The plot of the story promised to be an action read, very interesting, but in the long run it turned out to be too slow and repetitive for my liking. I think after the first twenty times when Isabel says that she's going to do anything to find her husband and that she's not convinced that he's dead, even the most obtuse person can get the idea.
In addition, she does not fail to mention all the training she has received in self defense. However, she makes the most illogical mistakes.
I thank the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book, although I feel that in the end the book did not turn out at all as described.
The opinion I have expressed above is based solely on what I think and feel about this book.

I can certainly see why comparisons have been made with Dan Brown here.
This is an absorbing novel so don't plan to do anything else when you open the first page and there's a lot of historical content worth learning about too.
Good, strong characters.
Many thanks.

With thanks to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial

The Cairo Puzzle is a good read that kept me reading throughout the book. Very Dan Brownish and perfect for summer holiday reading.

*I received this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

The Cairo Puzzle by Laurence O'Bryan is the fifth installment in his thriller/mystery Puzzle Series. It follows Sean and Isabel Ryan as they attempt to solve murders, kidnappings and ancient mysteries across the world. Picking up where the previous novel ends, Cairo Puzzle follows Isabel as she searches relentlessly for her missing husband, Sean. Being an American woman travelling alone in modern day Islamic Cairo, she has to be careful about what she says or where she goes. Even more so, with a recent uprising against the Egyptian government occurring synchronically being a foreigner is a dangerous thing. However, Isabel continues her hunt through the hospitals of Cairo eventually ending up at the mansion of an Egyptian billionaire who offers his services. But does her savior have an underlying motive behind his generosity? As he leads her to the Great Pyramids, she discovers a hidden world of deception and ancient secrets.

I will definitely be going back to read the first books in this series, as I await the sixth installment.

Real action- loves the storyline. Very descriptive and awesome. Would definitely read this book again.

Sean, the husband of Isabel, is an archaeologist. At the beginning of the novel Isabel, who works for the intelligence service normally, has travelled to Egypt because her husband has gone missing there. Egypt is in a turmoil with the army taking power and the Muslim Brotherhood going for presidency again. While Isabel is trying to find a trace of her husband another archaeologist with backup of a powerful businessman insists there is a hidden area in the pyramid of Cheops. He invites her for the opening of that hidden room.

The story is intriguing and many current affairs of nowadays Egypt intertwine within the story. You keep on reading. However do not expect deep psychological analysis. Although the mourning is well written. In the end I had the feeling the story was rushed. On the other hand the fact that some people appear in Isabel's life and then after a short time die instead of developing in a love interest or a mysterious nomad makes the story more realistic and less "constructed".

Isabel's husband goes to Germany and disappeared. She's lead to believe he's dead but refuses to believe this. There has been an American treated at a Cairo hospital flown in from Germany which leads her to Cairo to search for him ... in the middle of an uprising. There she deals with a shady cab driver, the bad guys aka the Brotherhood, an announcement of a discovery at the Great Pyramid of Giza, a professor and a rich Egyptian with grand plans for Egypt and himself.
This is the final book in the 5 book series and I'm sure it would have been helpful to have read the prior books but this book works as a stand alone book. It's fast paced and entertaining and an all around fun read. It sparked my interest enough that I think I will pick up the earlier books in the series.

This series started with the main character being Sean Ryan and then as the series progressed the main character changed to Isabel Ryan, the wife of Sean. This was a very fast paced book as well as the conclusion to the fourth book in the series which stopped when Sean disappeared. I could not read fast enough and really enjoyed the characters as well as the different settings in the book.

Thank you to BooksGoSocial via Netgalley for the book. When I saw that this book was part of a series I just had to read the first books in the series before reading book 5. It was well worth my time as I really enjoyed the whole series.

The Cairo Puzzle (Puzzle #5)
O'Bryan, Lawrence
I obtained The Cairo Puzzle for free from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

⭐⭐


I really enjoyed the book. I really did. The main character, Isabel Ryan, is a wonderful and strong female lead character who was human and wonderful and truly amazing. The settings are vividly described without "telling" too much. There was a lot of room for improvement with this book though. I really liked it, but with some more effort I really could have loved it.

My critique is not directed at the author, but at the novel itself and I hope that my review can serve as a springboard for improvements in the future for them. The author is wonderful for even getting one book out there, and this is their fifth in the series.

That said, I am shocked that for a fifth book in a series, that it was so unpolished and unrefined. There were glaring spelling and grammar mistakes. Parts of the books seemed written in a rushed, informal tone that pulls the reader out of the story because you lose that connection when you have to go back and re-read portions or feel like the sentences aren't fully-forming. I noticed at least once that a character was referred to by another character's name. These are some basic edits that need to be taken care of before publication. Now, that also isn't to say I didn't get some form of draft uploaded from before publication, but I obtained it two months after publication. Not to mention that all of the taglines and descriptions of the novel refer to the main character as Isabel Sharp, but her name is actually Isabel Ryan and she is referred to as "Mrs. Ryan," throughout the novel. There's not even a mention of the surname Sharp in the book.

The motivations of Isabel in the beginning of the book to go to Cairo are flimsy at best. The author does say that her motivations are flimsy and she knows it, but it wasn't solid enough to feel real. There has to be a more involved motivation for a character to just up on a tiny little thread and go somewhere with absolutely no information or idea on how they're going to proceed once they get there. Isabel just flies out and doesn't know anyone, doesn't contact anyone, doesn't have any background information on the hospital she wants to check out (even though she tries to read about things online). I just feel like there needed to be something "more" to it. A strong character like Isabel wouldn't go without a very good reason.

