"William Dietrich is a born stylist, moving characters around on an historical chessboard with the assured hand of a master novelist firing on all cylinders. Ethan Gage is a wiry, battle-scarred hero, with great decency, who rings absolutely true." --Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of The Jefferson Key

From New York Times bestselling author William Dietrich, a rollicking adventure in the popular Ethan Gage series, following Napoleon's Pyramids, The Rosetta Key, and The Dakota Cypher. From the man Library Journal calls "a leader among historical novelists" comes a grand adventure, featuring a hero as memorable as Indiana Jones or George MacDonald Fraser's Sir Harry Flashman.

American explorer, adventurer, and lover Ethan Gage has braved the sands of Egypt, the perils of the Atlantic Ocean, and the harsh wilderness of early America. Now he finds himself in a desperate race with a powerful band of North African Muslim outlaws. The prize is the Mirror of Archimedes, an ancient superweapon that now, in 1802, could tip the balance of power in the Mediterranean.

Can Ethan rescue his lost love, Astiza, without betraying the cause of his own United States? Can he save the two-year-old son he only recently learned of without allowing the fiendish Egyptian Rite to dominate the world? And when the sun rises on the Mirror of Archimedes, will everything Ethan cares about go up in flames? Racing from the brothels of Paris to the canals of Venice to the dungeons of Tripoli, Gage will face his ultimate reckoning on the high seas--as he battles to prevent the destruction of the American, English, and French fleets at the ruthless hands of . . . The Barbary Pirates!