2Carol420
The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry
Book Discussion: no site available
Series: Cotton Malone Boon #1
Publication date: February 21, 2006
Book Description:The ancient order of the Knights Templar possessed untold wealth and absolute power over kings and popes . . . until the Inquisition, when they were wiped from the face of the earth, their hidden riches lost. But now two forces vying for the treasure have learned that it is not at all what they thought it was–and its true nature could change the modern world. Cotton Malone, one-time top operative for the U.S. Justice Department, is enjoying his quiet new life as an antiquarian book dealer in Copenhagen when an unexpected call to action reawakens his hair-trigger instincts–and plunges him back into the cloak-and-dagger world he thought he’d left behind. It begins with a violent robbery attempt on Cotton’s former supervisor, Stephanie Nelle, who’s far from home on a mission that has nothing to do with national security. Armed with vital clues to a series of centuries-old puzzles scattered across Europe, she means to crack a mystery that has tantalized scholars and fortune-hunters through the ages by finding the legendary cache of wealth and forbidden knowledge thought to have been lost forever when the order of the Knights Templar was exterminated in the fourteenth century. But she’s not alone. Competing for the historic prize–and desperate for the crucial information Stephanie possesses–is Raymond de Roquefort, a shadowy zealot with an army of assassins at his command. Welcome or not, Cotton seeks to even the odds in the perilous race. But the more he learns about the ancient conspiracy surrounding the Knights Templar, the more he realizes that even more than lives are at stake. At the end of a lethal game of conquest, rife with intrigue, treachery, and craven lust for power, lies a shattering discovery that could rock the civilized world–and, in the wrong hands, bring it to its knees.
I have no other data for this one.
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The Alexandria Link by Steve Berry
Book Discussion: https://www.librarything.com/groups/bookdiscussiontheale
Series: Cotton Malone Book #2
Publication Date: Nov. 2007
Book Description:Cotton Malone retired from the high-risk world of elite operatives for the U.S. Justice Department to lead the low-key life of a rare-book dealer. But his quiet existence is shattered when he receives an anonymous e-mail: “You have something I want. You’re the only person on earth who knows where to find it. Go get it. You have 72 hours. If I don’t hear from you, you will be childless.” His horrified ex-wife confirms that the threat is real: Their teenage son has been kidnapped. When Malone’s Copenhagen bookshop is burned to the ground, it becomes brutally clear that those responsible will stop at nothing to get what they want. And what they want is nothing less than the lost Library of Alexandria. A cradle of ideas–historical, philosophical, literary, scientific, and religious–the Library of Alexandria was unparalleled in the world. But fifteen hundred years ago, it vanished into the mists of myth and legend–its vast bounty of wisdom coveted ever since by scholars, fortune hunters, and those who believe its untold secrets hold the key to ultimate power. Now a cartel of wealthy international moguls, bent on altering the course of history, is desperate to breach the library’s hallowed halls–and only Malone possesses the information they need to succeed. At stake is an explosive ancient document with the potential not only to change the destiny of the Middle East but to shake the world’s three major religions to their very foundations. Pursued by a lethal mercenary, Malone crosses the globe in search of answers. His quest will lead him to England and Portugal, even to the highest levels of American government–and the shattering outcome, deep in the Sinai desert, will have worldwide repercussions.
Dates Read: October 15 - October 20, 2016
Participants: (7) Andrew; Carol; Lynda; Eadie; Brenda; Sergei; Bluebird
Ratings: Andrew - 4.5; Carol - 4.5; Lynda - 4.5: Eadie- 4.5; Brenda -4.5; Sergei -4.5; Bluebird - 4.5
Overall Average Rating: 4.5
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The Venetian Betrayal by Steve Berry
Book Discussion: https://www.librarything.com/groups/bookdiscussiontheven
Series: Cotton Malone Book#3
Publication Date: November 18, 2008
Book Description: In 323 B.C.E, having conquered Persia, Alexander the Great set his sights on Arabia, then suddenly succumbed to a strange fever. Locating his final resting place–unknown to this day–remains a tantalizing goal for both archaeologists and treasure hunters. Now the quest for this coveted prize is about to heat up. And Cotton Malone–former U.S. Justice Department agent turned rare-book dealer–will be drawn into an intense geopolitical chess game. After narrowly escaping incineration in a devastating fire that consumes a Danish museum, Cotton learns from his friend, the beguiling adventurer Cassiopeia Vitt, that the blaze was neither an accident nor an isolated incident. As part of campaign of arson intended to mask a far more diabolical design, buildings across Europe are being devoured by infernos of unnatural strength.
And from the ashes of the U.S.S.R., a new nation has arisen: Former Soviet republics have consolidated into the Central Asian Federation. At its helm is Supreme Minister Irina Zovastina, a cunning despot with a talent for politics, a taste for blood sport, and the single-minded desire to surpass Alexander the Great as history’s ultimate conqueror.
Backed by a secret cabal of power brokers, the Federation has amassed a harrowing arsenal of biological weapons. Equipped with the hellish power to decimate other nations at will, only one thing keeps Zovastina from setting in motion her death march of domination: a miraculous healing serum, kept secret by an ancient puzzle and buried with the mummified remains of Alexander the Great–in a tomb lost to the ages for more than 1,500 years.
