When Akhenaten, Egypt’s new pharaoh, decrees that only one god shall be worshipped from now on, life is thrown into chaos for Tutmose, the young son of a dealer in rare animals meant for the temples of the traditional gods. Tutmose’s happiness at living at the pharoah’s court is darkened when his father, maddened by the pharaoh’s rejection of the gods, plots a deadly revenge. Back matter suggests further reading.