Steve Berry (1) (1955–)
Author of The Templar Legacy
For other authors named Steve Berry, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
Steve Berry was born in 1955. He is a graduate of Mercer University's Walter F. George School of Law. He was a practicing attorney when he started writing in 1990. His first book, The Amber Room, was published in 2003. His other works include The Romanov Prophecy, The Third Secret, The Columbus show more Affair, The Patriot Threat and the Cotton Malone series. He also writes e-book original short stories including The Balkan Escape, The Devil's Gold, and The Admiral's Mark. He and his wife founded History Matters, a nonprofit organization dedicated to aiding the preservation of our heritage. In 2015, The Patriot Threat made The New York Times Best Seller List. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: I know there is already a picture for Steve Berry but that one was sometimes cut off...
Series
Works by Steve Berry
Three Tales from the World of Cotton Malone: The Balkan Escape, The Devil's Gold, and The Admiral's Mark… (2012) 59 copies
The Devil's Due and Other Stories: The Devil's Due, The Portal, Disfigured, Empathy, and Epitaph (International… (2012) 5 copies
The Cotton Malone Series 7-Book Bundle: The Templar Legacy, The Alexandria Link, The Venetian Betrayal, The Charlemagne… (2012) 3 copies
Shadow Tag 2 copies
The Lost Symbol 1 copy
The templar legacy The Alexandria link, The venetian betrayal, The Charlemagne pursuit, The Paris vendetta, The… (2012) 1 copy
All 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Berry, Steve
- Legal name
- Berry, Stephen L.
- Birthdate
- 1955-09-02
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- Places of residence
- Camden County, Georgia, USA
St. Mary's, Georgia, USA
St. Augustine, Florida, USA - Education
- Mercer University (J.D. | 1980)
Valdosta State College (B.A. | 1977) - Occupations
- lawyer
judge
novelist
short-story writer - Relationships
- Berry, Elizabeth (wife)
- Organizations
- History Matters (Foundation)
International Thrillers Writers (Co-President)
Camden County Board of Commissioners
Court of St. Mary's, Georgia - Awards and honors
- Georgia Writers Association Author of the Year (2005)
- Agent
- Simon Lipskar
- Short biography
- Married to Elizabeth Berry.Steve Berry (born September 2, 1955) is an American author and former attorney currently living in St. Augustine, Florida. He is a graduate of Mercer University's Walter F. George School of Law. He was a trial lawyer for 30 years and held elective office for 14 of those years. He is a founding member of International Thriller Writers—a group of more than 4,200 thriller writers from around the world—and served three years as its co-president.
Berry first appeared in print with his historical thrillers The Amber Room and The Romanov Prophecy in 2003 and 2004. A practicing attorney at the time, Berry had been writing fiction since 1990, and it took him 12 years and 85 rejections before selling a manuscript to Ballantine Books. Berry credits the nuns who taught him in Catholic school with instilling the discipline needed both to craft a novel and to find a publisher.
Berry's novels have been listed on The New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and BookSense bestseller lists. He has more than 25 million books in print, which have been translated into 40 languages and sold in 51 countries.
Berry is among several thriller writers who reside in the northeast Florida area.
In 2012 and 2013, Berry's historic preservation work was recognized by the American Library Association, which named him spokesperson for National Preservation Week. Among his other honors is the Royden B. Davis Distinguished Author Award; the 2013 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award given by Poets & Writers; the 2013 Anne Frank Human Writes Award; and the Silver Bullet, bestowed in 2013 by International Thriller Writers for philanthropic work. He was also appointed by the Smithsonian Board of Regents to serve on the Smithsonian Libraries Advisory Board to help promote and support libraries in their mission to provide information in all forms to scientists, curators, scholars, students, and the public. A 2010 NPR survey named The Templar Legacy one of the top 100 thrillers ever written.
