Synopses & Reviews
Paul Sussman is an international best-selling writer whose previous two books, The Last Secret of the Temple and The Lost Army of Cambyses, have each sold over one million copies worldwide. In his new book, The Hidden Oasis, Sussman delivers a heart-pounding, action-packed novel set in Egypt's Western Desert and revolving around a legendary desert paradise. The Hidden Oasis begins with the murder of Alex Hannen, a former CIA agent living in Egypt. Her sister, Freya, a world-class mountain climber from the United States, travels to Cairo to help bury Alex, and once there immediately becomes suspicious of the doctor's news that Alex had taken her own life. How, she asks, could Alex have injected herself with a lethal dose of morphine, given her lifelong fear of needles? The mysterious circumstances surrounding Alex's death lead Freya on a search for the truth. She soon meets her sister's dear friend, Flin Brodie, a world-renowned authority on predynastic Egypt. Flin is also searching for answers--he has devoted his career to studying the existence of a mythic hidden oasis, an Atlantis of the sands, elusive to the great desert explorers of the twentieth century and supposedly housing a valuable, mythic stone untouched for millennia. In this propulsive, fascinating thriller that takes readers through the bustling streets of Cairo and into the vast stretches of the Western Desert, Freya and Flin are led on an extraordinary adventure--sometimes violent, often dangerous, always thrilling--for the answer to one of archaeology's greatest mysteries: the location of the legendary lost oasis of Zerzura, and the key to the astonishing, terrifying secret that lies at its heart. Filled with fascinating history about ancient Egypt, and featuring a terrific cast of characters, from a corrupt, lecherous arms dealer and his twin soccer-loving bodyguards, to a duplicitous American embassy worker and the dynamic couple at the book's heart, The Hidden Oasis is another spellbinding thriller from Paul Sussman.
Review
The Hidden Oasis is a rip-roaring gem of a read
.You are in for a real treat!” Raymond Khoury, author of The Last Templar
Another winner from Paul Sussmanhands down one of the best writers of international suspense in the business. Told with authority and style, excitement melds with adventureyou can feel the scorching desert heat and the chapping, acrid winds. The Hidden Oasis offers bone chilling thrills, a flair for the macabre, and off-the-charts suspense. Superb.”Steve Berry, author of The Charlemagne Pursuit
The Hidden Oasis is that rarest of literary entities: an intelligent, compelling, beautifully written thriller. You will enjoy every page of this breathtaking rideand the secret at the heart of it will knock the top of your head off.”William Bernhardt, author of Capitol Offense
The Hidden Oasis evokes a lost world of primordial myth that men have sought since the very dawn of historythe twist: this time, the seeker is a female mountain climber! Amidst non-stop actionand literal cliffhangersPaul Sussman again convinces us that there is nothing boring about the lost worlds of archeology.” Katherine Neville, author of The Fire
Synopsis
The international bestselling author of "The Last Secret of the Temple" and "The Lost Army of Cambyses" returns with a heart-pounding, action-packed thriller set in Egypt's Western Desert and revolving around a legendary desert paradise.
Synopsis
The Hidden Oasis opens in 2152 BC with eighty priests setting out under cover of darkness into Egypts Western Desert, dragging with them a sled on which rests a mysterious object swathed in cloth. Four weeks later, having reached their destination, the priests calmly slit each others throats.
Four thousand years later in present-day Egypt, professional rock climber Freya Hannen arrives for the funeral of her sister, Alex, a Saharan explorer. From the outset, Freya is suspicious of claims that Alex had taken her own life, and sets out to uncover what really happened to her sibling. In her quest for the truth Freya joins forces with Alexs friend, English academic Flin Brodie, a world authority on the prehistory of the Sahara. Flin is also searching for answershe has devoted his career to tracking down a mythic hidden oasis.
In this propulsive, nail-biting thrillerall the more engrossing because Sussman himself has worked extensively as an archaeologist in Egyptwe follow Flin and Freya on an unforgettable adventure.At stake are not simply the answer to one of archaeologys greatest mysteriesthe location of the legendary lost oasis of Zerzurabut also the key to the astonishing, terrifying secret that lies at the oasiss heart.