Map of Thieves

MWSA Review

In this, his second installment of the Tununda Mysteries, Michael Karpovage melds intrigue, history, and suspense together to form a compelling novel. Traditions and lore interweave to carry the reader deep into tunnels of discovery, death, and danger.

LTC Jake Tununda finds himself drawn into a deadly family feud where powerful people are pulling on the reins and seeking to not only stop him from solving the crime, but to destroy him and the people he loves. Labeled as a traitor and cold-blooded murderer, Tununda has no choice but to forge ahead, decipher clues, and find the person (or people) behind the deception and death surrounding the Map of Thieves.

Karpovage is a gifted storyteller; Map of Thieves does not disappoint.

Reviewed by: Sandra Miller Linhart (2015)

Author's Summary

After discovering a lost Civil War hat from a famous Union general who was shot in the back during the Battle of Atlanta, Freemason military historian Lieutenant Colonel Jake Tununda is shocked to learn a secret waybill may be hidden inside the hat's liner. Before he can inspect it, the hat and two priceless Nazi artifacts disappear from the West Point Museum in a brazen daytime theft.

Jake and his girlfriend, private investigator Rae Hart, head to Savannah to question their main suspect, an aging World War II vet. They soon find themselves targeted for assassination. Even worse, Jake is suspended from the case and the Army itself. In Map of Thieves, a mystery thriller set in the deep South, Jake and Rae team up with Delta Force operative Alex Vann to catch a killer thief and to locate the legendary Cherokee Tunnel-a gold vault in the Georgia mountains that dates back to 1838 and the Trail of Tears. Enter U.S. Congressman Tom Black of Atlanta, one of the dirtiest, most corrupt politicians ever to steal an election.

He's also the great grandson of the sniper whose shot killed the Union general. Once privy to what's inside the secret Indian tunnel-Hernando de Soto's stolen Spanish mining map-Black will let nothing stand in his way to steal it for himself. Including killing his own elderly father.