Review
‘Pearce… takes apart ancient history and reassembles it with beguiling wit and colour’
Sunday Times
‘Marvellously convoluted… Dryly and deeply funny’
Philip Oakes, Literary Review
Product Description
The latest novel in Michael Pearce’s award-winning series, set in the Egypt of the 1900s. ‘Irresistible fun’ Time Out.
Everything in Egypt depends on the water of the Nile. So when an attempt is made to blow up a key regulator in the Cairo Barrage, Gareth Owen – the Mamur Zapt, Chief of Cairo’s Secret Police – is hurriedly called in. What exactly is a regulator, though? Owen doesn’t know. But then, he doesn’t know many things: who is the Lizard Man, for instance, and why does he appear to have a grudge against Egypt’s irrigation system?
Quite unconnected (or is it?) is the ceremonial cutting of a dam which allows water to flow through the city. It is a ceremony which always requires policing, but on this occasion more than ever, for it is going to be the Last Cut.
Which makes the discovery of a young woman’s body at the site of the dam extremely embarrassing. Is this the traditional ritual sacrifice? Definitely not, says Owen – but this could be another of the things he doesn’t know…
From the Back Cover
Everything in Egypt depends on the waters of the Nile. So when an attempt is made to blow up a key regulator in the Cairo Barrage, Gareth Owen – the Mamur Zapt, Chief of Cairo’s Secret Police – is hurriedly called in.
What exactly is a regulator though? Owen doesn’t know. But then, there are many things he doesn’t know. Who is the Lizard Man, for example, and why does he appear to have a grudge against Egypt’s irrigation system?
Quite unconnected – or is it? – is the ceremonial cutting of a dam which allows water to flow through the city. It is a ceremony which always requires careful policing, but on this occasion more than ever, it is going to be the Last Cut.
Which makes the discovery of a young woman’s body at the site of the dam extremely embarrassing. Is this the traditional ritual sacrifice? Definitely not, says Owen – but this could be another of the things he doesn’t know…
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.About the Author
Michael Pearce grew up in the (then) Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. He returned there later to teach, and retains a human rights interest in the area. He has recently retired from his academic post to write full time.
