William Dietrich's Napoleon's Pyramids (Harper, 2007) makes for a perfectly suitable diversion on a late winter snow day. In fact, I read the whole thing over the course of an afternoon. A good old-fashioned adventure tale, complete with a hapless (and slightly thickheaded) hero, a sinister serpent-themed lurker, a mysterious female, and some sort of mysterious object that seems to wreak havoc wherever it goes.
Throw in Napoleon's invasion of Egypt and his merry band of savants, and you've got yourself a good story. Our protagonist, naturally, feels compelled to solve the mystery of the strange medallion that brings him and those around him nothing but trouble (and snakes), and various Indiana Jones-like capers ensue.
Enjoyable.
