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Prisoners in Paradise: A Supernatural Mystery in Egypt

 
 
Prisoners in Paradise: A Supernatural Mystery in Egypt
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Prisoners in Paradise: A Supernatural Mystery in Egypt

Akmal Shebl's second novel, Prisoners in Paradise, is an intriguing maze of plot twists, psychological conundrums, historical mysteries, and the paranormal from the get go.

The book starts with Salma Farid trapped in a burial chamber in Cairo, Egypt, with Salem Hamdan "A man she hates the most" burying a young girl with golden eyes that her boyfriend, Ehab Rawi, ran over. Ehab, drunk and locked out, is cursing outside: "We're going to hell for this!" while they discover that the girl was raped.

This kind of intensity does not fade throughout the book.

Seven years later, Salma is surprisingly married to Salem. Ehab is a starving architect with a death wish. We don't get to know what exactly happened that night yet, but something sinister lurks in every corner of their lives. Salma, once a talented swimmer, is now aquaphobic (abnormal fear of water) and frequently visited by the girl's ghost. Salem is blue-blind (unable to see the color blue) and his life is devoted to vandalizing Egyptian monuments in search for an ancient secret. Ehab is an alcohol addict, having a paranormal sexual affair with Salma's child-abused sister, Nora.

What is it that that happened that night? Are they cursed by Pharaohs, or is this the lesser of two evils?

Only when a scientist discovers that no one died in Cairo in the last seven years, the plot thickens and twists into surprises that neither the characters nor the readers are ready for. The world believes the ancient Cairo of Egypt is now Paradise; the ultimate promise for immortality, protected by international troops and a mysterious fog preventing anyone from leaving or entering.

Only Slama, Salem, and Ehab have a clue of what's going on, and to solve the mystery they have to go back to that awful night., or forever stay prisoners in Paradise.

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Product Details:
Author: Akmal Shebl
Paperback: 350 pages
Publisher: BookSurge Publishing
Publication Date: February 22, 2008
Language: English
ISBN: 1419684132
Package Length: 8.0 inches
Package Width: 5.0 inches
Package Height: 0.88 inches
Package Weight: 1.0 pounds
Average Customer Rating: based on 6 reviews
 
 

Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Review:4.5
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5Right Cover...wrong book!!  Nov 21, 2008
This is bizarre...but I purchased this book...Prisoners in Paradise, but unfortunately...inside the cover is the wrong novel! It is one entitled War on the Margins!! How in the world that happened I have no idea...but I have read a lot in my life and it is a first for me. I am reading the book anyway...and will have to purchase another Prisoners in Paradise!!

2 of 3 found the following review helpful:

4Classic Story Telling  May 29, 2008
Shortly into this mystical novel, we learn that Cairo, Egypt is a special place, where for seven years, no one has died. Is this city the land of the immortal? The author focuses his story on two men and one woman, all of whom have frightening secrets. In a supernatural setting full of surprises, there is a twist in every chapter with a strong sense of Middle-Eastern history. The architectural descriptions are as rich as are the psychological dissections of each character. Each person involved in this city of seeming immortality has to make possible life changing decisions. Nothing is as it seems and the plots twists keep you riveted to the end. In an almost classical mode of story telling, "Prisoners in Paradise" will keep you guessing.


5Gripping. Better than what I expected.  May 27, 2008
Modern day Egypt against ancient Egypt and a blend of mysteries and unique characters. Prisoners in Paradise is about the morbid idea that if mankind found the key to the door to immortality, will end up suffering nontheless. Although the ending leaves us debating that the mystery is much larger in scope than it seems, the novel doesn't fail to advocate its message through creatively threaded plots and inordinary people confronting their own unusual fears and prisons.
A creative mystery that unveils ancient Egyptian magical history and reflects on a modern day city of Cairo in the most intense ways. Rooms for neverending imaginations.

3 of 4 found the following review helpful:

4No one dies in the City of the Dead--a mystery  Apr 27, 2008
This is a novel of suspense and supernatural events; can you believe that in Cairo, for seven years there has been not one death. Naturally, people want to flock to this most ancient city to become blessed by this unnatural event.

The story shifts between three main characters who know the real secret; Salem Hamdan, a businessman, Ehab, an alcoholic suffering from delirium and Salma Farid, a damaged young woman with fears and a horrible past. They discover a secret society of descendents of the Pharaohs and each has to find the key to escape the prison they are kept in psychologically, if not physically.

This is a very creative novel, well written and in the storytelling tradition of the Middle East.

3 of 3 found the following review helpful:

5Loved it!  Apr 01, 2008
Since I have actually been to Egypt years ago, I wanted to read a novel that takes place in Cairo, a fascinating city that I have walked on foot for long days and nights. I was reading with my skeptic eyes, looking for flaws, but could not stop reading after the first page. I never felt the tombs and temples come to life like they did in these pages. I was hooked. Fast paced. I could hear and smell every detail in this entertaining story. It made me want to read more and more books about Egypt. Loved it.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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