The Exodus Quest by Will Adams

One of the books I read this summer was The Exodus Quest by Will Adams (ISBN 978-0-00-725088-2). It’s a story about an archaeological find in Egypt, closely related to Moses and the Exodus out of Egypt.

There’s quite a lot about ancient Egypt in this book, especially pharao Akhenaten and his Aten temples, and how they are related to Moses and the Essenes. There’s no need to know anything about these things beforehand, rather, I found it an intriguing historical period that I will follow up on.

Daniel Knox, an archaeologist of some fame (in the world of the book!) is the book’s  protagonist. He’s somewhere between Indiana Jones and Robert Langdon [of the 'da Vinci Code'], and the book is full of action, car chases, excavations and lots of historical facts – the ones I have checked up on seem to hold water.

The evil villain is the preacher Ernest Peterson, some kind of deranged Old Testament prophet-like fundamentalist.

The core of the story is that Peterson and his team have found something in the desert that fills in a number of blank spots in both the Exodus story and in linking the Essenes to the early christian church. And of course to Egypt. While perhaps a controversial theory, it was proposed by Sigmund Freud in 1939 in Moses and Monoteism. Anyway, Knox and his friend from the ministry of Archaelogical Affairs head out due to a hunch Knox has, and despite being told the excavation is just practice for students Knox soon finds out they’ve struck gold. And the hunt is on…

There are also corrupt policemen, good friends and lots of suspense in there. It’d make for a nice action/adventure movie, and the book is written in a fast paced tempo, making it a page turner.

A good story peppered with historical facts. Go get it!