The Charlemagne Pursuit

Steve Berry does it all right in The Charlemagne Pursuit. He starts right, in the pulse-pounding submarine accident that triggers the action in the book; he ends right, with late-night antics about to begin; he keeps his story moving at a fast clip in between, with love, murder, betrayal, revenge, more betrayal, hate, then love again.

It's a pleasure to give yourself over to a plot-drive thrill ride of a book at least four or five times a year. I couldn't make a diet of them myself, because they take so much out of me. At least the good ones do, and this is very much a good one. Cotton Malone, our main character, is a man with a bitter past: A lost father, a failed marriage, a career he sacrificed what he now knows is too much to keep. show more His emotional landscape is a frozen tundra, or so he wants to believe, and he works hard to sustain that fantasy for more than half this book. Why, then, is it such a pleasure to read his adventures? Because Cotton Malone's chill is real, ladies and gents; because we're clued in to his brokenness and not required to experience it with him as it happens, but asked to believe it happened as it's told, most current readers and reviewers seem to be dismissive of the character's reality.

This is puzzling. Cotton Malone develops as a rounded and complex character during the course of this novel. The knock on thrillers is that the characters are simply cut-outs that move through the paces the author has designed for your entertainment, and I have certainly read my share of thrillers that fit this description. The Charlemagne Pursuit is not one of them, and neither was The Venetian Betrayal. Steve Berry writes a whacking good story, and he tells it through the actions of well-drawn characters. His villains are motivated by things that make sense in their world, his heroes are likewise people whose reasons to do what they're doing are consistent with the story we're told about them; if readers are not satisfied by the author's technique, I suggest that the fault could easily be said to reside in them, not in Mr. Berry's writing.

This is a very satisfying read, and Cotton Malone makes my list of people I'm glad I met in 2008. show less

Cotton Malone has finally found a way to get the information which could lead to the answers of what happened to his father nearly 40 years ago. Calling in favors he is handed the file of the final mission that his father went on. Just as he receives the file he is accosted by agents of an unknown adversary.

As the story evolves, Malone is caught between antagonistic twin daughters of a German who was also on the mission with his father and want the same information. As in the past, Berry weaves a parallel story involving Stephanie Nell pitted against, this time, an Admiral that wants an appointment to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and who knows exactly what Malone is searching for.

I love the Cotton Malone series because of the way that show more Steve Berry manages to take some ancient historical fact/artifice and weave it masterfully into thriller that will hold my interest even while generating questions of whether something like this could actually happen.

Looking forward to the next adventure! show less

His best book yet. He's definitely knocked off some of his rough edges as far as technique goes. His characters suffered somewhat in this book - even Cotton didn't seem quite so important, which was a little disconcerting when you consider that the book is all about his father's death on a Navy assignment. Stephanie and Edwin were much more intriguing characters this go round.

It was still interesting and fast-paced, with just enough turns in the plot to keep me reading. And look where the story ends.

So hurry up, Steve - you can't leave us hanging like this for a year or more! Just don't burn down or flood the bookstore, okay? And one last request - for crying out loud, drop the obligatory "protagonist scr*ws the pretty girl" scene. show more Those scenes never add to the plot, they don't add to the characters, and they do make your protagonist more of a user than a human being. Enough already. Use those extra words to give us more depth in characterization. show less

When Cotton Malone decides to discover exactly how his father, a submarine captain, died, he is triggers searches by multiple political factions each with their own plot. An ambitious Admiral who heads Naval Intelligence, twin descendants of a member of the Ahnenerbe who died a devoted-Nazi , and two deputy advisers to the President all have plans and plots which Cotton could disrupt or advance. Cotton is drawn deeper into the perilous conflict by the twin's sibling rivalry and his own curious nature. Together, the players must follow in the footsteps of the U.S. Navy and Nazi explorers who found the remains of an advanced civilization located in Antarctica that was visited by Charlemagne. Although the point of view rapidly and show more dramatically rotates between the multiple story arcs, the webs woven within webs slow the action more than in previous Malone novels. show less

When he was ten, Cotton Malone's father, Navy Captain Forrest Malone, was lost in a submarine accident. The body was never recovered. When Cotton is approached by a mysterious woman named Dorothea Lindauer she tells him the real truth. His father actually died on a classified mission in Antarctica along with Dorothea's father who was also on board. After requesting the classified file from former boss, Stephanie Nelle, Cotton teams with Dorothea and her twin sister, Cristl Faulk, to find out what really happened back in 1971. He's looking for his father, but they are looking for some sort of evidence that there was an advanced society that has now disappeared. Meanwhile Stephanie and deputy national security advisor, Edwin Davis, team show more up to try to find out why several of the men who knew about that mission are dying in different ways.

The writing was choppy and the action moved from one subplot to another. There are four or five separate plot lines going on, none of them compelling. The characters are neither likable nor their motivations believable. Charlemagne didn't have much to do with the story and I believe he was only used to provide an interesting title. I've read and enjoyed the previous three books in the Cotton Malone series so I hope this was just a bad one. Overall, I'm glad this underwhelming and tiresome book is over. show less

I received an "Early Readers Version" of this from the publisher so presumably the typos and editorial gaffes were cleaned up before the book was released.

This is my first book by Steve Berry, so I am probably ignorant of important information from previous books. This undoubtedly distorts my impression of "The Charlemagne Pursuit". Still... having two barely connected stories running simultaneously seemed very awkward. Why not just focus on Malone's quest, rather than introducing the whole stateside half of the story? Also, there were several instances where Berry used some rather unusual choices with both vocabulary and phrasing, and many instances where he'd throw in needless detail. I found myself stopping at several points to show more wonder, "Why'd he say it like that?" I found it very jarring. On the other hand, I did like the short chapters, they helped keep the story moving along.

I did like the main story and I really appreciated the Author's Notes at the end. Really piqued my curiosity about some of these ancient mysteries.

Overall I'm glad I read "The Charlemagne Pursuit" but once will definitely be enough. show less

I read Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code when it came out and enjoyed it. But then I discovered Steve Berry and haven't looked back. As far as I'm concerned he's the master of this genre, combining historical fact with suspense, intrigue and non stop action.

Berry's recurring character is Cotton Malone, a 'retired' government agent. His father Forrest died in a submarine accident in 1971. For years he has tried to find out details, but has been stymied by the Navy. He pulls in a favour and gains access to highly classified documents - his father's sub was on a secret mission to the Antarctic. When he is contacted by the German family members of another of the doomed submariners, he agrees to embark on a search for the truth. And that truth is a show more shocker. The other family holds documents that show the submarine was out to prove the existance of a 'First Civilization' - a culture that evolved long before history as we know it. There seems to be evidence that Charlemagne had knowledge gained from this advanced culture. The Nazis looked for it in 1938 and the Americans went back in 1971.

The Charlemagne Pursuit is a thrilling read. The plot is intricate and involved, with many seemingly disparate stories converging at the end in a gripping climax. Berry's research is intriguing. I found myself stopping and actually looking up some of the events and history he refers to. One example is the Piri Reis Map. Much of it is true and thought provoking. There is a writer's note at the end indicating what is fact and what he has taken fictional liberty with.

Cotton Malone is an engaging character, one I've enjoyed following the previous six novels. The supporting characters are also well written, but I did find the German sisters a bit over the top at times.

Any of his books can be read alone. Read one and I guarantee you'll be looking for others in the series! show less