The Blood of Alexander
Jonathan Blake works for an organization, the Argo Foundation, that recovers lost or stolen historical artifacts and works of art. Blake’s latest assignment involves a stolen bronze flag top from Napoléon Bonaparte’s army, a billionaire terrorist, and, rather unexpectedly, a treasure trove once possessed by Alexander the Great. This is a breezy thriller. It has characters who are painted in broad strokes, plenty of action, a larger than life (but never quite cartoonish) villain, and a clever historical mystery. It’s the kind of story you don’t need to work very hard to enjoy because the author is clearly having so much fun telling it. Some readers might notice a more-than-slight resemblance between Jonathan Blake and Trevanian’s Jonathan Hemlock—they both deal in art, they’re both globe-trotting adventurers who risk their lives, and they’re both fit and good-looking—but this isn’t a retread of The Eiger Sanction (1972) or The Loo Sanction (1973). It’s a solid, well-told adventure that stands on its own two feet. --David Pitt