Gregg Loomis - The Bonaparte Secret

RAVE REVIEWS FOR GREGG LOOMIS!

THE COPTIC SECRET

Gregg Loomis is a star in this genre... Loomis ups the ante in The Coptic Secret ... I couldnt put this book down. A highly recommended read.

Fresh Fiction

THE SINAI SECRET

An action-packed tale that hooks readers from the moment the Americans realize the Israelis have some secret weapon that they imply comes from God. Greg Loomis... provides breathtaking novels.

Midwest Book Review

Another thrilling, action-packed adventure for Lang Reilly... Gregg Loomis is fail proof.

Fresh Fiction

GATES OF HADES

This book is a jewelriveting, dynamic and action-packed. The twists and turns make this an absolute page-turner to the very last. I highly recommend Gates of Hades .

Fresh Fiction

Gates of Hades is a suspense-filled novel.

Midwest Book Review

THE JULIAN SECRET

I could not put this book down! Loomis has woven three time periods into a plot tapestry of twists and curves and connected them through the lives of a gritty American and a stoic German. I was sure I had the mystery figured out, but as usual, Loomis kept me involved and surprised until the end. This sequel to The Pegasus Secret is a highly recommended read.

Fresh Fiction

The Julian Secret is thought provoking and Loomis lets his readers form their own conclusions. This is a lively and stimulating thriller you do not want to put down. The surprise ending is greata light moment from the serious questions on life. Dan Browns fans will find The Julian Secret a delight.

I Love A Mystery

THE PEGASUS SECRET

[ The Pegasus Secret has] more intrigue and suspense than The Da Vinci Code !

Robert J. Randisi, Bestselling Author of Cold Blooded

The international setting and fast-paced action grip... [Readers] looking to repeat The Da Vinci Code experience will be satisfied.

Publishers Weekly

HANGING BY A THREAD

Lang clung to the rope, an umbilical cord that held him above a drop of thousands of feet. The swing ended abruptly as his momentum slammed him into a protruding stone, perhaps the top of another gun port. The impact knocked the breath out of his lungs and blurred his vision with colorful spots that spun in front of his eyes. Gasping to refill his lungs, he felt his grip on the line slip before his concentration could return.

He drifted back and forth in space. His shoulder muscles were in rebellion, sending pain radiating from neck to wrist. Hands beginning to spasm from the physical tension, he forced one after the other to inch his way up the remaining few feet of rope toward the gun.

He was almost there when he felt an almost imperceptible slack in the line. The swinging motion had somehow loosened the knot in the rope. It was coming loose.

If it did, the next stop would be nearly a half mile below...

Other Leisure books by Gregg Loomis:

THE COPTIC SECRET
THE SINAI SECRET
GATES OF HADES
THE JULIAN SECRET
THE PEGASUS SECRET

GREGG LOOMIS

The Bonaparte
Secret

Dorchester
Publishing

Contents

To Frank Loomis.

We choose our friends, God our families.

Frank was the best of both.

DORCHESTER PUBLISHING

May 2011

Published by

Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc.
200 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016

Copyright 2011 by 594, LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the authors rights is appreciated.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

ISBN 13: 978-1-4285-1112-5
E-ISBN: 978-1-4285-0964-1

The DP logo is the property of Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc.

Printed in the United States of America.

Visit us online at www.dorchesterpub.com .

The Bonaparte
Secret

P ROLOGUE

Syria, near Damascus
October, 322 BC

All one hundred or so inhabitants of the small oasis gathered to watch a sight never before seen and unlikely to be seen again: sixty-four mules pulled what Diodorus, a Sicilian Greek historian of the first century, would subsequently describe as an Ionic tomb made entirely of gold, twenty feet long and fourteen wide. Inside, the kings mummified body, preserved in honey, rested in a golden sarcophagus. The weight of the hearse had required specially designed wheels and suspension. Even so, six miles a day was the greatest speed it could attain.

The honor guard of one hundred Macedonian cavalry made no secret of the fact that the king was being taken home to Macedonia. He had died the year before in Babylon. The sheer size of his empire, stretching from Greece to India, had required over twelve months to divide among his generals before they could turn to the disposition of their former rulers remains. Chief among them, Perdiccas, had decreed the body was to be entombed next to the kings father, Philip. The order was not entirely popular, for Macedonian tradition held the first duty of the new king was to bury his predecessor, but the kings only son was a half-wit and Perdiccas was an ambitious man.

But no more so than Ptolemy, known as Soter, the savior, because he had been chief among the kings generals who had saved Egypt from the tyrannical rule of the Persians. Ptolemy had his eyes on Egypt, now part of the empire. More importantly, he had his army of several thousand blocking the funeral corteges path northwest to Macedonia.

The villagers watched in eager anticipation of bloody entertainment as Sertice, commander of the honor guard, wheeled his horse to climb the slight rise where a single figure sat on horseback in front of a line of a dozen or so war elephants. Behind them, men armed with spears had already formed phalanxes, the Greek battle formation of close ranks and files.

Reaching the crest, Sertice removed his helmet so the other man might more clearly see his face.

He dismounted and knelt before the others horse. Sir, you do me honor to join my small force in escorting the king home.

A smile creased the weathered face of the man on horseback. Despite Sertices flowery words, he knew the cavalry commander was fully aware of what was happening.

Honor is due you, Sertice. But I come to join you not in taking the king back to Macedonia but to Egypt as he wished.

But my orders...

Your orders are countermanded. Do not force me to slay my fellow comrades in arms.

It didnt take Sertice more than a second to make up his mind. A little over a year ago he would not have given the superior strength of an adversary a second thought. Had not the kings thirty thousand Macedonians routed ten times as many Persians? Had the king not consistently defeated armies far larger than his own? But the king was dead, there was no clear chain of command and it had been over ten years since he had seen his wife back in Macedonia, ten years of forced marches, combat and privation until the army had finally mutinied, refusing to go farther than the Hindu Kush. They all wanted to go home. What purpose would be served by losing a hundred brave men now?

He stood, head bowed. My life will be forfeit when Perdiccas hears of this.