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The Rosetta Key
An Ethan Gage Adventure #2

by William Dietrich

     

Historian William Dietrich brings us a novel of historical adventure, the second featuring Ethan Gage, a loveable scoundrel whose curiosity may one day be the death of him.  We first met Ethan in Napoleon's Pyramids, his first adventure, also reviewed on Myshelf.   The Rosetta Key is the sequel.

Ethan has gotten on board a British warship, captained by Sir Sidney Smith. Smith had picked Gage up after he'd crashed the balloon he'd stolen from Napoleon's team of scientists.   Headed by Count Alessandro Silano, they hunted for the fabled Book of Thoth, which was reputed to contain the secrets to unsurpassed wealth and power.  Of course, both Bonaparte and Silano wanted the book for themselves, each planning to escape or kill the other as soon as the book was found.

Meanwhile, Ethan had agreed to gather information for the British in the port city of Jaffa.   While there, he met the blacksmith Jericho, as he was ordered.  He stayed with Jericho and his sister, Miriam, and also looked for his lover, Astiza.  The Egyptian beauty had fallen from the balloon with her former lover, Silano, into the Nile as she and Ethan tried to get away from the French and Silano.

The Rosetta Key is an impeccably written novel.  The characters are three dimensional, neither all good nor all bad.  Ethan Gage is not only curious, but a womanizing gambler with a penchant for getting into potentially fatal scrapes.  Fortunately, he's also adept at getting out of them.  The other characters are equally human.

The historical information is not only fascinating, it is accurate. There are, of course, places where Mr. Dietrich did take literary license with history.  This is, after all, a work of fiction.  The plot follows the lines of history, but it is filled with action, intrigue and romance.  It will keep you involved long after you've realized you should go to bed.

The Book

HarperCollins
January 27, 2009
Paperback
978-0-06-123956-4
Historical Thriller (Egypt, late 1700’s)
More at Amazon.com
Excerpt
NOTE: Contains violence, sex and profanity

The Reviewer

Jo Rogers
Reviewed 2009
NOTE:
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