Third Gate

Third Gate: Lincoln Child

What appeared right in front of an entire group of doctors and nurses in the ER was just an illusion you might say. One young woman fatally wounded in an accident died on the table. How can she still be walking around? One doctor would not give up. One doctor after everyone said he needed to call her death refused to give up with every ounce of his fiber to prove they were wrong. A puzzle is a problem that needs to be solved. Another word for puzzle is an enigma. Solving these puzzles requires intelligence, ingenuity and understanding the basics of what goes into putting the delicate pieces of some fragile puzzles together. Enigmatology is the art of solving or creating the solutions to these puzzles. Puzzles can be contrived for entertainment purposes or they can originate from logical problems. The solutions often require recognizing patterns and creating a specific order to place them. Those with high inductive reasoning aptitudes can solve these puzzles or enigmas more readily than others. Dr. Jeremy Logan is an enigmalogist. He is the doctor who would not give up on the young girl critically injured in the ER. If questioned about his vocation he would answer that his job is to investigate phenomena, which lies outside the realm of the normal bounds of human existence. Dr. Ethan Rush of the Center has hired Jeremy Logan for a specific job for Transmortality Studies. Many people claim to have had NDE-near death experiences and this former anesthesiologist dedicated his career and life to this phenomena after his wife had a NDE. Behind the assignment is someone else that Rush has not revealed to Logan. Someone that is powerful and quite well known. Answering few if any questions Logan decides to be flown to Egypt where he always wanted to work but the final destination would not be there but in Sudd.

Enter Porter Stone, archeologist, treasure hunter and definitely a man with the Midas touch. Reclusive most of the time his presence would make a strong impact on both Logan and Rush as he reveals the reason Logan was asked to join the team and the project. Imagine finding the original tomb of King Narmer the ruler of Upper Egypt killed the King of Lower Egypt uniting both the upper and lower parts 5000 years ago. Events that happened back then relate to the reason for the dig right now. As Rush and Logan fly to Egypt for the short stop where he meets Porter in one of the back rooms of the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities the reader gets a first hand tour of the museum, the exhibits, the treasures and the many different smells, paper and artifacts stored there. Crypts, narratives and much more are revealed to Logan, Rush and the reader as author Lincoln Child’s research and knowledge is shared. One man named Flinders Petrie would set in motion a chain of events without even knowing it. One small object found by this amazing man named Porter would set in motion what is about to happen throughout this novel and to Logan. “An ostracon is a piece of pottery (or stone), usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In archaeology, ostraca may contain scratched-in words or other forms of writing, which may give clues as to the time when the piece was in use. The word is derived from Greek ostrakon, meaning a shell or a shard of pottery used as a voting ballot.” This object in this case a coaster has inscribed on the back just where the original tomb of Narmer is. This is considered the key to the biggest archeological secret in history and the author as is related to the reader learns that this ostracon is comparable to our notepad. With four pictures on the back and the history of the crowns revealed we learn that one King wore a Red Crown while the other White. When Narmer became Pharaoh he and those that followed wore both. But, before he departs and leaves both Rush and Logan, Porter emphasis that the seriousness of the situation, the importance of getting what needs to be done quickly and the strange things that have been happening hence the need for Logan. Supplies are missing, equipment malfunctions or does not work out of nowhere and much more. Stone is an enigmologist and deals with the supernatural. Will he find anything like that when he reaches the dig? What other questions will he ask or need to have answered before the end result is revealed? Could this tomb be cursed? What if someone heard voices or ghostly sightings occurred? Do you think the Pharaoh himself does not want anyone to touch or violate his tomb?

Sudd is not exactly the location where anyone wants to be and what he or she finds there will be more than just the unexpected. The search and the dig will incorporate experts in two fields of study. Some would be from the NDE such as Rush and his wife Jennifer who many say is able to channel and use her keen abilities from her NDE to hone in on spirits that linger after death. Can she communicate or speak with these spirits that have been gone for 5000 years?   

Treasures buried within his tomb. Four hieroglyphs to help determine what they might find within the tomb when they find it and enter. The first the symbol is of the red crown from Upper Egypt and the second white for the lower crown. The third depicted the tomb or the vault and the final one the SEREKH: Narmer’s name leading them to believe the crowns are buried with him. But, that has never happened before and with research and study Logan learns that these crowns never passed over to the other side and non-were ever found.  Witnessing Jennifer’s skills and seeing her in a trance is frightening. Learning more about her NDE will hopefully help rid herself of the spirits that seem to be speaking to her. Just whom these spirits are you won’t believe as she reveals more about them to Logan. One man is electrocuted and hurt, a generator is on fire, skeletons found, bones uncovered and lives at stake. But, when the author allows the reader to enter the tomb with Logan, Porter and the rest of the team we are taken on a tour and shown artifacts, Necropolis Guard, limestone statue, dozens and dozens of papyri as another link is found that there might be a spy or saboteur. The history and research about the time period, Narmer, the curse and the actual words he used to describe the wrath that would befall anyone who violated his tomb, author Lincoln Child takes us back in time to where it all began but is it a spirit, paranormal phenomenon or something else that is causing all of the strange and unexplained things that are happening?

What Jennifer relates next to Logan you won’t expect as she explains what she saw, the Being and much more. When one man decides to touch a specific object what happens to him you won’t believe. Is it murder or King Narmer?

The ending is explosive and who is really in that tomb you won’t believe, as so many lives are in danger some will live and others will fall prey to the curse that was placed within that tomb. Who tries to pilfer the tomb? Can a King create an experience that rehearses death? Did Narmer have a NDE or was it something else that caused him to go crazy? Who was Jennifer communicating with? There are many unanswered questions that we hope we will learn if the author brings Logan back before it’s too late to reenter that Third Gate. Fast paced, action packed and filled with research this is one novel that is a definite must read.

Fran Lewis: reviewer