We meet up with our hero Ethan Gage in Napoleon's France, where he maneuvers a romantic liason with the Emperor's nymphomaniac married sister, narrowly escapes a plot on his life amidst a celebratory fireworks display, and encounters a grizzled Norwegian named Magus Bloodhammer. Magus shows Ethan an ancient map he has discovered. The map indicates that a mysterious artifact known as Thor's Hammer was last known to be in a medieval Norse settlement in North America. The hammer is said to control the weather and lightning by unknown principals.
Wishing to escape his would-be assassins, Ethan agrees to join Magnus in his quest. The two journey to America, meeting with the newly elected President Jefferson in a nascent D.C. of bogs and stumps. In a nod to future endeavors (Lewis and Clark), Jefferson funds their travels in exchange for a report on their findings, saying their request coincides with the sighting of blond-haired, blue-eyed Indians up along the Missouri. The two set off for Indian fur trapping country, where Gage will live as an Indian, face a hostile tribesman named Redjacket (so called for his British coat) as well as one Lady Aurora Somerset, a furiously bitter former love interest--all while questing after the magical Thor's Hammer. Incorporating real history with high adventure, Dietrich's newest tale is sure to delight readers of Napoleon's Pyramids and The Rosetta Key.
