NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
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.
I haven't read a Steve Berry book in a few years although he was one of my favorite authors before. Deciding to check out his newer work I read The King's Deception. Thankfully I wasn't disappointed story-wise, but the characters? I will get into that later.
Although it wasn't a book I couldn't put down, it was very interesting and I looked forward to returning to it whenever I got interrupted. It shows the readers the underhanded methods the intelligence community will use to get the results they want in the political arena; how lives can be sacrificed as long as they think they are right, regardless of said people's innocence. The book reminds us how the decisions we make, whether they be right or wrong, can have untold ramifications years or even centuries in the future.
Personally, I enjoy reading books that weave historical facts with conspiracies which create a believable environment for the story. It brings so much more interest in the intrigue if the supposed mystery has basis on a possible fact which is something the author claims it to be. Wouldn't it be great if someone actually found irrefutable factual evidence supporting this book's claim? Partly yes, because it will change history forever and yet the dire consequences pointed out for Ireland is also very much a reality. The conundrum here is whether to leave the status quo be or rock the boat with the truth that may (or may not, depending on how it is handled) cause thousands their lives. What will our protagonists decide? Read to find out although I would say the decision is pretty obvious.
As for the characters of the book, I have to let out a sigh. You either hate them or love them. I dare say though, that for experienced intelligence agents, Malone, Antrim and Richards made some pretty stupid moves that made me want to slap them silly. I know they are just human, but really they irritated me a whole lot through the book. If that was the author's idea then kudos to him because it worked. *Spoiler alert - highlight to view* I'm just glad he didn't kill off any of the important people in the story.
Overall the book was engrossing enough and the premise very intriguing. I am now looking forward to reading the other novels of Steve Berry that I haven't read yet.
My short review on Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/review/R32SLV8S8POG5Y/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm
(Book image and description from Amazon.com)
