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I picked up The Egyptian Enigma because the algorithm repeatedly offered me David Darling on my feed. I then listened to his interview on the Men’s Adventure Fiction podcast and learned about this book, and pulled the trigger after that.

My biggest fear going into it is that the plot of this book would be the same as one I got slow cooking in the planning phase. Thankfully, it isn’t. Darling’s is almost certainly better.

What I loved best were the characters. I love characters like Rick O’Connell and Doc Savage, the indomitable John Wayne types, but it is hard to relate to them. But I especially love a character who is not dashing or brave. Western author Elmer Kelton said, “Louis L’Amour’s heroes are seven feet tall and invincible; mine are five-eight and nervous.” Those characters are so much more interesting to read.

In The Egyptian Enigma, the protagonist, Ryan Petey, is an unemployed freelance graphic designer living in his mother’s basement in Toronto. He is not athletic, he is not dashing, and he is not the type of Canadian that Wolverine or Colter Wall is. He is a dork, sometimes a bit whiny, and therefore, he is relatable. I liked that. But Petey has a fantastic character transformation and is grown up by the end of the book. I liked that more.

In addition to great characters, the story moved along at an appropriate pace. I never felt bogged down or bored with the plot, but even though I was listening to it on audio and it’s harder to retain details that way, I never felt lost either. Darling was able to deliver a story that had all the flavor of ancient Egypt without having to detail the ingredients, meaning, there wasn’t a bunch of archeological fact checking in the narrative, just a good story.

I don’t really have anything critical to offer, partially because even though I’m not Canadian, I’m nice like one. But mostly because Darling did a great job. At first, I was uncomfortable with the parts where the main character prays to an Egyptian deity …

… but it wasn’t over the top and occultic, so I got over it. And thankfully, there weren’t any spicy sex scenes or things that would keep me from recommending it to my wife.

If King Solomon’s Mines and Mission: Impossible had a baby, and that baby was played by Jay Baruchel, then you’d have The Egyptian Enigma.

You can buy it in paperback, for Kindle, or Audible here.

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