The Barbed Crown: An Ethan Gage Adventure (Ethan Gage Adventures)
Inveterate eighteenth-century American adventurer Ethan Gage puts his considerable skills as a spy and a saboteur to work as he seeks to avenge the kidnapping of his son and the near drowning of his Greek Egyptian wife, Astiza. Convinced his former confederate and employer, Napol&#xE9;on Bonaparte, was behind the double-pronged assault on his family, he steals into France, determined to exact revenge. Though their initial plan to sabotage Napol&#xE9;on&#x2019;s coronation is foiled and Astiza is captured, Ethan is able to flee to England. Joining forces with a group of Enlightenment-era scientists and inventors who are working on an intricate plan to thwart Napol&#xE9;on&#x2019;s intended invasion of England, he eventually ends up in the midst of the Battle of Trafalgar. Utilizing his trademark combination of wit, wile, and homespun American common sense, Ethan successfully integrates himself into the sophisticated intrigue of the Old World. --Margaret Flanagan