So, who's the good guy? That rather dubious privilege belongs to ex-sportsman, Richard Palmer. Palmer's life is shattered when the bodies of his wife and his best friend are discovered in mysterious circumstances. Two years on, he is attempting to rebuild his life when a series of events lead him to imagine that his life, and the lives of the people closest to him, are in deadly jeopardy.

And the bad guy? Hit-man Dave Fletcher makes Osama bin Laden look like he's on Prozac. An outcast from society, Fletcher has always been feared by those that know him; and yet it is the pendant and its mysterious powers that finally push him over the edge. Ex-sportsman Richard Palmer was once his greatest hero, but now Fletcher hates him with a vengeance. Why? The answer is in the book and not here, I'm afraid.

Is there a love interest? You bet! Emma Thompson is bubbly, fun-loving, and pretty. In fact, anything but your typical archaeologist. Emma has recently returned from an archaeological dig in Egypt, where her father used to work before he began to act strangely. For many years Emma has looked upon Richard as a family friend. Secretly, though, Emma is desperate to change that friendship into something stronger.

The one to watch out for? That would be Nasiim Fharuk, a cunning and highly-respected Egyptian civil servant. Outwardly the perfect gentleman, Fharuk earns his money by blackmailing former colleagues - including Emma's father - into stealing artefacts from numerous archaeological sites around the world.

What's so mysterious about the pendant? To find that out, you will have to read the book. Suffice it to say that the powers of the pendant are capable of sending Fletcher, and anyone else who wears it, into a nightmare world of voyeurism, fantasy, and murder.

© Dave Cook