Together, Cotton and Cassiopeia must outrun and out think the forces allied against them. Their perilous quest will take them to the shores of Denmark, deep into the venerated monuments of Venice, and finally high inside the desolate Pamir mountains of Central Asia to unravel a riddle whose solution could destroy or save millions of people–depending on who finds the lost tomb first.
Dates Read: December 17- December 22, 2016
Participants: (8) Andrew, Lynda, Carol, Sergei, Eadie, Bluebird, Brenda, gaylbutz
Ratings: Andrew- 4; Lynda -4 ; Carol - 4 ; Sergei - 4; Eadie - 4.5; Bluebird -3.5; Brenda -4 ; gaylbitz -4
Overall Average Rating: 4.00
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The Charlemagne Pursuit by Steve Berry
Book Discussion: https://www.librarything.com/groups/bookdiscussionthecha
Series: Cotton Malone Book #4
Publication Date: November 24, 2009
Book Description: As a child, former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone was told that his father died in a submarine disaster in the North Atlantic. But what he now learns stuns him: His father’s sub was a secret nuclear vessel lost on a highly classified mission beneath the ice shelves of Antarctica.
Twin sisters Dorothea Lindauer and Christl Falk are also determined to find out what became of their father, who died on the same submarine–and they know something Malone doesn’t: Inspired by strange clues discovered in Charlemagne’s tomb, the Nazis explored Antarctica before the Americans. Now Malone discovers that cryptic journals penned in “the language of heaven,” conundrums posed by an ancient historian, and his father’s ill-fated voyage are all tied to a revelation of immense consequence for humankind. As Malone embarks on a dangerous quest with the sisters, he will finally confront the shocking truth of his father’s death and the distinct possibility of his own.
Dates Read: February 11, 2017 - February 17, 2017
Participants: (7) Andrew, Carol, Lynda, Eadie, Bluebird, Sergei, Brenda,
Ratings: Andrew-3; Carol -3; Lynda 2.5;- Eadie -3.5; Sergei - 3.5; Bluebird 2.5; - Brenda -3.25
Overall Average Rating: 3.04
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The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry
Book Discussion: www.librarything.com/groups/bookdiscussionthepar
Series: Cotton Malone Book #5
Publication Date: July 27, 2010
Book Description: When Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile in 1821, he took to the grave a powerful secret. As general and emperor, he had stolen immeasurable riches from palaces, national treasuries, and even the Knights of Malta and the Vatican. In his final days, his British captors hoped to learn where the loot lay hidden. But he told them nothing, and in his will he made no mention of the treasure. Or did he? Former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone isn't looking for trouble when it comes knocking at his Copenhagen bookshop. Actually, it breaks and enters in the form of an American Secret Service agent with a pair of assassins on his heels. Malone has his doubts about the anxious young man, but narrowly surviving a ferocious firefight convinces him to follow his unexpected new ally. Their first stop is the secluded estate of Malone's good friend, Henrik Thorvaldsen. The wily Danish tycoon has uncovered the insidious plans of the Paris Club, a cabal of multimillionaires bent on manipulating the global economy. Only by matching wits with a terrorist-for-hire, foiling a catastrophic attack, and plunging into a desperate hunt for Napoleon's legendary lost treasure can Malone hope to avert international financial anarchy. But Thorvaldsen's real objective is much more personal: to avenge the murder of his son by the larcenous aristocrat at the heart of the conspiracy. Thorvaldsen's vendetta places Malone in an impossible quandary—one that forces him to choose between friend and country, past and present. Starting in Denmark, moving to England, and ending up in the storied streets and cathedrals of Paris, Malone plays a breathless game of duplicity and death, all to claim a prize of untold value. But at what cost?
Dates Read: May 18, 2017 - May 22, 2017
Participants: (7) Andrew, Carol, Sergei, Lynda, Eadie, Bluebird, Brenda
Ratings: Andrew - 3.5; Carol - 3.5; Sergei -3.75; Lynda -3.5 ;Eadie - 4; Bluebird - 3 ; Brenda -:
Overall Average Rating: 3.5
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The Emperors Tomb by Steve Berry
Book Discussion: https://www.librarything.com/groups/bookdiscussiontheem2
Series: Cotton Malone Book #6
Publication Date: August 30, 2011
Book Description: Former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone has received an anonymous note carrying an unfamiliar Web address. Logging on, he’s shocked to see Cassiopeia Vitt, a woman who’s saved his life more than once, being tortured at the hands of a mysterious man who has a single demand: Bring me the artifact she’s asked you to keep safe. The only problem is, Malone doesn’t have a clue what the man is talking about, since Cassiopeia has left nothing with him. So begins Malone’s most harrowing adventure to date—one that offers up astounding historical revelations, pits him against a ruthless ancient brotherhood, and sends him from Denmark to Belgium to Vietnam then on to one of the greatest archaeological sites in the world: the tomb of China’s First Emperor, guarded by an underground army of terra-cotta warriors, which has inexplicably remained sealed for more than two thousand years—its mysteries about to be revealed.
