The Bishop's Pawn

A 4 or 5 star ending, but a 1 star book. At first I thought it was an average book, then I was dead-set on two stars, but then the story just kept getting worse. I couldn’t help but wonder how strapped for an idea the author must have been to write this. I was even tempted to bump it up a star simply because it is a masterpiece of bad writing. I was disappointed to say the least.

The main character Cotton Malone, in this book, is sort of a cross between Austin Powers, Jacques Clouseau, Maxwell Smart, and, oh, maybe Gilligan (from the island) but completely devoid of any and all humor. Long story short, Cotton and I were stranded in a dumb plot, the same themes being repeated every few pages, and the whole story plodding stupidly show more forward in the same preposterous manner. I could not finish this book fast enough. show less

This book delved into the murder of an iconic modern hero, Martin Luther King, Jr. from so many angles: his work in the Civil Rights Movement of the 60's, the beginning of the fracturing of that movement, his surveillance by and antagonistic relationship with J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, and the unanswered questions around his death.

While not the first in the series of books about Cotton Mather, this book is the first in Mather's journey into his role as an agent of the Justice Department from being a JAG wondering about his future. He witnesses a friend's murder, draws his weapon on the friend's wife, and finds himself in jail. In comes Stephanie Nelle to take him away from all that and into a fifty-year old mystery.

His initial assignment is show more to recoup an extremely rare (and illegal) Double Eagle US coin from the deck of a ship. All goes according to plan until unexpected visitors show up underwater, out to either gain the Double Eagle themselves or shoot Mather (or both), and then the boat he rode in on blows up. From there, events begin at a rapid pace.

Realizing that somehow, the rare coin and a set of documents about the FBI's investigation into Martin Luther King, Jr. are connected, Mather meets Coleen Perry, a young cop who is the daughter of one of King's inner circle. The documents shed light onto the FBI's plot to assassinate King and how James Earl Ray comes to be the shooter. While some of the action seems more in the James Bond vein, the desire of retired FBI officials to keep the documents from coming to light are as much a mind-game as they are a thrill ride. Events happen in and around St. Augustine and Disney World, and Berry has done excellent research into the Civil Rights movement and what could maybe have happened all those decades ago. show less

I have always thought the brilliance of Steve Berry is his ability to pick a point in time in which an event has occurred which is well known. That is to say that the event is well known but perhaps not the accurate story line of that event. These events provide much room for discussion, alternate possibilities, divergent consequences and unexpected occurrences.

Bishop’s Pawn is told as an 18 look-back at an earlier adventure of Berry’s most famous character, Harold Earl “Cotton” Malone. He is a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy acting as a lawyer and doing a friend a favor which lands Malone in jail on attempted murder charges. Enter Stephanie Nelle of the Magellan Billet a very selective division of the Justice Department show more who offers the “self-centered rookie” a chance at redemption. Plans are made, plans go astray, fact is often fiction and clarity is smoke in the wind.

Suffice it to say, that as in all Berry’s novels, there are characters who are bullies, there are innocents who involve themselves in events way over their depth, there are myriad locations where car, boat and plane chases occur, there are bullets flying, there are bad guys and more bad guys and you are never sure about the good guys. At the center of all this activity is one man who has kept his heart and mind closed to those he loves most for what he perceives as “the better good.” He was a man who “assumed an awful responsibility, thrust on him by a man who could not be denied.” The reader has to decide if he gained or lost everything.

This book and what it signifies is horrifying and yet a great case can be made for its logic. I finished this book over a week ago and it has rooted in my consciousness. My understanding of the events, as they have been told by history, is one thing, my intellect, pawing through the hypothesis in this book, is curious. Could it be possible? Read The Bishops’ Pawn and join the dialogue.
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC show less

I love a good conspiracy theory and Steve Berry is among the best at telling a great conspiracy story. The Bishop’s Pawn is an origin story for Berry’s famed Cotton Malone and centers around the fictionalized final days of Martin Luther King and his murder in 1968. At the time of this story, some thirty years after the assassination of King, Malone, based on his maverick reputation, specific skill set and at the suggestion of friends in high places, is recruited by Stephanie Nelle to recover a very valuable, highly illegal coin from a sunken boat off the coast of Florida. The situation is at once not what it seems and soon Malone is being hunted by several factions at once. His reluctant partner is a Florida Orange County police show more officer who is using the coin and what it is intended to buy to get information that her father, who had been a low-level confidant of MLK, has been hiding from her and the world for the last three decades.

