Lit Review: Manhunt by Christian Jacq

Christian Jacq.. There's a name that is not hard to forget. He was the author of the infamous series of books on Ramses, arguably history's most prolific Pharaohs of ancient Egypt. 

Jacq's Ramses Series

My elder sister had owned and read all five of Jacq's books on Ramses, and I soon followed suit. Jacq's five books - The Son of Light; The Temple of a Million Years (The Eternal Temple); The Battle of Kadesh; The Lady of Abu Simbel and Under the Western Acacia - all sit proudly on my ancient Egypt half of my bookshelf. 

In my mind, I could play out the different characters in the books from the Pharaoh himself to his beloved Nefetari. I even recall the characters coming to life in my head as my gaze wandered out the window of my Emirates flight into Egypt some years back. Granted, my perceptions were tainted by the romance Egyptologists speak off during the time I was reading the series. 

His subsequent books were not quite the same, but I quickly forgave Jacq, thinking it in part due to the overwhelming response Ramses got, thus eclipsing the immediate literary offerings that followed. So, I forgave him. 

However, since indulging myself in the highly acclaimed Ramses series and the Queen of Freedom trilogy, I had not picked up another Christian Jacq book that followed. That is until very recently. 

The cover of Jacq's Manhunt

When I stumbled on Jacq's 2006 edition of Manhunt recently, I have to admit that I did engage in a rather cursory and hasty skim through the premise of the story on the back cover. I told myself, why not? I got it..  

After reading Manhunt, which is the first in the Vengeance of the Gods series, I really did spend quite a bit of time wondering, "what supernatural force possessed me, compelling me to get this book?"  After mulling over that question, I thought, 'perhaps the stars were not quite aligned that particular day?"Anyhow, I read this in a day and categorically decided that I will not bother with the sequel. I will even go so far as to hazard an uneducated guess and be rather content at what may transpire in the subsequent books. 

Don't get me wrong, it was not that it was not readable. It is, somewhat.. Was it enjoyable? Hmm.. debatable, at best. Consider one watching a complete no-brainer, one-does-not-need-to-think kind of TV show, where the brain is in safe-mode, as an apt comparison. There are moments that provide some entertainment value. But, it does not set fire to the imagination, nor does it trigger any particular emotional response in your brain's limbic system. 

It is not exactly bone-numbingly boring as there are the odd moments when one does feel like giving some of the characters a good knock on the head or a kick in the solar plexus. It's annoying. There are several likeable characters and that is rather where the limit of my attempt at kindness is. This is one story that will not process beyond the temporal lobe of my cerebral cortex to remain etched in my long-term memory. 

In short - forgettable, regrettably. Sorry Mr. Jacq.