The Dakota Cipher
Page 33
Or maybe, as Pierre and Namida suggest, Eden is where we make it.
About the Author
WILLIAM DIETRICH is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, historian and naturalist. His non-fiction has been widely used in university classes, and his fiction published in twenty-eight languages. He lives in Washington, and when not writing, reporting, or teaching environmental journalism, he reads, hikes, sails, remodels, and waves around the Roman cavalry sword his wife gave him to inspire his novels.
www.williamdietrich.com
By William Dietrich
Napoleon’s Pyramids
The Rosetta Key
The Dakota Cipher
Copyright
Allison & Busby Limited
13 Charlotte Mews
London W1T 4EJ
www.allisonandbusby.com
Copyright © 2009 by WILLIAM DIETRICH
Map by Nick Springer, Springer Cartographics LLC.
First published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2011.
This ebook edition first published 2011.
First published in the US in 2009.
Published by arrangement with HarperCollins Publishers,
New York, New York U.S.A.
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All characters and events in this publication other than those clearly in the public domain are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent buyer.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978–0–7490–1059–1
Read Ethan Gage’s previous adventures in …
NAPOLEON’S PYRAMIDS
‘If you think finding a smart, intelligent, well-written action thriller is as tough as deciphering hieroglyphics … the book you’re looking for is Napoleon’s Pyramids’
USA Today
‘Unbeatable adventure rivalling the exploits of George MacDonald Fraser’s Harry Flashman’
Publisher’s Weekly
What mystical secrets lie beneath the great pyramids?
Revolutionary Paris, 1798. Adventurer Ethan Gage – gambler, sharpshooter and pupil of the late Benjamin Franklin – wins a mysterious medallion in a card game. Within hours he is framed for murder and, facing the grim prospect of either prison or death, he barely escapes France with his life, choosing to accompany the ambitious young general Napoleon Bonaparte on his glorious mission to conquer Egypt. But even as he hurtles into war, Gage is pursued by shadowy enemies who seem determined to lay their hands on the baffling medallion, and the powers it could unlock, at all costs. In a race against time and terrain, he must find the answer to one of history’s greatest riddles, before it is too late…
THE ROSETTA KEY
‘Historical fiction meets thriller … The action is nearly nonstop, the humour is plentiful, and the intrigue is more than enough to keep the pages turning’
School Library Journal
‘Marvellous and filled with colour … The Rosetta Key is action packed, reads easily, and is ideal for the big screen’
Historical Novels Review
Surviving murderous thieves, a nerve-racking sea voyage, and the deadly sands of Egypt with Napoleon’s army, American adventurer Ethan Gage solved a five-thousand-year-old riddle with the help of a mysterious medallion. But the danger is only beginning …
Gage finds himself hurled into the Holy Land in dogged pursuit of an ancient Egyptian scroll imbued with magic, even as Bonaparte launches his 1799 invasion of Israel, which will climax at the epic siege of Acre. Pursuing Napoleon to France, where the General hopes ancient secrets will catapult him to power, the wily and inventive Gage faces old enemies with unlikely new friends, and must use wit, humour, derring-do, and an archaeological key to prevent dark powers from seizing control of the world.