Dates Read: September 8 - September 14, 2017
Participants & Ratings: (8) Andrew- 4.5; Carol - 3.5; Sergei - 5; Lynda -3.5; Eadie- 5; Brenda-3.5; Bluebird - 3.5; Colin-3
Overall Average Rating: 4.38
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The Jefferson Key by Steve Berry
Book Discussion:
Series: Cotton Malone Book#7
Publication Date: December 27, 2011
Book Description: Four presidents of the United States have been assassinated—in 1865, 1881, 1901, and 1963—each murder seemingly unrelated. But what if those presidents were all killed for the shocking same reason: a clause contained in the United States Constitution? This is the question faced by former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone. When President Danny Daniels is nearly killed in the heart of Manhattan, Malone risks his life to foil the murder—only to find himself at odds with the Commonwealth, a secret society of pirates first assembled during the American Revolution. Racing across the nation and taking to the high seas, Malone and Cassiopeia Vitt must break a secret cipher originally possessed by Thomas Jefferson, unravel a mystery concocted by Andrew Jackson, and unearth a document forged by the Founding Fathers themselves—one powerful enough to make the Commonwealth unstoppable.
Dates Read: January 9, 2018 - January 14. 2018
Participants & Ratings: Andrew3.5; Carol 4; Lynda 4; Eadie 4; Sergei 3.5; Brenda 4
Overall Average Rating: 3.83
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The King's Deceptionby Steve Berry
Book Discussion:
Series: Cotton Malone Book #8
Publication Date: January 1, 2014
Book Description: Cotton Malone and his fifteen-year-old son Gary are headed to Europe As a favor to his former boss at the Justice Department Malone agrees to escort a teenage fugitive back to England But after he is greeted at gunpoint in London both the fugitive and Gary disappear and Malone learns that hes stumbled into a high-stakes diplomatic showdownan international incident fueled by geopolitical gamesmanship and shocking Tudor secrets At its heart is the Libyan terrorist convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 who is set to be released by Scottish authorities for humanitarian reasons An outraged American government objects but nothing can persuade the British to intervene Except perhaps Operation Kings Deception Run by the CIA the operation aims to solve a centuries-old mystery one that could rock Great Britain to its royal foundations Blake Antrim the CIA operative in charge of Kings Deception is hunting for the spark that could rekindle a most dangerous fire the one thing that every Irish national has sought for generations a legal reason why the English must leave Northern Ireland The answer is a long-buried secret that calls into question the legitimacy of the entire forty-five-year reign of Elizabeth I the last Tudor monarch who completed the conquest of Ireland and seized much of its land But Antrim also has a more personal agenda a twisted game of revenge in which Gary is a pawn With assassins traitors spies and dangerous disciples of a secret society closing in Malone is caught in a lethal bind To save Gary he must play one treacherous player against anotherand only by uncovering the incredible truth can he hope to prevent the shattering consequences of the Kings Deception
Dates Read: April 14, 2018 - April 19,2018
Participants & Ratings: (5) Andrew-5, Sergei- 5, Eadie - 5, Lynda- 5, Brenda;
Overall Average Rating: 5.0
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The Lincoln Myth by Steve Berry
Book Discussion:
Series: Cotton Malone Book #9
Publication Date: November 25, 2014
Book Description: September 1861: All is not as it seems. With these cryptic words, a shocking secret passed down from president to president comes to rest in the hands of Abraham Lincoln. And as the first bloody clashes of the Civil War unfold, Lincoln alone must decide how best to use this volatile knowledge: save thousands of American lives, or keep the young nation from being torn apart forever?
The present: In Utah, the fabled remains of Mormon pioneers whose nineteenth-century expedition across the desert met with a murderous end have been uncovered. In Washington, D.C., the official investigation of an international entrepreneur, an elder in the Mormon church, has sparked a political battle between the White House and a powerful United States senator. In Denmark, a Justice Department agent, missing in action, has fallen into the hands of a dangerous zealot—a man driven by divine visions to make a prophet’s words reality. And in a matter of a few short hours, Cotton Malone has gone from quietly selling books at his shop in Denmark to dodging bullets in a high-speed boat chase.
All it takes is a phone call from his former boss in Washington, and suddenly the ex-agent is racing to rescue an informant carrying critical intelligence. It’s just the kind of perilous business that Malone has been trying to leave behind, ever since he retired from the Justice Department. But once he draws enemy blood, Malone is plunged into a deadly conflict—a constitutional war secretly set in motion more than two hundred years ago by America’s Founding Fathers. From the streets of Copenhagen to the catacombs of Salzburg to the rugged mountains of Utah, the grim specter of the Civil War looms as a dangerous conspiracy gathers power. Malone risks life, liberty, and his greatest love in a race for the truth about Abraham Lincoln—while the fate of the United States of America hangs in the balance.
Dates Read: August 29, 2018 - September 1 or 2, 2018
Participants & Ratings: (7) Andrew -4, Sergei - 3.5, Carol - 3, Lynda -4, Eadie -3 , Brenda -3, Alan - 3.5,
Overall Average Rating: 3.43
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The Patriot Threat by Steve Berry
Book Discussion:
Series: Cotton Malone Book #10
Publication Date: December 29, 2015
Book Description: Once a member of an elite intelligence division within the Justice Department, Malone is now a retired bookshop owner in Denmark. But when his former boss, Stephanie Nelle, asks him to track a rogue North Korean who may have acquired some top secret Treasury Department files-the kind that could bring the United States to its knees-Malone is vaulted into a harrowing twenty-four-hour chase that begins on the canals in Venice and ends in the remote highlands of Croatia.
