Synopses & Reviews
Cotton Malone is back! Steve Berry’s new international adventure blends gripping contemporary political intrigue, Tudor treachery, and high-octane thrills into one riveting novel of suspense.
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 he’s stumbled into a high-stakes diplomatic showdown — an 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 King’s 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 King’s 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 another — and only by uncovering the incredible truth can he hope to prevent the shattering consequences of the King’s Deception.
Review
“A Dan Brown-ian secular conspiracy about the Virgin Queen driving nonstop international intrigue.” Kirkus Reviews
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“Berry raises this genre’s stakes.” The New York Times
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“I love this guy.” #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child
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“Forget Clancy and Cussler. When it comes to this genre, there is simply no one better.” The Providence Journal
Synopsis
A behind-the-scenes political fight between the United States and England has the unintended result of landing Cotton Malone’s son, Gary, in the hands of a man with a dangerous personal agenda. It also forces Malone to come face-to-face with a baffling historical mystery: a long-buried secret that throws into question the legitimacy of the entire reign of Elizabeth I — a revelation with explosive modern-day consequences.
About the Author
Steve Berry is the
New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of
The Columbus Affair, The Jefferson Key, The Emperor’s Tomb, The Paris Vendetta, The Charlemagne Pursuit, The Venetian Betrayal, The Alexandria Link, The Templar Legacy, The Third Secret, The Romanov Prophecy, and
The Amber Room. His books have been translated into 40 languages with more than 14,000,000 printed copies in 51 countries.
History lies at the heart of every Steve Berry novel. It’s this passion, one he shares with his wife, Elizabeth, that led them to create History Matters, a foundation dedicated to historic preservation. Since 2009 Steve and Elizabeth Berry have traveled across the country to save endangered historic treasures, raising money via lectures, receptions, galas, luncheons, dinners, and their popular writers’ workshops. To date, nearly 2,000 students have attended those workshops. In 2012 Berry’s devotion to historic preservation was recognized by the American Library Association, which named him the first spokesman for National Preservation Week. Among his other honors is the Royden B. Davis Distinguished Author Award.
Steve Berry was born and raised in Georgia, graduating from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University. 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 2,000 thriller writers from around the world — and served three years as its co-president.
For more information, visit www.steveberry.org.