Book Review: The Third Gate by Lincoln Child

This book took me FOREVER to read. Mostly because I'm just so busy I hardly get time to sit and devour a book anymore. Also because it didn't suck me in like a good book should. I have long been a fan of Lincoln Child-- I own all of his and Douglas Preston's Pendergast books, and while I have not been impressed by their new joint venture, the Gideon books, I always give their books a chance.

You can read a full synopsis of the book elsewhere, I'll give you the short version. Jeremy Logan is a scholar of unusual phenomena, an empath, and a sophisticated "ghost hunter", who is recruited by the world's leading archeologist to accompany a team of people who are the best in their fields: an egyptologist, a doctor who runs a center for people who've had near death experiences (including his wife, who is along to see if she can communicate with any ancient egyptians) and various archeologists and technicians, etc.

The story unfolds with a very familiar pattern, similar to Jurassic Park and other books like it. I enjoy these kinds of stories, though, so I figured, even though it was familiar, I would keep going. People go into a situation thinking they've got everything figured out, thinking they are in control, and slowly, in this case mysteriously, bad things begin to happen. There's an ancient Egyptian curse, a mucky swamp in the middle of the Nile, far away from anyone, they're cut off from civilization and looking for a tomb miles below the surface of the swamp. Things go from mysterious to scary and adventure ensues.

I liked Logan's character, as well as the female Egyptologist. I liked the Egyptian stuff, hieroglyphs and tombs and curses, cool stuff. I liked the setting and that Child isn't afraid to go supernatural. It's a good read. It's pretty standard Lincoln Child stuff-- well-conceived characters, fascinating science, history and technology, tension and excitement. Will I buy it? No. Will I read it again? Not likely. But it was a decent one-time read.