Undiscovered Scotland

 

We like to think our book reviews here on Undiscovered Scotland are objective. Just occasionally, achieving that becomes more challenging than usual. We should therefore start this review by declaring an interest. "The Eye of Horus" is written by a member of the team here at Undiscovered Scotland. The potential conflict of interest goes even further than that, however, because the book is published by Arachnid Press Ltd, which is very closely related to Undiscovered Scotland.

So, with all that out in the open, if we'd simply stumbled across "The Eye of Horus" by Ken Lussey, would we recommend it? Well, yes, obviously: or we'd not be involved in its publication. But then you'd expect us to say that, wouldn't you? Rather than seek to give opinions, we'll confine the rest of the review to a description drawn from the publisher's blurb.

"The Eye of Horus" is an atmospheric World War Two thriller with settings that move from the Highlands of Scotland via Gibraltar to Malta. It’s June 1943. Bob and Monique Sutherland are on honeymoon in Kyle of Lochalsh when an unexpected visitor arrives to spoil their idyll.

They agree to travel to Malta to search for two missing men, a young naval lieutenant and an MI6 officer who has disappeared while looking for him. The aerial siege of the island is over and the tide of war has turned but, after three years of bombing, Malta remains a shattered place.

The available leads produce more questions than answers and progress is impeded by lies. As Bob and Monique come closer to discovering what became of the two men, events take a dangerous turn and their priority shifts from enjoying their honeymoon to surviving it.

"The Eye of Horus" is available as a paperback from the publishers and as a Kindle edition from Amazon. It is a standalone novel and is the sixth of Ken’s thrillers set in Scotland and beyond during World War Two to feature the same central characters.