Book Review: Shadows on the Nile by Kate Furnivall

Shadows on the Nile
Author: Kate Furnivall
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Historical | Mystery | Romance | British Literature
Released: October 1st 2013
Review Source: Berkley | Penguin Group

1912 London. Jessie Kenton hears her young brother, Georgie, scream in the middle of the night and wakes up the next morning to find him gone. Her parents never speak of him again.

1932. Twenty years later, Jessie is haunted by the same nightmare. Her other brother, Timothy, has inexplicably vanished from her parents’ home. Wracked by guilt because of her failure to ever find Georgie, and convinced that the two events must be related, she sets out on a quest to find Timothy. She plunges into a mysterious world of séances and mystics, nebulous clues and Egyptian artifacts.

With the help of a dashing and impoverished aristocrat, Sir Montague Chamford, Jessie follows the trail into the alien, swirling sands of the Egyptian desert. Amid the ancient intrigue and blistering heat, a powerful romance sparks between Jessie and Monty. But they must first confront the demons of Jessie’s past—and reveal the dark secrets that threaten not only Timothy’s life but theirs as well.

Let me just start off by saying that this is normally not a book that I would pick up to read. I have to admit that I am THAT girl who has a bad habit of judging a book by its cover and this one just didn’t peak my interest. I was surprised at how eager I became after reading the synopsis. A little bit of mystery, suspense, a missing child and deep, dark secrets of the past. That sounded right up my alley. I did not read any other reviews because I wanted to give it a fair shot and not go in with any preconceived notions about it before hand.

The first chapters really surprised me. I read through the pages with excitement and curiosity. I really wanted to know what could’ve possibly happened to Jessie’s brother on that night so many years ago. And then it happened, that quick, the confusion set in. The story took on three different points of view. Jessie’s, that of her missing brother Timothy’s and her long lost brother Georgie. Jessie sets out on her mission to find Timothy with the help of Sir Chamford. Jessie uses random clues left by Timothy that send her on a mission through the sands of Egypt in search of him. In the meantime we are taken back in time a ways to Timothy telling his story of finding Georgie and forging a relationship with him that is both complicated and touching at the same time. Georgie appears as the narrator of his own ordeal and seems very much trapped in his own mind.

The storyline does start to drag on a bit and we go throughout the days with each character but with no revealing information or anything to help move the story along. This was a long read for me, it didn’t keep me interested enough to feel like I wanted to hurry and reach the end. All in all it was a good story. The final chapters did tie together a few loose ends but this book and I just didn’t click.

This is the first book I have read from this Author. It seems that most of her stories take place in the early 1900’s and journey to other countries in the storyline. If you enjoy this type of book then I would recommend looking into her other titles as well.