The Rosetta Key

From Publishers WeeklyLast seen in Dietrich's Napoleon's Pyramids, fleeing the forces of evil in a runaway hot-air balloon over Egypt, Ethan Gage undergoes further life-threatening adventures in this rollicking sequel. Nine months before the balloon incident, Gage arrived in the Holy Land with his benefactor, Napoleon Bonaparte. After various misunderstandings involving the secrets of the Great Pyramid, Bonaparte became his implacable enemy. Now, accused of treason by Napoleon's minions, Pierre Najac and Najac's boss, the French-Italian count and sorcerer Alessandro Silano, Gage flees to Jerusalem, where he searches for his former lover, Astiza, who he fears has fallen into Silano's hands. Gage is also hunting clues that may lead him to the fabled Book of Toth, an ancient tome that promises to reveal the secrets of the universe. Ever the incorrigible gambler and all-around scamp, Gage makes an irresistible antihero. The ending promises more volumes in what one hopes will be a long series. 8-city author tour. (Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. FromThe sequel to Napoleon’s Pyramids (2007)picks up pretty much where that book left off. Ethan Gage, the American adventurer, having barely escaped death during his time in Egypt with Napoleon, is looking for a little peace and quiet, but when he’s approached with another can’t-miss Indiana Jones–like treasure hunt, he’s off again, this time to find the fabled Book of Thoth, the possibly apocryphal ancient Egyptian scroll with supposedly magical properties. Much capering about late-eighteenth-century Egypt results, with Gage dodging all variety of assailants while attempting to get his hands on yet another elusive artifact with the power to both entrance and corrupt all who seek it. Like Napoleon’s Pyramids, this is a fast-paced, lively historical-adventure yarn that combines entertaining characters, an intriguing story, and lots of derring-do. Dietrich has a real knack for these slightly over-the-top thrillers, and readers familiar with the work of, say, James Rollins or Matthew Reilly (7 Deadly Wonders, 2006, for example) need only be told that this fine novel is right up their alley. --David Pitt