Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh

A young woman captures the heart of the pharaoh Akhenaten and gives birth to King Tut in this dull romantic thriller, the first volume of a trilogy set in ancient Egypt. When Queen Nefertiti and Akhenaten’s secondary wives (including three of his own daughters) fail to produce an heir, Hebrew slave Naomi is torn from her family and sent to the desperate king’s bed to bear him a son. Renamed Kiya and forbidden to observe Judaic law, Naomi becomes a pawn in a complex power struggle among Akhenaten, trusted advisor Horemheb, and a wrathfully jealous Nefertiti. Not knowing whom to trust and knowing that trusting the wrong person would be fatal Kiya must weave her own political intrigues in order to survive the treachery that surrounds her. The concept is ripe with promise, but the unrealistic characterizations, anachronistic language, and overly expository writing make for a woefully unsatisfying reader experience. [em](BookLife) [/em]