THE CURSE

An infectious diseases specialist becomes entangled in modern-day homicide with an ancient Egyptian connection in Thornton’s thriller.

Dr. Hope Allerd ends her exhausting 15-city book tour in Birmingham, Alabama. Though she’s ready to go home, she agrees to consult with doctors on a university hospital patient with a serious fungal infection. This ultimately leads her to an astonishing discovery, as that same hospital has an actual time-travel machine stashed on its premises. Before she can really let this sink in, the FBI requests that Hope act as a consultant on a serial killer investigation; someone is slashing millionaires. Evidence from the murder scenes points to ancient Egypt—the very place and time that the time-traveling archaeologists of St. Bede’s University have repeatedly visited. And it just so happens that at least one of those time-travelers is inexplicably missing. Hope, with help from her paraplegic computer-whiz brother, Jack, searches for the who, the how, and the why, which may entail traveling to ancient Egypt herself to stop the culprit’s killing spree. In this latest entry in the Hope Allerd series, the author gleefully blends a murder mystery with an SF premise, throwing some supernatural elements in for good measure. The shrewd, kindhearted doctor is a terrific series lead, matched in this installment by FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Tina DeLuca. Thornton wisely keeps the time travel simple (“She was being thrust into a situation that could change history. What if this king was destined to die, and she saved his life? No, she had to leave”). But a surprise enemy, a string of potential motives, obvious red-herring suspects, and the extensive ancient Egyptian cast overwhelm and convolute the plot. The ending seems mostly invested in setting up another sequel, though the resolution is gratifying.

A smashing hero headlines this entertaining, albeit somewhat muddled, genre-crossing tale.