This is classic Cotton Malone; wonderfully written, quick paced and full of intriguing plot twists. Various theories about the murderer and what connections he may have to the FBI and other organizations have been floating around for decades. The author has done a masterful job of weaving organic proven facts into his fictional world. While I was actually quite shocked at the final twist of the story, given what I know of that historical time frame, I find it, sadly, quite plausible. This is another must-read for Berry and Cotton Malone fans

Let's talk about books at I Read What You Write show less

Steve Berry’s latest Cotton Malone thriller takes us back to Cotton’s very first case. A case which itself is centered around the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Cotton is recruited by Stephanie Nell of the Justice Department. Cotton has been looking for the opportunity to advance and jumps at the chance. It appears to be a simple job of retrieving a rare coin and some classified documents, but nothing is ever that simple. Cotton finds himself shot at, betrayed, and unsure who to trust. He also discovers that the documents contain explosive information about the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. He finds himself alternatively fleeing and pursuing those with information about the documents and firsthand knowledge of show more the events leading up to April, 1968.

Steve Berry has a knack for taking historical fact and spinning it into a gripping thriller. His love of history shines through in the rock solid foundation of his stories. He takes these moments in history and shapes an exciting story around them, keeping you engaged throughout. The thrill is heightened when you realize many of the events you are reading really happened.

Berry skillfully jumps between narratives in the late 1960’s and the late 1990’s, with a brief prologue and coda in 2018. The events in both timelines are exciting and keep you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens next. Cotton is as engaging a protagonist as ever here, both familiar to longtime readers and seen freshly as a newly minted federal agent. Berry keeps the action moving with car chases, foot chases and shootouts. These scenes are cut with conversations unravelling events and motives as well as scenes involving the civil rights movement and the lead-up to that tragic day in April, 1968.

Berry surrounds Cotton with interesting and mysterious characters from Colleen Perry and her father, to the Cuban, Valdez. The cast is not simply divided up into good guys/gals and bad ones. They are that, but they each have complex motivations that allow you to identify with why they are doing what they are doing. This lends a richness to the story. Berry leads Cotton and the point to where he must make an important decision. It’s a testament to his skillful writing that the decision is so hard and leaves you wondering if you would have decided the same way.

The audio version of this book is narrated by Scott Brick, who does his usual outstanding job. There are a number of characters and accents to juggle and Brick does it seamlessly, never leaving the listener any doubt as to who is speaking. He complements the story without overpowering it. His pacing takes you through the breakneck speed of an action scene as well as the quieter moments of conversation that lend gravitas to the weight of the events. Berry adds some optional commentary which sheds further light on the events depicted in the book. Audio is an excellent way to experience this book. Highly recommended.

I was fortunate to receive a copy of this book from the publisher. show less

This is a very different Cotton Malone story. First, it is his first case working for Stephanie Nelle. Second his first time ever working as an agent in the field. Both make for an interesting situational story then you add in the long standing conflict between Dr Martin Luther King and the FBI, more specifically J Edgar Hoover, and it passes beyond interesting to intriguing.

While the pace was not quite Steve Berry's usual pace it suited the story he was telling very comfortably. The story was well written and I believe very much reflected Steve Berry's feelings about the times Dr. King lived in and what it took as a man to accomplish what Dr. King did. It made obvious that the deck was basically stacked against Dr King with J Edgar show more Hoover doing everything in his power to further stymie his accomplishments.

I find it difficult to convey all the different nuances this story presented. The creation and development of the story and the fictional characters Steve Berry envisioned for us, made a fictional account of the times and days leading up to Dr Kings assassination a reality in which the reader was able to experienced a version and sliver of an insight into both the times and the man.

Some books are made to think about others are to make you think. This is both. show less

It seems that Mr. Berry's books are either hit or miss for me. This one I thought would be a total hit for me. Yet, it was a miss. I found the characters and the story to be lacking drama. The story itself regarding a conspiracy involving Martin Luther King Jr. was in itself intriguing but the end result did not deliver.

I kept reading hoping that the story would pick up speed but it never seemed to. Additionally, I felt like Cotton was not the powerhouse that I had gotten to know and seen in action before. Which, I understand some of this might have had to do with the fact that this story took readers back in the past when Cotton was younger and getting his feet wet. However, I still had expected him to come out swinging. Due to the show more muted tone, I was only semi interested in the story as a whole. show less