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More battles, escapes, discoveries, villains, wry humor and ancient mysteries are in store for heroic scamp Ethan Gage in “The Rosetta Key,” Bill Dietrich’s seventh novel and 10th book.

The Fidalgo Island author will show slides of the Holy Land during a book reading and signing event for the new thriller at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 10 at the Anacortes Public Library, 1220 10th St. Watermark Book Co. will offer copies of the Harper/HarperCollins Publishers volume for sale at $25.95.

Dietrich is no stranger to writing history as it happens. As an environmental writer, he was one of four Seattle Times reporters who shared a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. A journalist for 35 years, his work still regularly appears in the Times.

In recent years he turned to writing historical novels, successfully redirecting his knack for summarizing complex historical events quickly in clear, concise and interesting terms. His painstaking research and eye for detail allows him to bring characters and their surroundings vividly to life. Dietrich’s Anacortes presentation is part of a substantial Northwest book tour.

“The Rosetta Key” picks up the story of the young American adventurer where his previous historical adventure novel left off. Publisher’s Weekly gives an enthusiastic review:

“Last seen in Dietrich’s ‘Napoleon’s Pyramids,’ fleeing the forces of evil in a runaway hot-air balloon over Egypt, Ethan Gage undergoes further life-threatening adventures in this rollicking sequel.... Ever the incorrigible gambler and all-around scamp, Gage makes an irresistible antihero. The ending promises more volumes in what one hopes will be a long series.”

“The Rosetta Key” offers many of the same attractions of “Napoleon’s Pyramids,” which was published in 25 languages. However, the publisher says it can be enjoyed by those who haven’t read the first book. In it, Gage quests for the “Book of Thoth,” an ancient Egyptian scroll imbued with magic, as Napoleon launches his 1799 invasion of Israel.
What is the Rosetta Key? Why is Napoleon so anxious to get it? Can Gage decipher the secret first?

“An utterly captivating romp from the treacherous tunnels beneath Jerusalem to the lost City of Ghosts (Petra, Jordan) to the tumult of revolutionary Paris,” said the Seattle Times.

In a press release, Dietrich points out that he, “unlike Brand X,” offers historical notes at the end of his book to help readers who want to distinguish between fact and fiction.

“The battles, sieges and massacres described really happened. Many of the characters are real people, doing things they really did ...,” he said. “At the Siege of Acre, you had young Napoleon facing off with a Bosnian Mameluke called ‘The Butcher,’ a British sea captain who had taunted Bonaparte by letter from a Parisian jail and then escaped with the help of his mistress, and a French schoolmate of Napoleon’s who used to kick the future emperor under the desk. History is wackier than anything I could make up.”