About the Book

Jacques Gerard, the all-around man at the Château du Mont, a boys'' school in France, made a terrible mistake. He agreed to accompany 12-year-old Charles Stratton on a trip to Egypt. How could he guess that his charge was on assignment for "Ghost Story Magazine?”  Or that after boarding the night train to Luxor, the boy would just disappear. What follows is a hair-raising tale of riding through the Western Desert on camelback, oases, mirages, poisonous reptiles, and the discovery of the Temple of Sobek with its terrifying crocodile pond. But this is just the beginning of this grand adventure, which deftly weaves Egypt (1980s)  with the stories of the Pharaoh Akhenaten (1250 BCE), carved in hieroglyphics, on stone walls, deep in the dark maze-like Tomb of a Thousand Names. Torribio blends facts, fiction, and theories, leaving the readers to discover which is which.  

This book has been called a perfect Hero’s Journey, transforming not only Charles, the protagonist, but also all those who surround him in this exciting journey.