The Barbed Crown - Ethan Gage, Bk 6 Author:William Dietrich Spy, adventurer, and treasure hunter Ethan Gage fought beside Napoleon Bonaparte in Egypt and was his agent in Italy, America, and Greece. But that uneasy partnership has soured, and now the swashbuckling hero wants revenge-to make Napoleon pay for kidnapping Ethan's son, Harry, and nearly killing his wife, Astiza. — Smuggled into France, Gag... more »e is determined to stop Bonaparte and destroy his ambitions to conquer all of Europe, including Britain. Intrigue pulsates in the City of Light's deepest shadows as Gage, joined by Astiza, conspires to sabotage Napoleon's coronation, substituting the power-mad emperor's diadem with the Crown of Thorns-the religious relic purportedly worn by Christ at his crucifixion. When the plot is foiled, Astiza is captured and Ethan flees to England.
The British enlist the American's cunning and expertise to defeat the Little Corporal, and together with a circle of brilliant renegades, including Robert Fulton, designer of the first submarine; rocket artillery pioneer Sir William Congreve; and smuggler Tom Johnstone, they devise a daring plan as the French set sail for invasion. As two empires face off at sea, Gage is plunged into one of the most decisive and lethal battles of all time -and the most dangerous fight of his life- the Battle of Trafalgar.« less