NINETOES VS. THE TOMB OF THE BLACK PHARAOH

Ninetoes had an itch for some Lovecraft. Thankfully, Crystal Lake Publishing has the relief he is looking for in Christopher Michael’s THE TOMB OF THE BLACK PHARAOH.

TITLE: Tomb of the Black Pharaoh

AUTHOR: Christopher Michael

GENRE: Cosmic Horror

PAGES: 320

FORMAT: Ebook

PRICE: .99

Hey there, book lovers! It’s your old pal, Ninetoes, coming to you from Ninetoes Loves Books Headquarters. Today, I am looking at Christopher Michael’s Tomb of the Black Pharaoh. I have coffee in my system and my thinking cap on, so let’s get to it!

I was 18 years old, perusing the shelves in my local bookstore when I found it…The Best of H. P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre. This book was unlike anything I had read before, and I wanted more. And I got more. I laid my hands on anything Lovecraft wrote, but the problem I encountered was that there are only so many of his tales available. Of course, there are a lot of authors to pick up the mantle of Cosmic Horror, and they are good, but they are no Lovecraft.

Then, my editor sent me a copy of Christopher Michael’s The Tomb of the Black Pharaoh. The cover intrigued me. The premise intrigued me. The setting intrigued me. The question that loomed large in my mind was whether it would check my cosmic horror box. What’s more, would it scratch my itch for H.P. Lovecraft?

I was immediately sucked into the story of Robert Danforth, an explorer recruited by a fledgling intelligence agency to recover the Amulet of the Black Pharaoh, an artifact the Nazis are hunting as well. If the Nazis succeed, they will most assuredly win the war and plunge mankind into an eternity of darkness. Of course, this book tickled my love of history, as well as my love of a certain archaeologist’s movie series. Yeah, all that was missing was a whip, and maybe the fedora.

The story is well written. Christopher Michael did a good job capturing H.P. Lovecraft’s writing style and voice. That being said, keep in mind that no one really writes like this in today’s day and age, and it did take some getting used to. There are times when I encountered some repetition in the book, but then again, Lovecraft was guilty of the same thing. This did not detract from the book, but it is necessary to note.

I really got behind the character of Robert Danforth. I felt as though if I were in the book, we would have shared a drink or two before we went to kick some supernatural ass. Or before he went to kick the supernatural ass, as I watched from the sidelines. What grounded the character in the world of Lovecraft was the reference to Lovecraft’s classic tale, At the Mountains of Madness. This gave me a definitive sense of what the character was about and what he was capable of.

The only problem I had with this book is that it felt like there was a bit of repetition, like things being said three times in different ways in as many paragraphs in a row. This was not done throughout the entire book, but it was enough to get my attention.

If you are a fan of cosmic horror, H.P. Lovecraft, archaeology, cosmic horror, or all of the above, this is the book for you.

I give this one 4.5 bookmarks out of 5!

Until the next time, I bid you happy reading!

Darren “Ninetoes” Perdue is a book and media reviewer. When he is not reading, he is watching true crime shows, cooking for his family, or working on a plan for universal domination. If you see him on his porch, say hi. He does not bite…much.

PLEASE NOTE: The views and opinions of the staff of Memento Mori Ink do not necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or Crystal Lake Publishing, nor do the views or opinions of Crystal Lake necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or its staff. Thank you for understanding.