Dates Read: November 14, 2018 - November 18, 2018
Participants & Ratings: (6) Andrew- 3.5, Sergei-3.5, Carol - 3.5 Lynda -3.5, Eadie - 3.5, Brenda - 3.5
Overall Average Rating: 3.50
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The 14th Colony by Steve Berry
Book Discussion:
Series: Cotton Malone Book #11
Publication Date: April 5, 2016
Book Description: Shot down over Siberia, ex-Justice Department agent Cotton Malone is forced into a fight for survival against Aleksandr Zorin, a man whose loyalty to the former Soviet Union has festered for decades into an intense hatred of the United States. Before escaping, Malone learns that Zorin and another ex-KGB officer, this one a sleeper still embedded in the West, are headed overseas to Washington D.C. Noon on January 20th—Inauguration Day—is only hours away. A flaw in the Constitution, and an even more flawed presidential succession act, have opened the door to disaster and Zorin intends to exploit both weaknesses to their fullest. Armed with a weapon leftover from the Cold War, one long thought to be just a myth, Zorin plans to attack. He’s aided by a shocking secret hidden in the archives of America’s oldest fraternal organization—the Society of Cincinnati—a group that once lent out its military savvy to presidents, including helping to formulate three invasion plans of what was intended to be America’s 14th colony...Canada.
Dates Read: May ,2019 -May ,2019
Participants & Ratings:(6) Andrew,4 - Sergei-3.5,- Carol 3.5- Lynda 3.5- Eadie 3 - Brenda 3.5-
Overall Average Rating: 3.50
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Lost Order - Steve Berry
Book Discussion:
Series: Cotton Malone Book #12
Publication Date: April 4, 2017
Book Description: The Knights of the Golden Circle was the largest and most dangerous clandestine organization in American history. It amassed billions in stolen gold and silver, all buried in hidden caches across the United States. Since 1865 treasure hunters have searched, but little of that immense wealth has ever been found. Now, one hundred and sixty years later, two factions of what remains of the Knights of the Golden Circle want that lost treasure―one to spend it for their own ends, the other to preserve it. Thrust into this battle is former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone, whose connection to the knights is far deeper than he ever imagined. At the center is the Smithsonian Institution―linked to the knights, its treasure, and Malone himself through an ancestor, a Confederate spy named Angus “Cotton” Adams, whose story holds the key to everything. Complicating matters are the political ambitions of a reckless Speaker of the House and the bitter widow of a United States Senator, who together are planning radical changes to the country. And while Malone and Cassiopeia Vitt face the past, ex-president Danny Daniels and Stephanie Nelle confront a new and unexpected challenge, a threat that may cost one of them their life.
Dates Read: December 26, 2019 - December 31, 2019
Participants & Ratings: (6) Andrew -4, Sergei -4, Carol -3 , Lynda -3, Eadie -4, Brenda -3
Overall Average Rating: 3.50
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The Bishop's Pawn - Steve Berry
Book Discussion:
Series: Cotton Malone Book #13
Publication Date: December 31, 2018
Book Description: Known as a maverick, Malone is a Navy lawyer in trouble when Stephanie Nelle, from the United States Justice Department, seeks his help in investigating a delicate situation involving a stolen rare coin and a rogue FBI faction. Soon Malone realizes that the Justice Department and the FBI are at war over something else entirely: a cache of secret files about the King assassination―documents thought long destroyed. Caught in the midst of this epic clash, Malone ultimately discovers a shocking truth―one that could threaten the legacy of the civil rights movement’s greatest hero. From the clear waters of the Dry Tortugas to Florida and Washington, D.C., Malone’s decision to see his mission through will not only change his own life, but the course of history itself.
Dates Read: May 11, 2023 - May 2023
Participants & Ratings: ()- Andrew - 5 Sergei - 5 Carol - 5 - Lynda -5 Eadie - 5 Bluebird - 5 Brenda - Gayle (2023 reading Maura - 4)
Overall Average Rating: 4.86
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Book Discussion: no site available
Series: Cotton Malone Boon #1
Publication date: February 21, 2006
Book Description:The ancient order of the Knights Templar possessed untold wealth and absolute power over kings and popes . . . until the Inquisition, when they were wiped from the face of the earth, their hidden riches lost. But now two forces vying for the treasure have learned that it is not at all what they thought it was–and its true nature could change the modern world. Cotton Malone, one-time top operative for the U.S. Justice Department, is enjoying his quiet new life as an antiquarian book dealer in Copenhagen when an unexpected call to action reawakens his hair-trigger instincts–and plunges him back into the cloak-and-dagger world he thought he’d left behind. It begins with a violent robbery attempt on Cotton’s former supervisor, Stephanie Nelle, who’s far from home on a mission that has nothing to do with national security. Armed with vital clues to a series of centuries-old puzzles scattered across Europe, she means to crack a mystery that has tantalized scholars and fortune-hunters through the ages by finding the legendary cache of wealth and forbidden knowledge thought to have been lost forever when the order of the Knights Templar was exterminated in the fourteenth century. But she’s not alone. Competing for the historic prize–and desperate for the crucial information Stephanie possesses–is Raymond de Roquefort, a shadowy zealot with an army of assassins at his command. Welcome or not, Cotton seeks to even the odds in the perilous race. But the more he learns about the ancient conspiracy surrounding the Knights Templar, the more he realizes that even more than lives are at stake. At the end of a lethal game of conquest, rife with intrigue, treachery, and craven lust for power, lies a shattering discovery that could rock the civilized world–and, in the wrong hands, bring it to its knees.
I have no other data for this one.
