All Reviews in One Place: Night Mode Reading; LT

About: After a mostly unsuccessful Christmas diner at Whyborne’s family, the couple’s Holiday is cut short by Christine’s hurried telegram explaining nothing at all, but requesting Whyborne to get to Egypt ASAP. Being a great introvert, Whyborne didn’t want to go, and had to be persuaded by Griffin, and a ghoul that attacked him at work. For in Egypt, under the dead scorched sands, something darkness is waking. Something evil, hungry, and very angry. And Christine, unknowingly, is stepping right in the middle of it.

Mine: People getting mad at Whyborne, because they thought he and Christine had a fling worked very well here. Best was Christine’s response when confronted about it: “ew“. These little incidents worked well with otherwise pretty stressful plot with too obvious villains, and too obvious masked heroes. I mean, I understand it’s not the goal of these books to serve you a detective, but… Ah, it don’t matter. The books are well written. The adventure was built in a perfectly smooth pace, with pauses for discussion, regrouping, a little bit of romance, and a little bit of comic relief, that this time came in a shape of a camel who stole Whyborne’s hats. Yes, multiple.

These are very light reads, and so far are fun too. Not utterly captivating, but I can still give it a solid 4 out of 5, and continue in November. Because really, why not? They might not put you on the edge of the chair, but they definitely won’t have you bored!

That was awesome!!! I loved the setting and the emotion. I loved the evolution and growth of the characters. I loved the secondary characters. Ms. Hawk transported me to Egypt and I loved being there, even if we were chased by ghuls!

ETA held up to a reread! I love all these characters so much. The world is rich, vivid and detailed. It was like reading a movie.

I finally started and finished this series at the start of the year and wondered why I left off reading it for so long. The whole series is just amazing and I loved the on-going storyline. This is my favourite book in the series, as it has so many of my favourite things involved. I dream of going to Egypt and I also wanted to be an Egyptologist, but couldn't due to health, so I loved this story so much. It was great seeing Christine at work and Whyborne translating the hieroglyphs.

This story takes place after poor Griffin's family disowned him due to being with Ival (Whyborne). It is still effecting him and I also tries his best to cheer him up. We find Christine asking them to come to Egypt, of course Ival doesn't want to go, as he hates living home. But after Ival is nearly killed my a Ghul, him and Griffin decide to go.

I loved Ival and how much he loves Griffin. He only thinks about him and his work and he's happy with that. He has a heart of gold, which you see again and again in this book. I love his interactions with Daisy the camel and her obsession with his hat. In this book Ival finally admits to himself what he truly is

Spoiler

a Sorcerer

. His friendship with Christine is as lovely as always. Their interactions are amazing and she doesn't hold back and just says what she thinks.

Griffin is struggling with the loss of his family, but he doesn't regret his decision to stay with Ival. He loves his greatly and only thinks about his safety. He puts him first and they have a relationship worth fighting for. They don't let arguments fester and work together to sort things out. Their sex scenes together are a sexy as ever and I like that they are not just thrown into the story for the sake of it.

The mystery involved keeps you glued to the book to see what happens next. It was great seeing Christine at work and trying to find the fane. The description of the environment really made you feel like you were there. It made you visualise Egypt and the ancient ruins so well. The bad guy, or should I say girl, was really well done. I would have never figured who the bad person was at all, I was as shocked as they were. The best scene was when they got to their final destination and everything around them came to life. There were so many things happening and so many that you don't see coming. As usual our trio are facing danger, but as usual they run straight into without blinking, especially Christine. The ending was electrifying one could say! Egyptology was used reas used really well her and we got to learn a lot about ancient Egypy, which I loved so much.

I would definitely encourage to read this one, but make sure you read them in order. In now way will you regret it, as you will fall in lived with Whyborne and Griffin as much as I have. They steal you hearts and get you cheering them on. A great book in the series and so my favourite!

Another one that I found much more enjoyable after being more familiar with Lovecraft's oeuvre. Not that I didn't enjoy it the first time around, but having read the origin stories for the ghouls and the trapezohedron (as well as Emrys' alternate use of them) made it all the more fun. I am somewhat saddened that the ghouls here are just evil minions, as even Lovecraft's original tales gave them more depth, but I liked that the "recruitment" of humans remained (which Emrys ignored).

There's a clever misdirect as to who the traitor in the group is, but on second reading I saw the seeded clues as to where the real threat lay, and saw what was really going on with the other person acting oddly.

Reading this was like watching "The Mummy." And I LOVE that movie! After a disastrous Christmas dinner at his parents', Whyborne gets a telegram from Christine summoning him to her dig in Egypt. He is reluctant to go, but after a murder at the Ladysmith and a little research, Whyborne and Griffin are on their way. From there, it was pretty much non-stop action. Creepy flesh-eating jackal creatures, an ancient Egyptian sorceress bent on taking over the world, a secret society sworn to protect the secrets of the tomb, and, of course, stolen sweet moments between Whyborne and Griffin. I just love this series to death!

The fourth book in the Whyborne & Griffin series, these just get better and better. Between weaving an action filled, truly original plot consisting of ancient Egyptian Goddesses and Gods, ghuls, tombs and demons, not to mention the hostile environment, Ms. Hawk's wonderful characters (I am truly attached to them) reveal more about themselves in a very believable way--strengthening the triumvirate of uber-archaeologist, scholar-sorcerer, and Pinkerton turned PI/Monster-Hunter (I really wanted to say that, and it's not untrue, it just sounds suspicious the way I worded it).

While one could read this as a standalone, I would highly recommend against it. Much work has gone into creating the characters in the first three books, and they are very layered. Others might have differing opinions. This also isn't your typical Historical novel, for those who tend to shy away from them. These are more like Indiana Jones in the Victorian period, just throw out your gender role preconceptions at the door.
These are some of my favorite books of any genre. This is a bit of a cheat review as I didn't go into detail about the book itself. It's the first book where they've traveled into Christine's domain in the Egyptian desert, far out of Whyborne's comfort zone, with Griffin much more amenable to the journey. And whoever said getting there is half the fun has obviously never traveled with these two...

I like each of these books even more than the previous one. I loved the setting of this, especially seeing Christine absolutely in her element. There's some great humour - like the ongoing attempt of that camel to eat Whyborne's hat, which lighten things up.

Whybornes character development continues, and he's becoming very much the protagonist of the series, rather than simply one of a partnership. He's more like Vic Bayne say on that score, where his development is the focus and while his relationship with Griffin is a big part of that, like Vic's with Jacob, it's is only part. Don't get me wrong though, I love Griffin (and Jacob) and love their scenes together.

The final climactic battle of the story is fantastic. Absolutely epic, as befits the epic setting.

Now how long do I make myself wait before I get the audiobook to enjoy the story again?