Eight years ago Cotton Malone was an agent for the Justice Department, handling the toughest and most sensitive international investigations. But sometimes things became intensely personal. In his latest eBook original short story, New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry lays out just such a tale—one with shocking historical implications. Cotton Malone never cared for the shady dealings of his brother-in-law, Scott Brown. But when Scott dies while scuba diving, Cotton’s wife and her grieving sister demand more than just a secondhand police report. So Malone heads to Haiti. There, beneath crystal clear waters, he learns that Scott found the sunken wreckage of the Santa Maria, the fabled flagship of Christopher Columbus, and he paid for the discovery with his life. Setting out to piece together what happened, Malone quickly realizes that he’s not the only man there with questions. An Israeli intelligence agent is in top secret pursuit of what Scott died trying to protect. And a sinister Austrian with a hidden agenda has no qualms about killing for the mysterious prize. On the hunt for something that has been lost for 500 years, Malone is suddenly enmeshed in a deadly cat and mouse game being played across the north shore of Haiti and beneath the Caribbean Sea—and he’ll have to fight just to get out of there alive. Features an exciting preview of Steve Berry’s much-anticipated new thriller, The Columbus Affair

Steve Berry’s bestselling thrillers have mesmerized suspense fans around the world, but his novels alone can’t contain all the exciting exploits of death-defying agent Cotton Malone and his smart, sexy sidekick, Cassiopeia Vitt. Catch all the action between the blockbusters in this trio of suspenseful short stories that capture Cotton and Cassiopeia at their history-hunting, heart-stopping best. Read them as prequels to Cotton’s full-length epics or stunning stand-alone adventures. Either way, this eBook bundle packs all the punch adrenaline junkies have come to expect from the bold imagination of Steve Berry. “In Malone, Berry has created a classic, complex hero.”—USA Today THE BALKAN ESCAPE Prequel to The Emperor’s Tomb As a favor to enigmatic billionaire Henrik Thorvaldsen, Cassiopeia Vitt treks into Bulgaria’s Rila mountains in search of a buried stash of exceedingly rare artifacts from a bygone the ancient tomb of a Thracian king. But when her presence is discovered by a shadowy group of Russians secretly mining the area, she needs a way out. Whom can I trust? becomes the question, and her life depends on making the right decision. THE DEVIL’S GOLD Prequel to The Jefferson Key For eight years he’s been plotting, waiting, scheming to kill Federal agents Christopher Combs and Cotton Malone, whom he blames for the loss of his career. But as rogue agent Jonathan Wyatt prepares for a final confrontation in a remote South American village, he makes a discovery that stretches back to the horrors of World War II, to the astounding secret of a child’s birth, to Martin Bormann and Eva Braun—and to a fortune in lost gold. THE ADMIRAL’S MARK Prequel to The Columbus Affair Cotton Malone never cared for the shady dealings of his brother-in-law, Scott Brown. But after Scott dies while scuba diving, Malone heads to Haiti where he learns that, beneath the crystal clear waters, his brother-in-law had found the sunken wreckage of the Santa Maria, the fabled flagship of Christopher Columbus. Setting out to piece together what happened, Malone quickly realizes that he’s not the only man there with questions—and that he’ll have to fight just to get out of Haiti alive.

The ancient order of the Knights Templar possessed untold wealth and absolute power over kings and popes . . . until the Inquisition, when they were wiped from the face of the earth, their hidden riches lost. But now two forces vying for the treasure have learned that it is not at all what they thought it was–and its true nature could change the modern world. Cotton Malone, one-time top operative for the U.S. Justice Department, is enjoying his quiet new life as an antiquarian book dealer in Copenhagen when an unexpected call to action reawakens his hair-trigger instincts–and plunges him back into the cloak-and-dagger world he thought he’d left behind. It begins with a violent robbery attempt on Cotton’s former supervisor, Stephanie Nelle, who’s far from home on a mission that has nothing to do with national security. Armed with vital clues to a series of centuries-old puzzles scattered across Europe, she means to crack a mystery that has tantalized scholars and fortune-hunters through the ages by finding the legendary cache of wealth and forbidden knowledge thought to have been lost forever when the order of the Knights Templar was exterminated in the fourteenth century. But she’s not alone. Competing for the historic prize–and desperate for the crucial information Stephanie possesses–is Raymond de Roquefort, a shadowy zealot with an army of assassins at his command. Welcome or not, Cotton seeks to even the odds in the perilous race. But the more he learns about the ancient conspiracy surrounding the Knights Templar, the more he realizes that even more than lives are at stake. At the end of a lethal game of conquest, rife with intrigue, treachery, and craven lust for power, lies a shattering discovery that could rock the civilized world–and, in the wrong hands, bring it to its knees.

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.

Locating Alexander the Great's final resting place-unknown to this day-remains a tantalizing goal for both archaeologists and treasure hunters. Now the quest for this coveted prize is about to heat up. After narrowly escaping a fire that consumes a Danish museum, Cotton Malone-former U.S. Justice Department agent turned rare-book dealer-learns from his friend, the beguiling adventurer Cassiopeia Vitt, that the blaze was part of a campaign of arson intended to mask a far more diabolical design. From the ashes of the U.S.S.R., a new nation has arisen: the Central Asian Federation. At its helm is Supreme Minister Irina Zovastina, a cunning despot with the single-minded desire to surpass Alexander the Great as history's ultimate conqueror. The Federation has amassed a harrowing arsenal of biological weapons, and only one thing keeps Zovastina from setting in motion her death march of domination: a miraculous healing serum, kept secret by an ancient puzzle and buried with the mummified remains of Alexander the Great-in a tomb lost to the ages for more than 1,500 years. Together, Cotton and Cassiopeia must outrun and outthink the forces allied against them in order to unravel a riddle whose solution could destroy or save millions of people-depending on who finds the lost tomb first.