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The Alexandria Link by Steve Berry
Book Discussion: https://www.librarything.com/groups/bookdiscussiontheale
Series: Cotton Malone Book #2
Publication Date: Nov. 2007
Book Description:Cotton Malone retired from the high-risk world of elite operatives for the U.S. Justice Department to lead the low-key life of a rare-book dealer. But his quiet existence is shattered when he receives an anonymous e-mail: “You have something I want. You’re the only person on earth who knows where to find it. Go get it. You have 72 hours. If I don’t hear from you, you will be childless.” His horrified ex-wife confirms that the threat is real: Their teenage son has been kidnapped. When Malone’s Copenhagen bookshop is burned to the ground, it becomes brutally clear that those responsible will stop at nothing to get what they want. And what they want is nothing less than the lost Library of Alexandria. A cradle of ideas–historical, philosophical, literary, scientific, and religious–the Library of Alexandria was unparalleled in the world. But fifteen hundred years ago, it vanished into the mists of myth and legend–its vast bounty of wisdom coveted ever since by scholars, fortune hunters, and those who believe its untold secrets hold the key to ultimate power. Now a cartel of wealthy international moguls, bent on altering the course of history, is desperate to breach the library’s hallowed halls–and only Malone possesses the information they need to succeed. At stake is an explosive ancient document with the potential not only to change the destiny of the Middle East but to shake the world’s three major religions to their very foundations. Pursued by a lethal mercenary, Malone crosses the globe in search of answers. His quest will lead him to England and Portugal, even to the highest levels of American government–and the shattering outcome, deep in the Sinai desert, will have worldwide repercussions.
Dates Read: October 15 - October 20, 2016
Participants: (7) Andrew; Carol; Lynda; Eadie; Brenda; Sergei; Bluebird
Ratings: Andrew - 4.5; Carol - 4.5; Lynda - 4.5: Eadie- 4.5; Brenda -4.5; Sergei -4.5; Bluebird - 4.5
Overall Average Rating: 4.5
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The Venetian Betrayal by Steve Berry
Book Discussion: https://www.librarything.com/groups/bookdiscussiontheven
Series: Cotton Malone Book#3
Publication Date: November 18, 2008
Book Description: In 323 B.C.E, having conquered Persia, Alexander the Great set his sights on Arabia, then suddenly succumbed to a strange fever. Locating his final resting place–unknown to this day–remains a tantalizing goal for both archaeologists and treasure hunters. Now the quest for this coveted prize is about to heat up. And Cotton Malone–former U.S. Justice Department agent turned rare-book dealer–will be drawn into an intense geopolitical chess game. After narrowly escaping incineration in a devastating fire that consumes a Danish museum, Cotton learns from his friend, the beguiling adventurer Cassiopeia Vitt, that the blaze was neither an accident nor an isolated incident. As part of campaign of arson intended to mask a far more diabolical design, buildings across Europe are being devoured by infernos of unnatural strength.
And from the ashes of the U.S.S.R., a new nation has arisen: Former Soviet republics have consolidated into the Central Asian Federation. At its helm is Supreme Minister Irina Zovastina, a cunning despot with a talent for politics, a taste for blood sport, and the single-minded desire to surpass Alexander the Great as history’s ultimate conqueror.
Backed by a secret cabal of power brokers, the Federation has amassed a harrowing arsenal of biological weapons. Equipped with the hellish power to decimate other nations at will, only one thing keeps Zovastina from setting in motion her death march of domination: a miraculous healing serum, kept secret by an ancient puzzle and buried with the mummified remains of Alexander the Great–in a tomb lost to the ages for more than 1,500 years.
Together, Cotton and Cassiopeia must outrun and out think the forces allied against them. Their perilous quest will take them to the shores of Denmark, deep into the venerated monuments of Venice, and finally high inside the desolate Pamir mountains of Central Asia to unravel a riddle whose solution could destroy or save millions of people–depending on who finds the lost tomb first.
Dates Read: December 17- December 22, 2016
Participants: (8) Andrew, Lynda, Carol, Sergei, Eadie, Bluebird, Brenda, gaylbutz
Ratings: Andrew- 4; Lynda -4 ; Carol - 4 ; Sergei - 4; Eadie - 4.5; Bluebird -3.5; Brenda -4 ; gaylbitz -4
Overall Average Rating: 4.00
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The Charlemagne Pursuit by Steve Berry
Book Discussion: https://www.librarything.com/groups/bookdiscussionthecha
Series: Cotton Malone Book #4
Publication Date: November 24, 2009
Book Description: As a child, former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone was told that his father died in a submarine disaster in the North Atlantic. But what he now learns stuns him: His father’s sub was a secret nuclear vessel lost on a highly classified mission beneath the ice shelves of Antarctica.
Twin sisters Dorothea Lindauer and Christl Falk are also determined to find out what became of their father, who died on the same submarine–and they know something Malone doesn’t: Inspired by strange clues discovered in Charlemagne’s tomb, the Nazis explored Antarctica before the Americans. Now Malone discovers that cryptic journals penned in “the language of heaven,” conundrums posed by an ancient historian, and his father’s ill-fated voyage are all tied to a revelation of immense consequence for humankind. As Malone embarks on a dangerous quest with the sisters, he will finally confront the shocking truth of his father’s death and the distinct possibility of his own.
