The Map Thief

by Heather Terrell

Mara Coyne is hired to find a stolen artifact that may prove that China discovered a way around the southern tip of Africa before Vasco de Gama and the map would also show the Chinese discovered America in the early 1400s.

The book jumps back and forth between 3 time periods, telling the story of the mapmaker, a navigator for de Gama and Mara's search for a map stolen from an archeological dig in China. I thought this was an effective way to tell all three stories, even though it was a bit confusing at first to keep track of the main players.

I always like a book that keeps me interested and teaches me at the same time. I 'felt' the time periods and identified with the feelings of the main characters. The bigger story, that of finding the map, was all the more interesting because of the struggles that went into making the map and preserving it. I wanted the map to be found and the right thing done with it.

I liked this book well enough that I bought Terrell's first book, The Chrysalis. I would definitely recommend this to others who like historical fiction.