The Map Thief: A Novel

by Heather Terrell

Overview

A sleuth searching for a lost map uncovers historical controversy in this thriller “as smart and well written as it is inventive, original, and surprising” (M. J. Rose, New York Times–bestselling author of The Reincarnationist).
 
Mara Coyne has a reputation as an art sleuth after successfully reuniting stolen art with its rightful owners. But when her latest client hires her to recover a centuries-old map that has gone missing from an archaeological dig in China, her keen intuition tells her that the client’s intentions are far from pure. As she follows the trail of the map’s history from Ming Dynasty origins to the map’s reappearance aboard the ship of explorer Vasco da Gama, Mara realizes the map is more valuable than she ever imagined. And that its recovery could reveal some shattering truths some would do anything to silence.
 
Weaving rich historical detail and astounding facts, The Map Thief is a riveting thriller that takes readers on an epic international journey through the criminal underworld of stolen artifacts.
 
“Provocative, well-documented, and evocative.” —Javier Sierra, New York Times–bestselling author of The Secret Supper

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781504090063
Publisher:	Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
Publication date:	06/03/2025
Pages:	250
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Heather Terrell is a bestselling novelist and lawyer. While practicing law, Terrell published her first work of historical fiction, The Chrysalis, in 2007, which was followed by The Map Thief in 2008. As Marie Benedict, she went on to write The Other Einstein (2016), The Only Woman in the Room (2019), Lady Clementine (2020), Her Hidden Genius (2022) and The Mitford Affair (2023), among others. She transitioned to young adult fiction with her Fallen Angel and Books of Eva series.

Read an Excerpt

Summer 1424
The Mongolian Steppes, China

The Mongolian steppes thunder as three hundred thousand horses charge across the plains. The ground vibrates from the unison marching of the nearly one million foot soldiers that follow in the cavalry’s wake. The arid soil of the steppes cracks under the army’s weight, and opens into countless new chasms. Without warning, the air grows silent, and the multitudes part. A towering figure on horseback cloaked in vibrant yellow gallops to the front of the ranks. It is Emperor Yongle, His Imperial Majesty of China, heir to the Dragon Throne and the Son of Heaven. The emperor knows that he should not ride unprotected across the steppes. He knows that he should ride shielded from sight, as mere mortals are forbidden to look upon the Son of Heaven. But he loves the fight, and he understands this battle against the rebel Mongol leader may be his last. Yet the emperor cannot help but believe that the gods will favor him with one more victory, as they have done so often in the past. And he must triumph against the insurgent Mongol forces outside on the battlefield in order to triumph against his political adversaries, the mandarins, inside his own kingdom. For the mandarins have been whispering that the rebellion is a sign that the gods have forsaken the emperor and his grand plans. The emperor must vanquish the rebels and prove the mandarins wrong before his pliable son and chosen successor, Zhu Gaozhi, starts listening to their whispers and abandons the emperor’s projects when he ascends the DragonThrone.

The aging emperor cannot allow this to happen. He must protect his beloved monuments, the Forbidden City and Great Wall among them, which declare China’s might to the world. He must keep intact the vast empire of tribute and trade he so carefully reconstructed after centuries of neglect. Most of all, he must safeguard his beloved navy, the largest and most advanced the world has ever known, and its plans for far-reaching voyages.

The gods know that he has only ever wanted to make his people have faith in their own rule after so many years of foreign Mongol domination. He must make the Mongol rebels kowtow to him, so that his glorious legacy will not be lost to the mandarins’ self-serving schemings when Zhu Gaozhi becomes the Son of Heaven.

The battle horns cry out, and the air reverberates with their sound. The emperor places his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to fight alongside the soldiers as if he were a mere mortal. He longs for victory, but if he is to die, he will die on these steppes and not caged within the Forbidden City like some rarefied bird.

The fast clap of a horse interrupts the herald of the horns. The emperor wonders who dares to disrupt this moment, his moment. He turns to see his general dismounting and kneeling at his side.

“Your Imperial Majesty, it is not fitting that you should head the troops. I beg that you allow me to lead the charge against the rebel Mongols.”

Staring down at the general, the emperor’s legendary black eyes flash in anger. “Never forget that I am the Son of Heaven. I will ride out among the men.” He watches until the general backs away.

The emperor looks out onto the battlefield. He regrets only that his trusted adviser, Admiral Zheng He, cannot ride alongside him in what could well be his last moments. But Zheng cannot. The emperor has other plans for him.

Emperor Yongle smiles as he unsheathes his sword, spurs on his horse, and roars to the army to follow his lead. He is a dreamer and a gambler, and he will die as he has lived. He leaves it to the gods to decide his fate and his legacy to China.

Editorial Reviews

Solving the theft of a recently unearthed, pre-Columbian, Chinese map of the world calls for the highly specialized skills of a Manhattan lawyer and art historian. The map, briefly studied before its disappearance, was a stunner. Ben Coleman, archaeologist on the dig near Xi'an where an interesting mummy was also discovered, saw enough to know that if the fabulously valuable scroll's suspected antiquity can be verified, China will have bragging rights as discoverer of sea routes long claimed by Portugal. Ben's financial backer Richard Tobias, a snooty archconservative political figure, has the megabucks at hand to engage Mara Coyne to recover the map. Mara is a lawyer who has carved out a niche for herself putting art objects back where they belong. Terrell (The Chrysalis, 2007) weaves Mara's voyage of discovery into the history of Ma Zhi, cartographer to the legendary eunuch admiral Zheng He, and that of Portuguese sailor Antonio Coelho, an officer on Vasco da Gama's voyage to India, packing hefty loads of history into her slightly rickety thriller framework. Moving quickly to identify the thief before the treasure makes it into the hands of some unscrupulous collector, Mara jets off to China where she uses her professional contacts to come up with the name of the criminal boss near Xi'an who can set her on the trail. Teaming up with the hunky Ben, Mara gets a lead that takes her first to Italy and then to Lisbon, where she has been told that a Senhor Dias is the man most likely to have gotten his hands on the map. There is much snooping around Portugal, and much of the snooping has more than a whiff of Nancy Drew, with hidden rooms and secret clues and a scary Chinese guy following themeverywhere. The historical threads are less swoony, although mapmaker Zhi, whose voluntary castration made him eligible for Imperial service, does pine for his ladylove. Tepid thrills, but interesting history and geography.

Kirkus Reviews

Provocative, well-documented, and evocative.”—Javier Sierra, author of The Secret Supper

“Heather Terrell’s new thriller moves effortlessly through time as she maps out a suspenseful novel that’s as smart and well written as it is inventive, original, and surprising. The Map Thief cements Terrell’s position as one of the genre’s up-and-coming stars and positions this series as one to watch and wait for . . . with bated breath.”—M. J. Rose, author of The Reincarnationist

From the Publisher