Bloodstone Series: The Mythic Artifacts #1 Published by M.K. Deoradhán on May 5, 2026
Genres: Fiction / Action & Adventure, Fiction / Historical / General
Pages: 478
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Reading Challenges: All booksScientia potentia est. Knowledge is power. The year is 1936, and twenty-two-year-old history student Amelia "Mel"Hawkins-who's been tagging along on artifact-finding expeditions with her nonna since she could walk-can't pass up the opportunity to retrieve the priceless Amulet of Amun, hidden inside the Temple of Seti the First. Especially when she's getting paid to do it. Armed only with her wits and her absentee-father's switchblade, she finds out the hard way that the man claiming to be the emissary from the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities is actually a member of the Thule Society, known as the God Men, sent to kill her and take the amulet for the growing German Third Reich. When he fails, she's forced to rely on the brilliant, brooding museum employee, Bes Belzoni, and his visually impaired cousin, Cecilio Giudice, to protect her and the amulet from the swarm of fascists hunting them down. Because it's no coincidence her guide was one of the God Men, or that more are after her. Thrown into a deadly world of secrets and spy games, the three of them travel to the Italian Alps, where they run into trouble from the God Men and Mussolini's Blackshirts at every turn. But even her companions aren't what they seem: she quickly discovers that they're keeping secrets from her. Secrets so powerful they could change everything she thought she knew about her family, and uncover an ancient magic she never could've imagined. With evil rising to power, Mel must make a choice: ignore the growing threat in the world and save herself, or take a stand against it before she loses everything she's come to love.
This Book Had Me Ready to Raid Tombs
Bloodstone by M.K. Deoradhán is what happens when you toss Indiana Jones energy, ancient Egyptian artifacts, fascist-punching chaos, slow-burning yearning, and one emotionally constipated man into a blender and hit liquefy.
This book grabbed me by the throat in chapter one and said, “You live here now,” and honestly? Fair. We’ve got Amelia “Mel” Hawkins — hot-headed history student, professional disaster magnet, and certified “I can fix this” girlie — stumbling into a deadly hunt for the Amulet of Amun while the literal Third Reich is breathing down everyone’s necks. And somehow the book still finds time for banter so good that I was giggling between attempted murders.
The vibe is aggressively cinematic. Dusty tombs. Secret societies. Old guns. Ancient magic. Europe is on the edge of collapse. Men in suspenders have emotional repression contests. It feels like watching The Mummy at 2 a.m. while clutching a blanket and yelling “KISS ALREADY” at the screen.
And the slow burn? CRIMINAL.
Bes Belzoni walked onto the page all broody and mysterious, and suddenly I understood why women in historical adventure stories risk it all for emotionally unavailable men with dark eyes and unresolved trauma. The tension between him and Mel is so drawn out that it should honestly qualify as psychological warfare. Every tiny glance felt like a personal attack. Meanwhile, Cecilio casually steals scenes left and right like the charming chaos goblin cousin everyone immediately loves. The trio dynamic absolutely carries this book into obsession territory.
What really surprised me was how layered the story feels underneath the adventure chaos. There’s genuine weight to the historical backdrop, especially with fascism rising in 1936 Europe, and the book never lets you forget the danger sitting underneath all the treasure-hunting fun. It gives the story stakes beyond “find shiny object before bad guy.”
Also, M.K. Deoradhán does NOT write timid plot twists. Every time I thought the group could finally breathe, another secret exploded out of nowhere. I started trusting absolutely no one by the halfway point, and honestly, that felt like the right reading experience.
If you love:
- The Mummy
- Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
- National Treasure
- archaeology girls with knives
- brooding men who desperately need therapy
- chaotic found family energy
- ancient magic artifacts
- yearning so intense it becomes a health hazard
…this book is basically catnip.
I am already emotionally preparing for the rest of this series because Bloodstone ends with the kind of energy that makes you stare at a wall afterward, wondering how quickly you can get book two into your bloodstream.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
