The Map Thief
Heather Terrell
Ballantine, Jul 2008, $25.00
ISBN: 0345494687

Famous conservative kingmaker, Richard Tobias hires art recovery investigator Mara Coyne to find a valuable Chinese map stolen from an archeological dig. This is the type of artifact that Coyne searches for as it is the oldest known map to clearly show the entire globe; dating to the early fifteenth century and the expedition of Admiral Zheng to sail around the world. The priceless artifact was smuggled out of China when an Emperor purged any reference to the expedition. It reappeared when Vasco Da Gama used it as a guide in his search for the western sea passage to India.

In the present many groups willing to use force want the map mostly to suppress the evidence that the Chinese came to the Americas decades before Columbus. Mara and archeologist Ben Coleman struggle to find the map and stay alive; neither task easy to accomplish.

Fictionalizing the historical theories of Gavin Menzies (see 1421 The Year China Discovered The World and 1434: The Year A Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed To Italy And Ignited The Renaissance), Heather Terrell provides a fascinating thriller. The storyline is at its best when the focus is on the fifteenth century among Zheng and Da Gama journeys. The modern day cast fails to hold up next to the real historical cast, making most of the contemporaries feel as unnecessary intruders except for Coyne who is the readers guide to the expeditions of Zheng and Da Gama.

Harriet Klausner