NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A Cotton Malone adventure involving a flaw in the United States Constitution, a mystery about Abraham Lincoln, and a political issue that’s as explosive as it is timely—not only in Malone’s world, but in ours
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.
Praise for Steve Berry and his Cotton Malone series
“In Malone, [Steve] Berry has created a classic, complex hero.”—USA Today
“Malone, a hero with a personal stake in the proceedings, is a welcome respite from the cold, calculating superspies who litter the genre.”—Entertainment Weekly
“Steve Berry gets better and better with each new book.”—The Huffington Post
“Savvy readers . . . cannot go wrong with Cotton Malone.”—Library Journal
“Berry raises this genre’s stakes.”—The New York Times
“I love this guy.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child
From the Hardcover edition.
Download and start listening now!
"Another great read from Steve Berry."
— Richard Orford (5 out of 5 stars)
“The history that Berry weaves into his plot makes this latest Cotton Malone novel really shine. Fast-paced action and intriguing characters add up to a fascinating and suspenseful story. Tension boils over when veteran agent Malone is forced to work with a new upstart at the agency, and the new agent is not unlike Cotton’s younger self.”
— RT Book Reviews (4 stars)“Bestseller Berry’s tenth Cotton Malone thriller provides startling new perspectives on the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and Abraham Lincoln’s decision to fight the Civil War…Berry’s skillful blend of history and supposition will intrigue his many fans.”
— Publishers Weekly“Cotton Malone may be aging, but his bravado and banter are still kicking, as is his utter bewilderment with women. While he always gets his guy, his difficulty in keeping the girl adds interest to this latest thriller. The intricate historical ‘what ifs?’ will astonish loyal readers and series newcomers.”
— Library Journal“In Berry’s latest, retired secret agent Cotton Malone is drafted from his Copenhagen bookstore to battle a conspiracy, one threatening the US Constitution…All action all the time.”
— Kirkus ReviewsBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Steve Berry is the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of seventeen Cotton Malone and four stand-alone novels, among other books and works of short fiction. He has twenty-five million books in print, translated into forty languages. He is an emeritus member of the Smithsonian Libraries Advisory Board and a founding member of International Thriller Writers. With his wife, Elizabeth, he is the founder of History Matters, which is dedicated to historical preservation.
Scott Brick, an acclaimed voice artist, screenwriter, and actor, has performed on film, television, and radio. He attended UCLA and spent ten years in a traveling Shakespeare company. Passionate about the spoken word, he has narrated a wide variety of audiobooks. winning won more than fifty AudioFile Earphones Awards and several of the prestigious Audie Awards. He was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine and the Voice of Choice for 2016 by Booklist magazine.