Dates Read: February 11, 2017 - February 17, 2017
Participants: (7) Andrew, Carol, Lynda, Eadie, Bluebird, Sergei, Brenda,
Ratings: Andrew-3; Carol -3; Lynda 2.5;- Eadie -3.5; Sergei - 3.5; Bluebird 2.5; - Brenda -3.25
Overall Average Rating: 3.04
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The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry
Book Discussion: www.librarything.com/groups/bookdiscussionthepar
Series: Cotton Malone Book #5
Publication Date: July 27, 2010
Book Description: When Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile in 1821, he took to the grave a powerful secret. As general and emperor, he had stolen immeasurable riches from palaces, national treasuries, and even the Knights of Malta and the Vatican. In his final days, his British captors hoped to learn where the loot lay hidden. But he told them nothing, and in his will he made no mention of the treasure. Or did he? Former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone isn't looking for trouble when it comes knocking at his Copenhagen bookshop. Actually, it breaks and enters in the form of an American Secret Service agent with a pair of assassins on his heels. Malone has his doubts about the anxious young man, but narrowly surviving a ferocious firefight convinces him to follow his unexpected new ally. Their first stop is the secluded estate of Malone's good friend, Henrik Thorvaldsen. The wily Danish tycoon has uncovered the insidious plans of the Paris Club, a cabal of multimillionaires bent on manipulating the global economy. Only by matching wits with a terrorist-for-hire, foiling a catastrophic attack, and plunging into a desperate hunt for Napoleon's legendary lost treasure can Malone hope to avert international financial anarchy. But Thorvaldsen's real objective is much more personal: to avenge the murder of his son by the larcenous aristocrat at the heart of the conspiracy. Thorvaldsen's vendetta places Malone in an impossible quandary—one that forces him to choose between friend and country, past and present. Starting in Denmark, moving to England, and ending up in the storied streets and cathedrals of Paris, Malone plays a breathless game of duplicity and death, all to claim a prize of untold value. But at what cost?
Dates Read: May 18, 2017 - May 22, 2017
Participants: (7) Andrew, Carol, Sergei, Lynda, Eadie, Bluebird, Brenda
Ratings: Andrew - 3.5; Carol - 3.5; Sergei -3.75; Lynda -3.5 ;Eadie - 4; Bluebird - 3 ; Brenda -:
Overall Average Rating: 3.5
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The Emperors Tomb by Steve Berry
Book Discussion: https://www.librarything.com/groups/bookdiscussiontheem2
Series: Cotton Malone Book #6
Publication Date: August 30, 2011
Book Description: Former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone has received an anonymous note carrying an unfamiliar Web address. Logging on, he’s shocked to see Cassiopeia Vitt, a woman who’s saved his life more than once, being tortured at the hands of a mysterious man who has a single demand: Bring me the artifact she’s asked you to keep safe. The only problem is, Malone doesn’t have a clue what the man is talking about, since Cassiopeia has left nothing with him. So begins Malone’s most harrowing adventure to date—one that offers up astounding historical revelations, pits him against a ruthless ancient brotherhood, and sends him from Denmark to Belgium to Vietnam then on to one of the greatest archaeological sites in the world: the tomb of China’s First Emperor, guarded by an underground army of terra-cotta warriors, which has inexplicably remained sealed for more than two thousand years—its mysteries about to be revealed.
Dates Read: September 8 - September 14, 2017
Participants & Ratings: (8) Andrew- 4.5; Carol - 3.5; Sergei - 5; Lynda -3.5; Eadie- 5; Brenda-3.5; Bluebird - 3.5; Colin-3
Overall Average Rating: 4.38
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The Jefferson Key by Steve Berry
Book Discussion:
Series: Cotton Malone Book#7
Publication Date: December 27, 2011
Book Description: Four presidents of the United States have been assassinated—in 1865, 1881, 1901, and 1963—each murder seemingly unrelated. But what if those presidents were all killed for the shocking same reason: a clause contained in the United States Constitution? This is the question faced by former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone. When President Danny Daniels is nearly killed in the heart of Manhattan, Malone risks his life to foil the murder—only to find himself at odds with the Commonwealth, a secret society of pirates first assembled during the American Revolution. Racing across the nation and taking to the high seas, Malone and Cassiopeia Vitt must break a secret cipher originally possessed by Thomas Jefferson, unravel a mystery concocted by Andrew Jackson, and unearth a document forged by the Founding Fathers themselves—one powerful enough to make the Commonwealth unstoppable.