Additionally, other characters motivations seemed flimsy. I'd say, most, in fact. The Brotherhood's motivations in the novel are never explained. The motivations of the Egyptian government, not clearly explained. The motivations of Professor Bayford nor his involvement are never mentioned or fully explained other than his cover story. Yacoub's motivations or true intentions are never explained.

Minor Spoiler: The motivations of the person who kidnapped Sean, Isabel's husband, isn't really explained until the very end of the novel in just a paragraph or two. There is no actual mention of what really happened to Sean or how they were able to kidnap him from Nuremberg. I checked spoiler reviews on the previous novel to see if I could determine if it's explained there, but I wasn't able to and it seems the book was about an entirely different topic.

Also, on the subject of the actual climax of the book I was greatly disappointed. The climax of the book happens at around the 85-90% mark and leaves no wind-down time except a small epilogue. There was no 'big' twist and you can anticipate what happened from about 20% of the way through the book, if not sooner. I was looking forward to a twist because I thought I couldn't anticipate the ending so quickly with the advertised taglines. It was a very basic, straightforward story (again, not that I didn't really like it!) It honestly just wasn't much of a puzzle. Isabel could have put two-and-two together much sooner in the novel but the writing is dragged out quite a bit to try to lengthen the 'mystery' and it takes away from the feisty, intelligent character Isabel is supposed to be.

There are also other loose subplot threads that never get resolved. More than once, a few different characters refer to Isabel's "new husband" in Egypt, which hints that there was supposed to be more to it but you never hear about it again. Secondly, a lot of emphasis is put on the symbol Sean researched (and then Isabel) but we never find out what it means or whose symbol it actually was and how it was connected to his abduction. There are mentions that people are watching Isabel closely and talking on their phones about her, with plenty of people knowing who she is but it's never explained which groups were watching her or aware that she was looking for her husband. The whys are never explained either. These things are annoying to the reader to never have a resolution for. I'd even go as far as to consider some of them gaping plot holes. Sean's motivations are also in contradiction where throughout the novel - he goes to a conference to research this symbol but in some places the novel is advertised it states that he's going to speak at the conference.

The parallel scenes from other characters do not fully belong, especially those of Xena, which were relevant only to the story based on where she had arrived at the end. All scenes before that one could actually be cut out and rearranged to be just a few paragraphs that introduce the end scene she's in. None of them are otherwise relevant. Henry's motivations to save Isabel are never clearly explained in this novel, though it's possible they are in the previous ones.

Overall, I just feel like most of these issues could have been picked up and fixed by a really good editor who could have helped rearrange scenes and catch the numerous errors so that the book actually flows freely from start to finish instead of jarring the reader out of the story with them. A book is much harder to enjoy when you constantly have to re-immerse yourself in the character's world. I did really like the book. Would any of my critique stop me from giving a try to books 1-4? No. However, these are things that the author definitely should address when writing in the future which I hope will greatly improve his works in general.

"If you go to Cairo you might well get yourself killed, Isabel."

Isabel Sharp is looking for her missing husband Sean Ryan in Cairo. She has heard an Amercian has brought from Germany to a hospital in Cairo. It is a bad time to enter Cairo as unrest is going across the city.But she cannot stop until she finds the truth about her husband. An Egyptian billionaire announces a spectacular discovery at the Great Pyramid. Hoping that he can answer her questions, Isabel meets him.
With a twist and turn of events, she meets the Muslim brotherhood and becomes the target of their plans.She has to find out what they know and also needs to stop their plan.
Will she able to find the secrets of the pyramid?
Will she able to find her husband?
All the answers lie in this book.

It is really a page turner. With each chapter, there is a twist and turn.The book takes you on a journey, uncovering the secrets of the Pyramid and uncovering the secrets of Isabel life.I really enjoyed the story narration. I finished this book in 2 days. It is fast phasing book and has a gripping story.

Sean has gone to Germany to give a speech and disappeared. Isabel is sure he is still alive and will go to the ends of the earth to find him. She goes to Cairo at a time when they are having a great deal of unrest and not safe for a woman to be traveling alone. Henry has tried to help her as best he can from London but she is mostly on her own. She meets a professor who invites her to go to an unveiling at the Pyramids. A pharmaceutical company owned by an Egyptian longing for power is unveiling his discovery of eternal youth. Does this billionaire hold the key to finding Sean. An exciting read that keeps you wondering if Isabel is just wishing to find Sean or if she really can find him.

First line: "<i>The chanting was louder now.</i>"

Firstly, I would like to start off by thanking Netgalley for allowing the me opportunity to read this novel.

Secondly, I requested this novel and started reading it before realizing that it is the fifth novel in a series of books that I have never heard of. Given the synopsis I did not think that this would matter as the story sounded to be a stand alone. This is really what resulted in the 4 star rating, because I was confused as to who exactly Xena was and what her role in the previous novels were and how this influenced her current role. There were some other minor details that threw me off a bit, but nothing major to detract from the story.

Beyond that, I really enjoyed this novel and its historical basis in the secrets of the Great Pyramid. I found it really quite interesting, and would loved to have learnt more. I also liked the main character, Isabel and her courage and strength that she displayed throughout the novel in a variety of situations.

I will definitely consider reading the preceding novels in this series, and hopefully they are just as good as this novel (and hopefully, they fill in the questions I have about this one).

Excellent! A page turner.