I received a complementary advance reading copy of this book from Riverdale Avenue Books via Netgalley for a fair review of it. The comments about it are my own.

On one level, this is an imaginative man on man romance involving a young gay man Jamie Dunn and a creature/being called Dr. Danilo who is the human form of an ancient Egyptian god but with the traits of a vampire. On another level, it's a shocking story, with an atmospheric background and a continuing threat of imminent harm. It also has a theme of repressed gayness and self-hate. At the beginning Jamie encounters and befriends several young gay men struggling with their orientation; one such closet case turns violent with his repressed rage, killing Jamie's roommate.

A redeeming feature is that Jamie and Danilo take a grand tour of London, Paris and Berlin before ending up in Egypt. In the European cities they visit the museums featuring Egyptian artifacts, such as the head of Nefertiti in Berlin. Their Egyptian visit starts at Alexandra and includes stops in Cairo where they visit the pyramids at Giza before travelling up the Nile to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. This is the best part of the book. The rest is a disturbing dark and creepy story.

There's plenty of blood, gore, and gratuitous violence which makes it an unpleasant read. As to being erotic, the sex scenes are often violent and disconnected from the core story. My rating: needs improvement. ( )

Plot: Fairly predictable most of the time, though there are some twists. No subplots for side characters; the story follows the college years of the narrator.

Characters: is everybody on American college campuses gay and in denial? The book certainly makes it look as though that's the case. Occasionally rather annoying narrator who never quite crosses the line into irritating. Not-quite-mysterious mysterious stranger. Stereotypical side cast.

Style: Boring, constant writing style. There is either too much or too little description. Some nice horror elements and a good take on Egyptian mythology. Far too much emphasis on the main character being gay, though.

Plus: Slash content, great description of Egypt.

Minus: Too much of the slash content, boring writing style.

Summary: An okay read if you're interested in a combination of fantasy, horror, history and gay romance. ( )