Praise for Picture in the Sand
“[A] breath-taking page turning novel. . . Picture in the Sand is a fast and absorbing read that will make you yearn for a Cairo you never knew you missed." –Forbes
“Enchanting. . . a cautionary tale and a mesmerising tour of Egypt in the tumultuous 1950s.” –The Economist
“A shrewd and impressively detailed novel.” –Deadline
“Dazzling.” –Dayton Daily News
"Picture in the Sand is the rare book that transports readers completely into a different place and time. It is not only fascinating but also heartbreaking and heartwarming." –St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"Expertly paced storytelling, memorable characters — and a pointed examination of aberrant ideology."—Free-Lance Star
“Picture in the Sand is a spy novel, a love story, and an epic celebration of cinema. . . [a] hopeful, emotional, and well-researched novel.” –Ellery Queen Magazine
"Great storytelling, a coming-of-age tale with a love story at its heart.... All in all, an inspired idea skillfully executed." —Kirkus Reviews
“This is historical fiction at its absolute best—heartfelt, anchored in real events, and extremely well told.” –Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Ali’s story powerfully illustrates the intensity of a young man’s yearning to be part of a larger cause." –Booklist
“A great historical fiction novel.” –Red Carpet Crash
“[A] sweeping, enjoyable epic.” –Aunt Agatha’s
“Picture in the Sand is a family history, a lesson in politics, and a crime novel all in one fascinating package.” –Marilyn’s Mystery Reads
"Blauner’s epic is a triumph, a story within a story, and a Bible story within a movie. It manages to meld a clear-eyed view of modern-day terrorism with the incredible true life history behind the making of Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments in Egypt. His characters rise from these pages not as the types they could be in lesser hands, but as individuals—flawed, irreducible, doomed by their historical time and limited consciousness—all too human. In the end, Picture in the Sand looks at the mess in front of us and behind us, and affirms, like Scheherazade, that stories can save us. —David Duchovny
"With the magic only the finest storytellers can summon, Blauner has conjured a tale where epic reality—the making of Cecil B. DeMilles The Ten Commandments—is woven into a story of adventure, suspense, mystery, love, sorrow, assassination plots, prison breaks, and deep appreciation for the movies. I found this impossible to put down. An authentic tour de force, the kind you lay aside to read again." —Stephen King
“A richly imagined, propulsive and timely novel about the intersection of Western hubris and Middle Eastern reality . . . vividly drawn.” —Marisa Silver
2022-09-14
Political upheaval in Egypt circa 1954 threatens the location shooting of The Ten Commandments—and the life of a young local hired as Cecil B. DeMille's personal assistant.
A film buff, Ali Hassan is initially thrilled to work for DeMille, whose swan song this biblical epic proves to be. But his enthusiasm is dimmed by the director's imperious and temperamental ways. And his safety is compromised by the violent aims of the Muslim Brotherhood extremist group, which targets newly installed Prime Minister Gamal Abdel Nasser for his anti-theocratic ways and for cozying up to the blasphemous Hollywoodians. One of the group's outspoken members is Sherif, Ali's close but combative cousin, who pressures Ali into abetting a planned terrorist attack on the film set. After it becomes known that Ali, as DeMille's driver, ran over an influential imam to escape a demonstrating mob in Cairo, it's only a matter of time before he faces some very bad music. He ends up spending many years in prison, where he's beaten and tortured by an escaped Nazi welcomed into Egypt—supposedly "a new beacon of liberty"—for such purposes. The book is presented as Ali's firsthand account of his experiences, written years later for his radicalized American grandson, who sporadically emails his responses to it from jihadi training grounds unknown. These interruptions prove superficial in linking fundamentalism past and present and examining religious belief, but otherwise this departure by Blauner from his urban thrillers—including Sunrise Highway (2018) and Proving Ground (2017)—is great storytelling, a coming-of-age tale with a love story at its heart. The drama is leavened with wry accounts of the mercurial DeMille and his buff star, Charlton "Chuck" Heston. A Jewish documentary filmmaker thought to be an Israeli spy is straight out of classic noir. All in all, an inspired idea skillfully executed.
A gripping, hard-to-put-down thriller.