"The Rosetta Key" continues the story of our hero, Ethan Gage, and his quest for the magical 'Book of Thoth.' This scroll of wisdom may have been stolen from the Great Pyramid by Moses and carried by the Jews to their new kingdom of Israel some three thousand years ago. Whoever holds it will have the power to dominate the world. The novel also continues the story of Napoleon Bonaparte, retracing his 1799 invasion of Syria from his base in Cairo, his defeat at the Siege of Acre, and his eventual abandonment of his army in Egypt. It follows the general's return to France, where he seized power in a coup in November of 1799.In the story, Napoleon's henchmen seize the Book of Thoth from Gage in Syria. Once back in France, the conqueror uses a hurried translation of key passages to bewitch the French Assembly into approving his accession to power. The Book, it seems, has become Napoleon's magic key, his grail. Ever the furtive thief, Gage manages to wrest the book back (and finally kills the central villain, Alessandro Silano) before Bonaparte can use its powers to assure his conquest of the world. It's then off to America for Gage, who sees his home country as the best hiding place.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
I'm a novelist and non-fiction author, with a series on American adventurer Ethan Gage in the Napoleonic era that has sold into 31 languages. My newest novel, a Nazi thriller, is "Blood of the Reich."
I began my writing career as a newspaper reporter in 1973, published my first non-fiction book, "The Final Forest," in 1992, and my first fiction, "Ice Reich," in 1998, completing a first draft on an Antarctic research ship. I share a Pulitzer for covering the Exxon Valdez oil spill while at the Seattle Times and then taught for five years at Western Washington University's Huxley College of the Environment. While there I authored "Green Fire: A History of Huxley College."
My work at HarperCollins has been historical fiction that ranges from the Roman Empire to my latest tale that ranges from Germany to Washington's Cascade Mountains to Tibet. My Ethan Gage series starts with Napoleon's invasion of Egypt ("Napoleon's Pyramids") and continues on to the Holy Land, America's Great Lakes frontier, the Barbary Pirates of North Africa and (coming) the Caribbean and Haiti. I've also done thrillers for Warner Books (Ice Reich, Getting Back, and Dark Winter, now available again as E-books on Amazon) and non-fiction about the Pacific Northwest.
My award-winning first non-fiction book, "The Final Forest," was just reissued by University of Washington Press. For any Twilight fans, it's a book about Forks, Washington, written well before the vampire craze: it gives you the real Forks.
Research for my novels has taken me to the Arctic, Antarctic, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Australia, Sicily, Greece, Paris, Britain, Hungary, Tibet...hey, someone's got to do it. I've traveled on a sailboat in the South Pacific, landed on an aircraft carrier, flown in a B-52, visited the South Pole, and been terrified flying with the Blue Angels.
As a journalist, I was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard, won National Science Foundation fellowships to Antarctica, and speak frequently on environmental issues. I've covered Congress, the eruption of Mount St. Helens, the environment, science, social issues - even the military. I've traveled frequently for my writing, but live in the Pacific Northwest where I was born. I'm married, with two grown children.
I live in a house looking out at the San Juan Islands, surrounded by fir, cedar, and hemlock, and sometimes get to watch bald eagles while I'm writing. Connecting with readers is one of life's biggest thrills.
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