The Charlemagne Pursuit

Great, exciting tale, and as usual Berry makes it almost believable. ( )

Cotton Malone is a former Justice Department agent. He's interesting in knowing more about his father who was a captain on an experimental sub that went down in Antarctica and there were no survivors.

Cotton pulls in some favors and gets a record of the ship so he can learn more.

In a quick succession of events with many killings, he ends up working with twin sisters whose father was also on the sub and they want to learn of his final days. The women's mother is an iron fisted woman who has promised the family fortune to the sister who finds out about her father, first.

There is also an influential man who is interested in the lost sub but this man wants to keep everything a secret and doesn't mind murder to stop anyone from finding too much.

There is a puzzle that must be solved and ancient history comes into play. It has to do with Charlemagne and adding this touch has kept the book interesting and done so in a way that doesn't make the story drawn out.

I enjoyed the characters and various settings and think those looking for an interesting read and a trip through history will enjoy it. ( )

I guess I didn't enjoy this one as much as most other Steve Berry novels. Sure he managed to weave some obscure historical fact, make some entertaining fiction out of it and tell a good story. We also get some backstory on Cotton and his personal life which while intriguing and wraps itself into the overall story, I felt it to be contrived. Seemed like Berry had two stories to tell and couldn't quite pick which one he wanted to tell more. Thus both felt forced and reaching to fill some page count. I hate saying this about a Berry novel as I love most of them, this just was not one of my favorites. I will always come back to Berry again and again, but this just didn't reach his normal standards. ( )

I enjoyed this book, but I have to be honest and say that I didn't enjoy it as much as I did the first three Cotton Malone stories. The mystery at the foundation of this book is fascinating and kept my interest the whole way through but I kept finding myself thinking "Huh?!" at some of the characters actions. The Americans - including Cotton, Stephanie Nelle, Edwin Davis and President Danny Daniels - all made sense, but like another reviewer mentioned the Oberhauser women just didn't gel with me. The fast moving action and the stunning visual descriptions by far outweighed any issues I had with the Oberhauser characters though and I would definitely recommend the book to other Steve Berry and Cotton Malone fans. ( )

What if...an ancient and advanced civilization played an advisory role in the development of other great civilizations? This underlying premise, and subsequent attempts to maintain secrecy of its discovery, is the foundation for this thriller. The action and suspense is maintained by a string of assassinations, ambition-fueled corruption at the highest levels of US military intelligence, and a dynastic family unable to come to terms with either its Nazi past or heirless future. This book was named a Library Journal Best Book (thriller); solid, but not great, I rate it at 7 out of 10 stars. ( )