Members
Discussions
Let’s Meet the Author in Book Discussion : The Malta Exchange by Steve Berry (March 16)
Chat in Book Discussion : The Malta Exchange by Steve Berry (March 14)
Chat in Book Discussion : The Bishop’s Pawn by Steve Berry (May 2023)
Let’s Meet The Author in Book Discussion : The Bishop’s Pawn by Steve Berry (May 2023)
Chat in Book Discussion : The Lost Order by Steve Berry (January 2020)
Let’s Meet... in Book Discussion : The Lost Order by Steve Berry (December 2019)
Let’s meet.... in Book Discussion : The 14th Colony by Steve Berry (May 2019)
Chat in Book Discussion : The 14th Colony by Steve Berry (May 2019)
Chat in Book Discussion : The Patriot Threat by Steve Berry (November 2018)
Meet the Author... in Book Discussion : The Patriot Threat by Steve Berry (November 2018)
Chat in Book Discussion : The Lincoln Myth by Steve Berry (August 2018)
Meet the Author in Book Discussion : The Lincoln Myth by Steve Berry (August 2018)
Chat in Book Discussion : The King’s Deception by Steve Berry (April 2018)
Meet the Author in Book Discussion : The King’s Deception by Steve Berry (April 2018)
Chat in Book Discussion : The Jefferson Key by Steve Berry (January 2018)
Chat in Book Discussion : The Emperor's Tomb by Steve Berry (September 2017)
Chat in Book Discussion : The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry (May 2017)
Chat in Book Discussion : The Charlemagne Pursuit by Steve Berry (February 2017)
Chat in Book Discussion : The Venetian Betrayal by Steve Berry (December 2016)
Pre Group Read Discussion / Chat in Book Discussion : The Alexandria Link by Steve Berry (October 2016)
Reviews
In the beginning of the book the pope has died, and His Eminence Kastor Cardinal Gallo schemes to get the job. The chances of this happening, he knows is slim since he is “persona non-grata" in the church and has been proclaimed a "threat to all the faithful” which is true since he only fakes his religious belief. Power is what he wants, and he is willing kill for it. He has an identical twin brother, Pollux, who is a Knight of Malta but he's not a priest and certainly not his brother's 'baby-sitter". Meanwhile, Cotton Malone is on a special assignment from Britain’s MI6, looking for a rumored secret correspondence between Winston Churchill and Mussolini. Former Army Ranger Luke Daniels trails Kastor, who is from Malta, where much of the story takes place. Cotton finds a mysterious ring engraved with a Maltese cross and a five-word palindrome that’s spelled out a bit too often. Maybe there is a secret in the engraved words. He also uncovers documents hidden by Mussolini and looks for what’s hidden in Rome. The intrigue is intense as Kastor, and a few others will stop at nothing short of murder to assure his rise to the most powerful post in the Roman Catholic Church. Thriller fans will eat this up! We also learn more than we probably ever needed or wanted to know about the inner workings of the church, its history dating all the way back to Constantine, and the very troubled past of Malta. A word of warning...Cynicism about Christianity is very strong here; Simon Wiesenthal, the Nazi Hunter, once said "the Vatican has the best spy service in the world". Cotton Malone and his little band of "Merry Men"...and women, is more than capable of righting any wrong...“Failure is not his style” ...but Kastor and Pollux are the conniving characters that really stand out in this one. The books do not necessarily need to be read in order but "in order" will allow the reader to see how Cotton and his group evolved.… (more)
The Atlas Maneuver is the 18th Cotton Malone spy thriller from Steve Berry. The story is action packed on 2 fronts. The pace is super fast and it felt like I was reading faster than normal in order to keep up with the pace. In this installment of the series Cotton unravels a mystery from World War II that involves the legendary lost treasure, Yamishita’s Gold, worth billions.
The publisher's summary:
1945. In the waning months of World War II, Japan hid vast quantities of gold and other stolen valuables in boobytrapped underground caches all across the Philippines. By 1947, some of that loot was recovered, not by treasure hunters, but by the United States government, which told no one about the find. Instead, those assets were stamped classified, shipped to Europe, and secretly assimilated into something called the Black Eagle Trust.
Present day. Retired Justice Department operative, Cotton Malone, is in Switzerland doing a favor for a friend. But what was supposed to be a simple operation turns violent and Cotton is thrust into a war between the world’s oldest bank and the CIA, a battle that directly involves the Black Eagle Trust. He quickly discovers that everything hinges on a woman from his past, who suddenly reappears harboring a host of explosive secrets centering around bitcoin. The cryptocurrency is being quietly weaponized, readied for an assault on the world’s financial systems, a calculated move that will have devastating consequences. Cotton has no choice. He has to act. But at what cost?
From the stolid banking halls of Luxembourg, to the secret vaults of Switzerland, and finally up into the treacherous mountains of southern Morocco, Cotton Malone is stymied at every turn. Each move he makes seems wrong, and nothing works, until he finally comes face-to-face with the Atlas Maneuver.
Berry has utilized several conspiracy theories surrounding bitcoin and made them into the background for the story. Around the halfway point I was so curious about bitcoin that I stopped reading and went over to Wikipedia to determine what parts of the story were true to life. I was astonished to learn that every fact Berry gave us concerning the creation of the bitcoin, including the name of its creator as well as the rules on buying and selling, were accurate.
Also, there are several figures from real life. We have General Yamashita and his cohort Prince Chichibu as well as the legendary creator of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoyo. Characters from earlier books in the series have returned in The Atlas Maneuver including Derrick Koger (CIA European station chief) and Casseiopia Vitt (Malone’s lover). In addition, there are several other characters who don't even know who they are really working for. This was confusing for me because I couldn't identify whose side they were on until the end. Instead of adding suspense it created confusion. Also, it amazes me how realistically Berry brings Malone back into the spy world from retirement year after year. Perhaps Cotton Malone should never have retired but it doesn't really matter because his return to work is always seamless.
