In All His Glory: A Novel of Ancient Egypt

Professional Reviews: The Catholic Weekly: "In All His Glory" is set in Ancient Egypt during the reign of the usurper, Pharaoh Shishak. It tells of the stormy relationship that ex-Governor Jeroboam of Israel had with the pharaoh and his daughter when he was living in Egypt as a refugee. Prolific murder mystery writer, John Howard Reid, presents his readers with a plot involving intrigue, murder, suspicion, temple ceremonies, riots by striking workers. grave robbery and entombment… Marti Melville writes: Lifted from the ancient pages of The Book of Kings, the story of Jeroboam as he dwells in ancient Egypt is brought to life in John Howard Reid’s novel, "IN ALL HIS GLORY." With splendid detail, the reader is transported back to the days of the Pharaohs and submerged into the ordeal of life as a Jew in hostile desert lands, an outcast from his own country, struggling to survive amongst Egyptian royalty. John Howard Reid has obviously done his homework as is evidence by the detailed description of ancient Egyptian culture, biblical tradition and the interaction of both cultures centuries before Christianity’s birth as a religious movement. The story is compelling and moves the reader along at a steady pace, urging one to read to the end. As is typical for John Howard Reid, the story delivers an unexpected twist within the final pages. Pondering the contents of the epilogue allowed me to pleasantly imagine the probability of Reid’s story just told. Details are full and vibrant in pieces. For brief moments, the reader rides a roller-coaster of rich information which then dips to deliver scant data before turning to a new subject, leaving one to wonder “what just happened”. Opportunity to paint an unseen image of architecture, mannerism or culture are lost as the author seems to rush on to the next event, occasionally leaving the impression that the plot has been replaced by a series of scenes. Just as frustration builds due to unquenched thirst for detail, the description lifts once again carrying the reader on to view a new picture painted of life amongst the pyramids… Branch Isole writes: "In All His Glory" by John Howard Reid brings to life two prominent historical figures in this understated biblical background era story, unique in its blend of antiquity, murder and suspense. Set in the cities of Thebes and Necropolis this fast paced tale employs a linguistic presentation as if the reader were overhearing words spoken at the temples of Karnak and those in the Valley of the Kings in glorious Egypt 3000 years past. The fragility swirling around royal court life is punctuated by intrigue of cross and double-cross between characters, in a time and place where the afterlife was a powerful lure in the psyche and lives of people. One feels the blowing dust and grit experienced by the protagonist Jeroboam, as he contends with desert sands and heat, the lush beauty of the Nile River and conspiracy, at every temple corridor turn. This novel was one of those chosen in a world-wide contest to select six unpublished works of fiction to launch a new publishing company. As the contest was free for everyone to enter, it attracted over 3,000 manuscripts from all over the world. Unfortunately, after the six winners were announced, and all the work of proof-reading and correcting finalized, the firm decided not to enter the publishing field after all, but to stay within its long-established sector of the retail book market. So what we have here is not your usual self-published book with all its typical lack of expertise in most areas such as writing, type-setting, design, lay-out, cover art, etc., but a manuscript that went through all the professional stages of a one-in-500 selection process, meticulous editing, extensive re-writing and exhaustive proof-reading--in fact all the stages of a professional book publisher bar actual publication.