Her forthcoming dual-timeline novel, The Stolen Queen, transports readers to 1978 New York and 1936 Egypt to uncover a mysterious stolen artifact. Here, we have an exclusive preview of Davis' new book. Pick up the next issue of FIRST (on sale Dec. 20) for part 2 of this captivating read!
A COMPELLING PAGE-TURNER
Preorder The Stolen Queen to read the whole story. Available now for pre-order at Amazon.com. On sale January 7!
CHAPTER 1/ NEW YORK CITY, 1978
The staff meeting of the Metropolitan Museum's Department of Egyptian Art was supposed to start at 10, which meant associate curator Charlotte Cross arrived at 9 to prepare her colleagues for battle.
The Met was closed on Mondays, but only to visitors. For the employees, much of the behind-the-scenes work was accomplished on the first day of the workweek: Handlers rearranged paintings, technicians performed condition checks of antiquities, while lampers wandered from gallery to gallery, necks craned, searching for blown-out lightbulbs. Monday was Charlotte's favorite day, when the museum felt like a private playground.
She started in the gallery that housed the 10-foot-high, 4,000-year-old Colossal Seated Statue of a Pharaoh. The figure depicted was all muscle and power, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. He looked as if he were about to declare something important: an act of war, or maybe a death sentence.
A group of handlers were already gathered around the statue. The team's leader, Joseph, looked up expectantly as Charlotte approached. "Morning, boss."
Charlotte nodded. "I wanted to give you the heads-up that Frederick is considering moving this piece to the Temple of Dendur gallery."
They all moaned in unison. "This old guy's been in the same spot since the 1930s," said Joseph. "He's way too fragile."
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