Dates Read: January 9, 2018 - January 14. 2018
Participants & Ratings: Andrew3.5; Carol 4; Lynda 4; Eadie 4; Sergei 3.5; Brenda 4
Overall Average Rating: 3.83
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The King's Deceptionby Steve Berry
Book Discussion:
Series: Cotton Malone Book #8
Publication Date: January 1, 2014
Book Description: Cotton Malone and his fifteen-year-old son Gary are headed to Europe As a favor to his former boss at the Justice Department Malone agrees to escort a teenage fugitive back to England But after he is greeted at gunpoint in London both the fugitive and Gary disappear and Malone learns that hes stumbled into a high-stakes diplomatic showdownan international incident fueled by geopolitical gamesmanship and shocking Tudor secrets At its heart is the Libyan terrorist convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 who is set to be released by Scottish authorities for humanitarian reasons An outraged American government objects but nothing can persuade the British to intervene Except perhaps Operation Kings Deception Run by the CIA the operation aims to solve a centuries-old mystery one that could rock Great Britain to its royal foundations Blake Antrim the CIA operative in charge of Kings Deception is hunting for the spark that could rekindle a most dangerous fire the one thing that every Irish national has sought for generations a legal reason why the English must leave Northern Ireland The answer is a long-buried secret that calls into question the legitimacy of the entire forty-five-year reign of Elizabeth I the last Tudor monarch who completed the conquest of Ireland and seized much of its land But Antrim also has a more personal agenda a twisted game of revenge in which Gary is a pawn With assassins traitors spies and dangerous disciples of a secret society closing in Malone is caught in a lethal bind To save Gary he must play one treacherous player against anotherand only by uncovering the incredible truth can he hope to prevent the shattering consequences of the Kings Deception
Dates Read: April 14, 2018 - April 19,2018
Participants & Ratings: (5) Andrew-5, Sergei- 5, Eadie - 5, Lynda- 5, Brenda;
Overall Average Rating: 5.0
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The Lincoln Myth by Steve Berry
Book Discussion:
Series: Cotton Malone Book #9
Publication Date: November 25, 2014
Book Description: September 1861: All is not as it seems. With these cryptic words, a shocking secret passed down from president to president comes to rest in the hands of Abraham Lincoln. And as the first bloody clashes of the Civil War unfold, Lincoln alone must decide how best to use this volatile knowledge: save thousands of American lives, or keep the young nation from being torn apart forever?
The present: In Utah, the fabled remains of Mormon pioneers whose nineteenth-century expedition across the desert met with a murderous end have been uncovered. In Washington, D.C., the official investigation of an international entrepreneur, an elder in the Mormon church, has sparked a political battle between the White House and a powerful United States senator. In Denmark, a Justice Department agent, missing in action, has fallen into the hands of a dangerous zealot—a man driven by divine visions to make a prophet’s words reality. And in a matter of a few short hours, Cotton Malone has gone from quietly selling books at his shop in Denmark to dodging bullets in a high-speed boat chase.
All it takes is a phone call from his former boss in Washington, and suddenly the ex-agent is racing to rescue an informant carrying critical intelligence. It’s just the kind of perilous business that Malone has been trying to leave behind, ever since he retired from the Justice Department. But once he draws enemy blood, Malone is plunged into a deadly conflict—a constitutional war secretly set in motion more than two hundred years ago by America’s Founding Fathers. From the streets of Copenhagen to the catacombs of Salzburg to the rugged mountains of Utah, the grim specter of the Civil War looms as a dangerous conspiracy gathers power. Malone risks life, liberty, and his greatest love in a race for the truth about Abraham Lincoln—while the fate of the United States of America hangs in the balance.
Dates Read: August 29, 2018 - September 1 or 2, 2018
Participants & Ratings: (7) Andrew -4, Sergei - 3.5, Carol - 3, Lynda -4, Eadie -3 , Brenda -3, Alan - 3.5,
Overall Average Rating: 3.43
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The Patriot Threat by Steve Berry
Book Discussion:
Series: Cotton Malone Book #10
Publication Date: December 29, 2015
Book Description: Once a member of an elite intelligence division within the Justice Department, Malone is now a retired bookshop owner in Denmark. But when his former boss, Stephanie Nelle, asks him to track a rogue North Korean who may have acquired some top secret Treasury Department files-the kind that could bring the United States to its knees-Malone is vaulted into a harrowing twenty-four-hour chase that begins on the canals in Venice and ends in the remote highlands of Croatia.
Dates Read: November 14, 2018 - November 18, 2018
Participants & Ratings: (6) Andrew- 3.5, Sergei-3.5, Carol - 3.5 Lynda -3.5, Eadie - 3.5, Brenda - 3.5
Overall Average Rating: 3.50
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The 14th Colony by Steve Berry
Book Discussion:
Series: Cotton Malone Book #11
Publication Date: April 5, 2016
Book Description: Shot down over Siberia, ex-Justice Department agent Cotton Malone is forced into a fight for survival against Aleksandr Zorin, a man whose loyalty to the former Soviet Union has festered for decades into an intense hatred of the United States. Before escaping, Malone learns that Zorin and another ex-KGB officer, this one a sleeper still embedded in the West, are headed overseas to Washington D.C. Noon on January 20th—Inauguration Day—is only hours away. A flaw in the Constitution, and an even more flawed presidential succession act, have opened the door to disaster and Zorin intends to exploit both weaknesses to their fullest. Armed with a weapon leftover from the Cold War, one long thought to be just a myth, Zorin plans to attack. He’s aided by a shocking secret hidden in the archives of America’s oldest fraternal organization—the Society of Cincinnati—a group that once lent out its military savvy to presidents, including helping to formulate three invasion plans of what was intended to be America’s 14th colony...Canada.
Dates Read: May ,2019 -May ,2019
Participants & Ratings:(6) Andrew,4 - Sergei-3.5,- Carol 3.5- Lynda 3.5- Eadie 3 - Brenda 3.5-
Overall Average Rating: 3.50
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Lost Order - Steve Berry
Book Discussion:
Series: Cotton Malone Book #12
Publication Date: April 4, 2017
Book Description: The Knights of the Golden Circle was the largest and most dangerous clandestine organization in American history. It amassed billions in stolen gold and silver, all buried in hidden caches across the United States. Since 1865 treasure hunters have searched, but little of that immense wealth has ever been found. Now, one hundred and sixty years later, two factions of what remains of the Knights of the Golden Circle want that lost treasure―one to spend it for their own ends, the other to preserve it. Thrust into this battle is former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone, whose connection to the knights is far deeper than he ever imagined. At the center is the Smithsonian Institution―linked to the knights, its treasure, and Malone himself through an ancestor, a Confederate spy named Angus “Cotton” Adams, whose story holds the key to everything. Complicating matters are the political ambitions of a reckless Speaker of the House and the bitter widow of a United States Senator, who together are planning radical changes to the country. And while Malone and Cassiopeia Vitt face the past, ex-president Danny Daniels and Stephanie Nelle confront a new and unexpected challenge, a threat that may cost one of them their life.
