Lauren Haney Libros

Some transgressions may never be forgiven -- as Lieutenant Bak remains out of favor with the powers of Kemet. While in transit from his exile in Buhen to a new posting, the disgraced policeman stops at the capital in hopes of investigating a troubling case of relics plundered from ancient tombs and smuggled through the southern frontier. Instead, he is sent to the partially built memorial temple of the divine Queen Maatkare Hatshepsut, where a series of fatal accidents and whispers of a malign spirit are plaguing the construction effort. Can the thefts and these deaths somehow be connected? The clues are leading the ever-loyal investigator to a magnificent tomb. But this realm of the dead threatens to become Bak's own place of burial when he must confront the source of the spectral malevolence.

A vile rumor sweeps across the desert like a swiftly gathering sandstorm: Queen Hatshepsut plans to disband much of her frontier army and transform its fortresses into storehouses. The arrival of Amonked—the Queen's cousin and Storekeeper of Amon—at the city of Buhen convinces an uneasy Lieutenant Bak of the Medjay police that the whisperings that have alarmed the populace are true. Then, a day after Amonked inspects the local garrison and departs, a body is found stabbed in the house where he and his party rested. The slain man was a local prince, beloved by his people, so Bak travels upriver to join the caravan and investigate. Though nothing tangible connects Amonked and his people to the heinous act, Bak's inquiry soon sheds a disturbing light on an inexplicable crime. For the clues suggest that twisted honor and vengeance lie at its root . . . and a shocking secret, protected by murder and silence, that could itself silence the truth—and Bak—for eternity.

The Gods blessed Lieutenant Bak, head of the Medjay police, with a rare brilliance -- which is why he is the one to whom his commander turns in a time of need. The explorer Minnakht has vanished into the vast and merciless Egyptian desert -- or perhaps has strayed perilously close to Queen Maatkare Hatshepsut's well-guarded turquoise mines -- and before Bak sails north on a new assignment he is to seek out the missing man. But evil is traveling with him and his Medjays in the caravan they accompany eastward. Someone -- or something -- is responsible for the strange rash of deaths that is rapidly thinning the numbers of their fellow travelers. A straightforward search for a missing adventurer becomes a twisted knot of treachery and blood -- one that threatens to strangle the life from Bak and his men and leave them buried for all eternity beneath the blistering sands.

From far and wide, they have come to the capital city of Waset for the opulent Feast of Opet-- sovereigns and supplicants, the pious and proud, gathering for the eleven-day-long revelries. While greeting friends and fellow Medjay officers at the bustling harbor, Lieutenant Bak is distracted by foul murder, the discovery of the body of a Hittite horse trader, his throat savagely cut. Bak has no authority to investigate what could be a simple matter of Hittite politics -- until similar murders occur within the sacred precinct of the Lord Amon. Though this city is not his own, Bak eagerly agrees to aid in the investigation. But his determined search for connections embroils him in a terrifying conspiracy that points to the court of Queen Hatshepsut herself. Untold others may be joining the ranks of the dead before the villain is done -- with Lieutenant Bak numbered among them.

Evil runs rampant through the grand abode of Djehuty, the much despised governor of Abu. Four deaths -- each exactly ten days apart -- have occurred in and around the powerful functionary's an expert swimmer drowned...a spearman accidentally impaled on his own weapona sergeant of the guard found with a dagger through his breast...a young officer trampled by a horse gone mad. Lieutenant Bak of the Medjay police fears for his own life and for the safety of his men. But the vizier has requested that this deadly puzzle be investigated, and it is Bak's duty to serve. Could this unstaunched violence be the retribution of the gods for a long-past, yet still-remembered tragedy? Bak is not sure who will ultimately be revealed as slayer -- be he human or divine -- when a disturbing cache of dark, well-protected secrets lies open at his feet. But there is one thing of which the dedicated policeman can be if a killer is true to his pattern, another will die this day.

Ani ve starém Egyptě nebyli všichni úředníci poctiví a nedokázali potlačit touhu po bohatství. Snad právě proto se mohlo stát, že přes núbijskou hranici proklouzla tlupa pašeráků se vzácnými sloními kly, čímž připravila královskou pokladnici o značné jmění. Rozezlená vládkyně Hatšepsut se rozhodla vyslat na jih vezíra, druhou nejmocnější osobu v zemi, aby celou záležitost důkladně prošetřil. Zatímco hodnostář putuje k hranicím, případu se ujme mladý poručík Bek, který se již osvědčil jako schopný a neúplatný zastánce práva. K původnímu zločinu bohužel záhy přibudou dvě vraždy, jež Beka navedou na stopu tajemného pachatele, kterému vesničané říkají „bezhlavý muž“ a vyprávějí si o něm děsivé zkazky. Během pátrání se mladý poručík několikrát ocitne v ohrožení života a musí vynaložit všechen svůj důvtip a odvahu, aby zločince dopadl ještě před příjezdem velikého vezíra.

Polizeitleutnant Bak hat die Leiche einer höhergestellten Person gefunden. Zur Aufklärung des Falles wird er in die Grenzfestung Iken geschickt, wo in diesen Tagen die Ankunft der Götterstatue Amuns und eines kuschitischen Königs erwartet werden. Alle Anzeichen deuten auf eine Verschwörung gegen den Nubier.

Na žádost núbijského vládce, s požehnání královny Hatšepsut, se z egyptského hlavního města vypravilo na jih slavnostní procesí kněží a lékařů. Doprovázeli posvátnou sochu boha Amona, jejíž magická moc měla uzdravit núbijského následníka. Než však poselstvo dorazilo k hraniční penosti, vyplavil říční proud tělo místního důstojníka, proslulého nezměrnou odvahou a ctižádostí.