The Third Gate

When a famous archaeological treasure hunter attempts to locate the burial tomb of an Egyptian king, his team is thwarted by mysterious disasters. He hires Jeremy Logan, a Yale history professor and self-titled enigmatologist, to debunk the team's increasing certainty that the pharaoh's curse will cause further catastrophe. Narrator Johnathan McClain's temperate characterization elevates the credibility of Logan, allowing the listener to buy into the idea that modern scientists might face a supernatural rival as they prepare to penetrate the three gates of the tomb. The primary characters are delivered with only subtle vocal variations, but some bit parts have colorful accents. McClain enhances the narrative passages about the history of Egyptian royalty with deft pacing. N.M.C. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Starred review from April 9, 2012
Bestseller Child (Terminal Freeze) more than succeeds in making a mummy’s curse terrifying in this superb supernatural thriller. Yale medieval history professor Jeremy Logan has such a reputation as a professional “enigmalogist” (someone who investigates ghosts and mythic creatures) that wealthy treasure hunter Porter Stone recruits Logan to assist his team with a dangerous excavation in Egypt. Stone believes he’s found the location of the tomb of Narmer, a legendary pharaoh, but it’s in the forbidding area known as the Sudd, a huge inaccessible swamp. Stone’s expedition has been plagued by a series of bizarre events, from equipment failure to the disappearance of 200 pounds of meat, occurrences that may be the result of a warning Narmer inscribed in stone of the fate awaiting those who violate his final resting place. Child evokes fear through understatement, and his characters are much more than the paper-thin puppets of similarly themed novels. Readers will hope to see more of Logan in a sequel. Agent: Eric Simonoff, William Morris Endeavor.