The Blood of Alexander

In Wilde's unoriginal debut thriller, the wisecracking, James Bond-like lead, Jonathan Blake, has the requisite backstory for his new life as a globe-trotting adventurer. After his participation in a crooked archeological dig sets Blake up for a drug bust and a harsh prison stay, our hero turns to work for the Argo Foundation. The members of this shadowy organization are described as "pirates" who only prey on thieves and looters in order to "make certain whatever treasures [they] recover find a good home." When the latest target is identified as Alexander's lost tomb, Blake sets out on a mission originating in the Parisian catacombs, racing to the hidden treasure before James Vanya%E2%80%94founder and leader of a religious cult known as the Children of Cronus%E2%80%94can get his hands on it first. Other authors of adventure fiction have done a better job using such formulaic elements as a sexy partner, betrayals, and hairs-breadth escapes. Agent: Eleanor Wood, Spectrum Literary Agency. (Apr.)