The Murder of King Tut (23 page)
And as the sand covered the lowest step leading down to the doorway, then another, and another, the doorway had an even better
seal.
Now it was entirely buried by rock and grit, hidden from the world.
Rain didn’t come to this valley often, but when it did, the water fell with such intensity that massive chunks of earth slid
from the walls to the valley floor.
The water turned the sand and limestone into a form of cement, so that anything lying beneath it was encased in a hard rocky
crust. In this way, the final steps leading down into Tut’s tomb were covered over.
Soon it was as if they had never existed.
Each successive sandstorm and torrential downpour heaped on another layer, until the tomb steps were more than six feet below
the surface of the earth. The burial site’s location was not just obliterated but forgotten.
Deep below the ground, Tut, the Boy King, rested. The walls were sturdy and did not crumble or crack from the new weight above.
Nor did his treasures suffer from rain or humidity—if anything, they were more protected now than they had been before.
Tut lay alone year after year, century after century, as if waiting for the day when some explorer would scrape off those
layers of dirt and limestone.
And, perhaps, unearth the secrets of his life and untimely death.
FEATURING ALEX CROSS
Alex Cross’s Trial
(with Richard Dilallo)
Cross Country
Double Cross
Cross
Mary, Mary
London Bridges
The Big Bad Wolf
Four Blind Mice
Violets Are Blue
Roses Are Red
Pop Goes the Weasel
Cat & Mouse
Jack & Jill
Kiss the Girls
Along Came a Spider
THE WOMEN’S MURDER CLUB
The 8th Confession
(with Maxine Paetro)
7th Heaven
(with Maxine Paetro)
The 6th Target
(with Maxine Paetro)
The 5th Horseman
(with Maxine Paetro)
4th of July
(with Maxine Paetro)
3rd Degree
(with Andrew Gross)
2nd Chance
(with Andrew Gross)
1st to Die
FEATURING MICHAEL BENNETT
Run for Your Life
(with Michael Ledwidge)
Step on a Crack
(with Michael Ledwidge)
THE JAMES PATTERSON PAGETURNERS
Daniel X: Watch the Skies
(with Ned Rust)
MAX: A Maximum Ride Novel
Maximum Ride: The Manga 1
(with NaRae Lee)
Daniel X: Alien Hunter
(graphic novel; with Leopoldo Gout)
The Dangerous Days of Daniel X
(with Michael Ledwidge)
The Final Warning: A Maximum Ride Novel
Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
Maximum Ride: School’s Out—Forever
Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment
OTHER BOOKS
The Murder of King Tut
(with Martin Dugard)
Swimsuit
(with Maxine Paetro)
Against Medical Advice: One Family’s Struggle with an Agonizing Medical Mystery
(with Hal Friedman)
Sail
(with Howard Roughan)
Sundays at Tiffany’s
(with Gabrielle Charbonnet)
You’ve Been Warned
(with Howard Roughan)
The Quickie
(with Michael Ledwidge)
Judge & Jury
(with Andrew Gross)
Beach Road
(with Peter de Jonge)
Lifeguard
(with Andrew Gross)
Honeymoon
(with Howard Roughan)
SantaKid
Sam’s Letters to Jennifer
The Lake House
The Jester
(with Andrew Gross)
The Beach House
(with Peter de Jonge)
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas
Cradle and All
When the Wind Blows
Miracle on the 17th Green
(with Peter de Jonge)
Hide & Seek
The Midnight Club
Black Friday
(originally published as
Black Market
)
See How They Run
(originally published as
The Jericho Commandment
)
Season of the Machete
The Thomas Berryman Number
For previews of upcoming books by James Patterson
and more information about the author,
JAMES PATTERSON is one of the bestselling writers of all time, with more than 170 million books sold worldwide. He is the
author of the top-selling detective series of the past twenty years—the Alex Cross novels, including
Kiss the Girls
and
Along Came a Spider,
both of which were made into hit movies. Mr. Patterson also writes the bestselling Women’s Murder Club novels, set in San
Francisco, and the new series of #1
New York Times
bestsellers featuring Detective Michael Bennett of the NYPD. He won an Edgar Award, the mystery world’s highest honor, for
his first novel. He lives in Florida.
James Patterson’s lifelong passion for books and reading led him to launch a new website,
ReadKiddoRead.com
, which helps parents, grandparents, teachers, and librarians find the very best children’s books for their kids.
MARTIN DUGARD is the
New York Times
bestselling author of such nonfiction titles as
Chasing Lance,
The Last Voyage of Columbus,
Farther Than Any Man,
Knockdown,
and
Into Africa
. He has written for
Esquire, Outside, Sports Illustrated,
and
GQ.
Dugard lives in Orange County, California, with his wife and three sons
.