The Alexandria Link: A Novel | Steve Berry

The Alexandria Link: A Novel | Steve Berry | Run of the Mill

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The Alexandria Lin...

	The Alexandria Link: A Novel Steve Berry Ballantine Books, 2007 - 512 pages average customer review:based on 111 reviews view larger image
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Cotton Malone retired from the high-risk world of elite operatives for the U.S. Justice Department to lead the low-key life of a rare-book dealer. But his quiet existence is shattered when he receives an anonymous e-mail: ?You have something I want. You?re the only person on earth who knows where to find it. Go get it. You have 72 hours. If I don?t hear from you, you will be childless.? His horrified ex-wife confirms that the threat is real: Their teenage son has been kidnapped. When Malone?s Copenhagen bookshop is burned to the ground, it becomes brutally clear that those responsible will stop at nothing to get what they want. And what they want is nothing less than the lost Library of Alexandria.

A cradle of ideas?historical, philosophical, literary, scientific, and religious?the Library of Alexandria was unparalleled in the world. But fifteen hundred years ago, it vanished into the mists of myth and legend?its vast bounty of wisdom coveted ever since by scholars, fortune hunters, and those who believe its untold secrets hold the key to ultimate power.

Now a cartel of wealthy international moguls, bent on altering the course of history, is desperate to breach the library?s hallowed halls?and only Malone possesses the information they need to succeed. At stake is an explosive ancient document with the potential not only to change the destiny of the Middle East but to shake the world?s three major religions to their very foundations.

Pursued by a lethal mercenary, Malone crosses the globe in search of answers. His quest will lead him to England and Portugal, even to the highest levels of American government?and the shattering outcome, deep in the Sinai desert, will have worldwide repercussions.

From the Hardcover edition.

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very entertaining!

way better than the templar legacy, imo!
looking forward to reading more in the cotton malone series!

Run of the Mill

Steve Berry delivers another globe-hopping thriller with retired US operative Cotton Malone attempting to live a quiet life running a bookshop in Copenhagen. Retirement comes to an abrupt halt when he escapes the assassins who burn down his bookshop and tell him they have kidnapped his son. Cotton is forced to join forces with his acerbic ex-wife Pam when it seems assassins may be on her tail, as well. They get their son back, but then they find themselves caught between ancient organizations: the Guardians of the Library at Alexandria, pledged to keep its secrets safe, and the Order of the Golden Fleece, a ruthless sect of the powerful who meet in secret and who have vowed to claim the Library for themselves. Accompanying Cotton and Pam is the Order's pet assassin, who has a few plans of his own regarding the library.

At the same time, treachery is afoot in the US government with the president, vice president, secretary of state, and the heads of several security departments all mistrusting each other as a web of secrets and lies is unraveled. Some find this kind of thriller gripping. Unfortunately, I find it a bit tiresome, and in this book, everything that was happening inside the government was not essential to the main plot of Cotton Malone following a quest to the lost Library of Alexandria. This is also the third Steve Berry book I've read starring an idiotic and unlikeable female lead. When Pam Malone, yet again acting stubborn and stupid, gets herself shot, I found myself wishing they'd put her down then and there. This author obviously has some issues with women. The author also seems way out of touch with children. Gary Malone was supposed to be 15 but came across as a 10-year-old in size, maturity, vocabulary, and deed.

I think they're a dime a dozen, but thrillers involving clueless protagonists doing a lot of chasing around the globe while unaware of the web of lies surrounding them as they follow a trail of clues in close proximity to the know-it-all bad guys are pretty popular. Some such books are sometimes a thrill to read, but often they miss the mark and fail to grab my interest. Since this book also contained one of my least favorite plot devices of all the characters knowing something that was kept from me until the very end, it failed to grab my interest.

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