Dates Read: December 26, 2019 - December 31, 2019
Participants & Ratings: (6) Andrew -4, Sergei -4, Carol -3 , Lynda -3, Eadie -4, Brenda -3
Overall Average Rating: 3.50
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The Bishop's Pawn - Steve Berry
Book Discussion:
Series: Cotton Malone Book #13
Publication Date: December 31, 2018
Book Description: Known as a maverick, Malone is a Navy lawyer in trouble when Stephanie Nelle, from the United States Justice Department, seeks his help in investigating a delicate situation involving a stolen rare coin and a rogue FBI faction. Soon Malone realizes that the Justice Department and the FBI are at war over something else entirely: a cache of secret files about the King assassination―documents thought long destroyed. Caught in the midst of this epic clash, Malone ultimately discovers a shocking truth―one that could threaten the legacy of the civil rights movement’s greatest hero. From the clear waters of the Dry Tortugas to Florida and Washington, D.C., Malone’s decision to see his mission through will not only change his own life, but the course of history itself.
Dates Read: May 11, 2023 - May 2023
Participants & Ratings: ()- Andrew - 5 Sergei - 5 Carol - 5 - Lynda -5 Eadie - 5 Bluebird - 5 Brenda - Gayle (2023 reading Maura - 4)
Overall Average Rating: 4.86
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3EadieB
>2 Carol420: Thanks! Very helpful!
4JohnDBurke
>2 Carol420: thanks for posting really helps and a great aid helping to set a foundation for the current installment.
5Carol420
>3 EadieB: >4 JohnDBurke: You are more than welcome.
6Olivermagnus
Thanks >2 Carol420:. This looks like a popular series with our group.
7bluebird_
Thanks Carol! Great refresher—though I’ve not read all of them, so I quickly passed the ones I’m yet to read. 😀
The last one we read, The Bishop’s Pawn is missing our ratings. It was my favorite of the series, and I think others too. Hoping this one is another winner.
The last one we read, The Bishop’s Pawn is missing our ratings. It was my favorite of the series, and I think others too. Hoping this one is another winner.
8Carol420
>7 bluebird_: You are so welcome. I don't know why the ratings weren't there...guess someone stole 'em:)
9Andrew-theQM
>7 bluebird_: >8 Carol420: I think that the posting there for The Bishop’s Pwn was for when we initially planned to read it, but that got derailed by some sort of Pandemic thing that went on 😳😢💔
We did finally read it between 11th - 15th May 2023.
The participants with scores were :
Sergei 5
Andrew 5
Olivemagnus 5
Eadie 5 plus plus
Bluebird 5
Carol 5
John 5
Maura 4
Threadnsong 4.67 (gave scores of 5, 5 and 4 for three different aspects so averaged it out)
This gives a final rating of 4.85, not too tardy!
We did finally read it between 11th - 15th May 2023.
The participants with scores were :
Sergei 5
Andrew 5
Olivemagnus 5
Eadie 5 plus plus
Bluebird 5
Carol 5
John 5
Maura 4
Threadnsong 4.67 (gave scores of 5, 5 and 4 for three different aspects so averaged it out)
This gives a final rating of 4.85, not too tardy!
10Andrew-theQM
Thanks Carol for the time and effort you put into recording the scores and doing the series update. 👏👏👏
11Carol420
>10 Andrew-theQM: You're welcome...besides, I don't want to get fired:)
12Sergeirocks
>2 Carol420: Thanks for doing this, Carol - it’s a good reminder of all the different historical subjects Berry has covered.
It’s amazing to think we first began this series as one of our group reads in 2016. Where did the time go…?
It’s amazing to think we first began this series as one of our group reads in 2016. Where did the time go…?
13Carol420
>12 Sergeirocks: They say, "time goes fast when you're having fun." Guess "They" were right:)
14Andrew-theQM
>12 Sergeirocks: >13 Carol420: Doesn’t seem possible that it’s 10 months since the Martin Luther King book.
15bluebird_
Thanks Carol and Andrew!
And yes, I’m quite surprised the last book was so long ago. It seems like we read it a few months ago. Great book!
And yes, I’m quite surprised the last book was so long ago. It seems like we read it a few months ago. Great book!
16Andrew-theQM
>15 bluebird_: It was. 😊
17threadnsong
>9 Andrew-theQM: Yes, I did kind of specify my numbers a bit 🤣
>15 bluebird_: Parts of that book and the discussion are still rattling around in my brain, especially with the recent deaths of Dr. King's youngest son and his sister-in-law.
>2 Carol420: Thank you as always!
>15 bluebird_: Parts of that book and the discussion are still rattling around in my brain, especially with the recent deaths of Dr. King's youngest son and his sister-in-law.
>2 Carol420: Thank you as always!
