Dr. Priscilla Hackling finds herself thrown back into the murder investigation of her fiancé, Trey Whittington. While she was a suspect three years ago, she’s now working with the police to find the murderer, Egyptian artifact trafficker, Zarka El-Din.
During a sting operation in Siwa, she and Agent Donnie Barnes are drawn to each other but Priscilla, overcome by personal ghosts from her past, … her past, decides a relationship isn’t possible.
Priscilla realizes she’s the bait in the ruse and uncovers others involved with El-Din. Will she and Donnie reconcile and unravel the reason behind Trey’s death before El-Din kills her, too?
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My review is 2.5 Stars
The premise behind the book was interesting. A modern-day Indiana Jones type story. Sadly, it didn’t live up to my expectations.
I liked the overall storyline of the book. The idea of an adventure in Egypt while tracking down stolen artifacts is intriguing to me. There was a spiritual element to the book, while not overt, which was done well.
Each chapter started with a fact about a gemstone. That was a nice touch that I appreciated. I was sad to find out, however, that the white topaz earrings I purchased in South Africa are pretty much only valuable for the memories they give me of that trip. Alas! At least I’m not surprised by learning that.
The romance in the story just didn’t make sense to me. Donnie had just met Priscilla and was all of a sudden desperately in love with her. What? While I’ve read stories that have a similarly short time between the meeting and the infatuation where it works, it just didn’t in this book. Priscilla went from mourning her fiancé who was killed three years earlier to being so in love after two days. Again, what?
There were some other things that also bothered me. Priscilla was a Brit, and yet she spoke and acted like an American. There were elements of the mystery that didn’t make sense and there were parts of the story that seemed incomplete. While there was talk of action and adventure, it was more spoken of than experienced.
The language used was also distracting to me. Word choices were made that were wrong for the context and there were turns of phrases that were awkward. This wasn’t just a situation of typos that weren’t caught, it was more like the author was trying to use fancier sounding words and the ones she used didn’t mean what she thought they did. I do wish the editors had caught these things.
Despite my opinion, many others have liked this story as evidenced by the 56 reviewers on Amazon who gave the book an average of 4.3 stars.
This review was originally posted on AmongTheReads.net
I would like to thank Celebrate Lit for giving me this item. My opinion and review were not influenced by this gift.
Will the pursuit of justice cost them everything?
Around the time most girls wanted to become fashion designers I wanted to be an archaeologist. And that’s what really attracted me to The Tempering Agent, the heroine is an archaeologist in Egypt. Talk about some amazing history and a totally exotic location! Toss in plenty of suspense and romance and you get a book that I wanted to read.
I did notice several references to what assume must be another book. I do think this book can be read standalone, but, if the opportunity presents itself I would like to read the other one as well.
As a rockhound myself, I think my absolute favorite part of The Tempering Agent is how, author Victoria Pitts Caine chose to head each chapter with some great tidbits of information on gemstones and metals, all related to one key artifact in the story.
Victoria Pitts Caine delivers a simple, easy to read, story packed with danger, intrigue, romance, and betrayal. It’s also the story of a girl trying to find her way through grief and back into a life of faith and love.
I enjoyed my little jaunt into Egypt and the thrilling world of archaeology and antiquities…
(I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher. All opinions are entirely my own.)
This is the first book by Victoria Pitts-Caine that I have read. It is a surprisingly fast-paced book, filled with twists to the somewhat suspenseful who-done-it plot and a good deal of action. The title of the book is very clever (and you’ll have to read the book to find out why). The plot and its premise are both intriguing and fun. And as for the characters….who doesn’t like a strong female archeologist and a strong male law enforcement/Indiana Jones-type?
Priscilla, a respected archeologist, and Donnie, an agent working for the Egyptian government, are thrown together to bait and capture an Egyptian artifact trafficker who may also have been Priscilla’s deceased fiancé’s murderer. Priscilla is a Brit who has done much of her life in Egypt and Donnie is an American who has been transplanted to Egypt for the last few years (I haven’t read Cairo but apparently that’s the first book in the series that explains Donnie and the friends he shares with Priscilla). Priscilla is still grieving her loss and needs to find her way out from that dark place. Donnie tries to help but their relationship starts out rocky and tumbles like a rollercoaster ride for most of the book. Their romance is kind of fast but love at first sight happens, right?
I really appreciated the strong current of faith and trust in this book. Priscilla has a hard time letting go of her past and her fears stemming from her past. God gently and slowly works on her heart and also allows others to surround that broken heart so that healing can occur.
I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher via Celebrate Lit Tour. I was not required to write a favorable review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.
I love books that take you to places far away without having to leave your house. Egypt has always been a very intriguing place to me. The author does a superb job of giving us historical facts that make you feel as though you are viewing artifacts right along side the characters. I’m sure many will compare the story to an Indiana Jones adventure and they would be right.
Dr. Priscilla Hackling is about to have an assignment that will remind her of her fiance’s death and relive the horrors of that unforgettable time. I felt so bad that she had to be placed in danger for the mission to work. Priscilla is definitely up for the challenge. She wants to see justice served and the killer punished. Her encounter with her partner , the dashing Agent Donnie Barnes doesn’t exactly feel all warm and fuzzy at first. The tension between them is just what you would expect from a stubborn woman and a determined agent who is out to solve the crime.
The story takes us into the world of artifacts, gems and secrets people are willing to die for. The action is nonstop and filled with tension. Donnie to me was the star of the book and I soaked in everything about him. He can handle dangerous situations with wisdom and authority. Did he plan to fall for Priscilla along the way? I kept thinking how she tried to pull away from him, but she didn’t fool me one bit. When Priscilla becomes victim to the people after the artifacts, I could sense an intensity in Donnie. Can he continue to keep her safe? This is one story that has all the elements of an action packed adventure with characters that are well developed.
One of the things I like the most about the story is the realization Priscilla gets when she finds out friends can turn into enemies. It’s one that hurts as she feels defeated. Having to let go of her past is hard, but knowing that you have been betrayed by friends hurts to the core. Learning to let go of past hurt and letting God show you how to find peace is something both Donnie and Priscilla will have to come to turns with. Don’t miss this story filled with adventure, history and finding peace
I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.