All of these characters are on the trail of a huge cache of bitcoin that, in the absence of any legal records of ownership, will belong to anyone who can track it down and grab it. As for what the Atlas Maneuver is, I will keep to myself in order to avoid spoiling the fun for future readers.
The Atlas Maneuver is an enjoyable read and I am thrilled to have received a copy from Net Galley.… (more)
The publisher's summary:
1945. In the waning months of World War II, Japan hid vast quantities of gold and other stolen valuables in boobytrapped underground caches all across the Philippines. By 1947, some of that loot was recovered, not by treasure hunters, but by the United States government, which told no one about the find. Instead, those assets were stamped classified, shipped to Europe, and secretly assimilated into something called the Black Eagle Trust.
Present day. Retired Justice Department operative, Cotton Malone, is in Switzerland doing a favor for a friend. But what was supposed to be a simple operation turns violent and Cotton is thrust into a war between the world’s oldest bank and the CIA, a battle that directly involves the Black Eagle Trust. He quickly discovers that everything hinges on a woman from his past, who suddenly reappears harboring a host of explosive secrets centering around bitcoin. The cryptocurrency is being quietly weaponized, readied for an assault on the world’s financial systems, a calculated move that will have devastating consequences. Cotton has no choice. He has to act. But at what cost?
From the stolid banking halls of Luxembourg, to the secret vaults of Switzerland, and finally up into the treacherous mountains of southern Morocco, Cotton Malone is stymied at every turn. Each move he makes seems wrong, and nothing works, until he finally comes face-to-face with the Atlas Maneuver.
Berry has utilized several conspiracy theories surrounding bitcoin and made them into the background for the story. Around the halfway point I was so curious about bitcoin that I stopped reading and went over to Wikipedia to determine what parts of the story were true to life. I was astonished to learn that every fact Berry gave us concerning the creation of the bitcoin, including the name of its creator as well as the rules on buying and selling, were accurate.
Also, there are several figures from real life. We have General Yamashita and his cohort Prince Chichibu as well as the legendary creator of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoyo. Characters from earlier books in the series have returned in The Atlas Maneuver including Derrick Koger (CIA European station chief) and Casseiopia Vitt (Malone’s lover). In addition, there are several other characters who don't even know who they are really working for. This was confusing for me because I couldn't identify whose side they were on until the end. Instead of adding suspense it created confusion. Also, it amazes me how realistically Berry brings Malone back into the spy world from retirement year after year. Perhaps Cotton Malone should never have retired but it doesn't really matter because his return to work is always seamless.
All of these characters are on the trail of a huge cache of bitcoin that, in the absence of any legal records of ownership, will belong to anyone who can track it down and grab it. As for what the Atlas Maneuver is, I will keep to myself in order to avoid spoiling the fun for future readers.
The Atlas Maneuver is an enjoyable read and I am thrilled to have received a copy from Net Galley.… (more)
Steve Berry's latest Cotton Mather, The Atlas Maneuver, thriller showed up on my Kindle recently. I finished it in a marathon reading session last night. Berry has a similar style to Dan Brown: some historical authenticity coupled with evil power brokers and conspiracy theories. The chapters are usually short and move between perspectives so we get into the minds of the good AND bad guys. Cotton Mather is a former special agent who retired to run a bookshop in Copenhagen. But he is often pulled into clandestine activities as favors to friends in the intelligence community. He is joined by Cassiopeia Vitt, his partner in love and action. One feature of the series is that Mather often finds himself battling the bad guys in World Heritage sites.
Berry takes on blockchain and bitcoin in this installment and I was fascinated. I did not know that El Salvador had adopted bitcoin as legal tender, something that plays a role in the story.… (more)
Berry takes on blockchain and bitcoin in this installment and I was fascinated. I did not know that El Salvador had adopted bitcoin as legal tender, something that plays a role in the story.… (more)
Lists
al.vick-series (1)
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 53
- Also by
- 16
- Members
- 30,713
- Popularity
- #647
- Rating
- 3.6
- Reviews
- 1,101
- ISBNs
- 890
- Languages
- 22
- Favorited
- 81
Unfortunately, this book was a bit too disjointed. Yes, there was discussion about the structure of the Knights Hospitaller and the mysterious documents case held by Benito Mussolini at the time of his death, but the latter sort of fizzled out on Malta and the former was a bit eclipsed by a cast of characters that were in, then out, then trying to be mysteriously involved.
While I can appreciate multiple chapters with multiple points of view, this one jumped from Cotton Malone to Luke to the mysterious Knight to other events, and all those jumps made following the plot just way too hard. So, while I enjoy this genre, I was left without that wonderful conspiracy puzzle that I had expected.… (more)