel Knox will return in a series of novels. I will be happy to read them but I will not seek them out.