Hoping to cash in a bauble from his last adventure and retire, Ethan Gage finds himself forced into another escapade—rescuing the Haitian revolutionary Toussaint L’Ouverture from a French prison and gaining the key to a legendary treasure trove.

Before long, he finds himself a pawn in the hands of both Napoleon’s agents and the British and with his exotic wife, Astiza, and Harry, their toddler, kidnapped as hostages to be exchanged for the treasure and the secret of an incredible new weapon.

From France we’re transported to the Caribbean where Gage consorts with the French, defects to the Haitian rebels and experiences a bit of voodoo to help trace the location of the treasure.

Ethan Gage is the kind of self-deprecating hero most of us can relate to. He’s resourceful and does his best under trying circumstances, but isn’t reluctant to admit the flaws in his thinking or actions. Fortunately he has a knack for attracting assistance from others who make up for his flaws.

This is the fifth in the Ethan Gage adventure series, but the first I’ve read. It’s a worthy successor to George MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman series combining swashbuckling action and history. Unlike Fraser who used footnotes (which, while interesting, could be distracting), Dietrich utilizes an afterword to sort out truth from fiction in his tale.