The Honourable Thief, Meaghan Wilson Anastasios, Macmillan, RRP $32

HER first novel, The Water Diviners, co-written with her husband, was brought to life in a beautiful performance by Russell Crowe.

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HER first novel, The Water Diviners, co-written with her husband, was brought to life in a beautiful performance by Russell Crowe.

Now, for her debut solo novel, Meaghan Wilson Anastasios has returned to the vivid colours and cultures of the Mediterranean.

In The Honorable Thief, her enigmatic hero is Ben Hitchens, a charismatic American archaeologist.

Part Indiana Jones, part Da Vinci Code’s Robert Langdon, Hitchens' passion is Homeric legend, and his life’s work is proving Achilles was not just a myth, but a real historical figure.

Set against the rising tensions of the Cold War in Europe and the Mediterranean, The Honourable Thief races from the dusty streets of Istanbul to London’s art world and the sparkling waters of the Greek Islands.

Anastasios is an exciting storyteller with a flair for pace and dramatic tension — this is a gripping adventure, beautifully realised.

Anastasios brings to life the thrill of the archaeological dig with an expert’s eye.

Her own experiences as an archaeologist in the Mediterranean and Middle East lend an exactness to her descriptions of the dusty life on the digs, where the thrill of discovery is tempered by painstaking paperwork.

But when we first meet Hitchens he is far from the heroic scholar.

In Istanbul in 1955 he is a browbeaten, weathered and cynical wreck.

He has lost the love of his life, his career and his reputation and he’s a willing participant in an elaborate antiquities smuggling operation.

But his life is turned upside down when a chance encounter with a woman on a train leads to a dazzling discovery of Trojan loot.

When she suddenly disappears, his quest to find her becomes a frantic race against time to save his reputation and uncover the ancient prize that could change the course of history.