Shiri by D.S. Taylor @DSTaylor1#Bookreview #wwwblogs #AncientEgypt

Shiri by D.S. Taylor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Shiri is a historical romance set in Ancient Egypt. It tells the tale of a humble man whose wife was stolen by the Pharaoh, driven by his love for his wife he was determined to rise up against the Noble House and free her. They called him the Shepherd King and long after the loss of his wife he sought freedom for the people from the Gyptos.

We meet his grown son Josef in a small rural village where he is seeking support for a rebellion, he rallies the men to go with him to support the Shepherd King and he leaves the village unprotected and vulnerable. Prince Amenhotep and his warriors sweep through the village maiming, killing, raping and taking slaves on their way to destroy The Shepherd King. A young girl out checking the sheep escapes, but not before she sees her parents violated and murdered. She stumbles ahead of the war party to warn the rebels, but they have little time to gather their forces.

With the battle lost Josef makes a drastic decision to save his life and in doing so he plays a role where he can save others too. He disguises himself as Yuya of Heliopolis and vows he killed the Shepherd Prince himself. He rescues Shiri before she is bought in the slave market and together they travel to Heliopolis. Here Josef discoveries he is heir to the high sun priest and is betrothed to his daughter. This presents an opportunity to gain access to enough wealth to buy his people who have been sold as slaves and treat them well. It’s a daring move under the noses of the Pharaoh’s and the warring nobles and one which needs clever details to keep the secrets safe.

This Ancient Egypt setting was very well done. The details of the setting and the characters were very believable. The level of violence, and sexual scenes are no more than you would expect from a time of warring factions, slavery, sacrifice, multiple wives and fear of the Gods. These were ruthless times with power, corruption, disloyalty and death going hand in hand with love and devotion as they still do today.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

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