As a child, former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone was told his father died in a submarine disaster in the North Atlantic, but now he wants the full story and asks his ex-boss, Stephanie Nelle, to secure the military files. What he learns stuns him: His father’s sub was a secret nuclear vessel lost on a highly classified mission beneath the ice shelves of Antarctica.But Malone isn’t the only one after the truth. Twin sisters Dorothea Lindauer and Christl Falk are fighting for the fortune their mother has promised to whichever of them discovers what really became of their father–who died on the same submarine that Malone’s father captained. The sisters know something Malone doesn’t: Inspired by strange clues discovered in Charlemagne’s tomb, the Nazis explored Antarctica before the Americans, as long ago as 1938. Now Malone discovers that cryptic journals penned in “the language of heaven,” inscrutable conundrums posed by an ancient historian, and the ill-fated voyage of his father are all tied to a revelation of immense consequence for humankind. In an effort to ensure that this explosive information never rises to the surface, Langford Ramsey, an ambitious navy admiral, has begun a brutal game of treachery, blackmail, and assassination. As Malone embarks on a dangerous quest with the sisters–one that leads them from an ancient German cathedral to a snowy French citadel to the unforgiving ice of Antarctica–he will finally confront the shocking truth of his father’s death and the distinct possibility of his own.

When Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile in 1821, he took to the grave a powerful secret. As general and emperor, he had stolen immeasurable riches from palaces, national treasuries, and even the Knights of Malta and the Vatican. In his final days, his British captors hoped to learn where the loot lay hidden. But he told them nothing, and in his will he made no mention of the treasure. Or did he? Former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone isn't looking for trouble when it comes knocking at his Copenhagen bookshop. Actually, it breaks and enters in the form of an American Secret Service agent with a pair of assassins on his heels. Malone has his doubts about the anxious young man, but narrowly surviving a ferocious firefight convinces him to follow his unexpected new ally. Their first stop is the secluded estate of Malone's good friend, Henrik Thorvaldsen. The wily Danish tycoon has uncovered the insidious plans of the Paris Club, a cabal of multimillionaires bent on manipulating the global economy. Only by matching wits with a terrorist-for-hire, foiling a catastrophic attack, and plunging into a desperate hunt for Napoleon's legendary lost treasure can Malone hope to avert international financial anarchy. But Thorvaldsen's real objective is much more to avenge the murder of his son by the larcenous aristocrat at the heart of the conspiracy. Thorvaldsen's vendetta places Malone in an impossible quandary—one that forces him to choose between friend and country, past and present. Starting in Denmark, moving to England, and ending up in the storied streets and cathedrals of Paris, Malone plays a breathless game of duplicity and death, all to claim a prize of untold value. But at what cost? From the Hardcover edition.

Steve Berry's first ever eBook exclusive short story finds an adventurer in a strange and forbidding land, in search of a long lost treasure, and very much in harm's way. As a favor to enigmatic billionaire Henrik Thorvaldsen, Cassiopeia Vitt treks into Bulgaria's Rila mountains in search of a buried stash of exceedingly rare artifacts from a bygone civilization: the ancient tomb of a Thracian king. But when her presence is discovered by a shadowy group of Russians secretly mining the area, she needs a way out. Who to trust becomes the question, and her life depends on choosing the right option. Includes a sneak-preview of the Cotton Malone thrillers The Emperor's Tomb and The Columbus Affair.

BONUS: This edition contains a Cotton Malone Dossier, an excerpt from Steve Berry's The Columbus Affair, and a short story by Steve Berry, The Balkan Escape. Former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone has received an anonymous note carrying an unfamiliar Web address. Logging on, he’s shocked to see Cassiopeia Vitt, a woman who’s saved his life more than once, being tortured at the hands of a mysterious man who has a single demand: Bring me the artifact she’s asked you to keep safe. The only problem is, Malone doesn’t have a clue what the man is talking about, since Cassiopeia has left nothing with him. So begins Malone’s most harrowing adventure to date—one that offers up astounding historical revelations, pits him against a ruthless ancient brotherhood, and sends him from Denmark to Belgium to Vietnam then on to one of the greatest archaeological sites in the world: the tomb of China’s First Emperor, guarded by an underground army of terracotta warriors, which has inexplicably remained sealed for more than two thousand years—its mysteries about to be revealed.

The New York Times bestselling author of The Jefferson Key brings you a short story that takes readers on a perilous hunt for . . . The Devil's Gold Once he was called the Sphinx, a man so inscrutable that neither his adversaries nor fellow intelligence operatives could predict his next move. Now a contract agent with a secret mission, Jonathan Wyatt has gone rogue. For eight years he’s been plotting. Waiting. Scheming to kill Federal agents Christopher Combs and Cotton Malone, whom he blames for the loss of his career. But as Wyatt prepares for a final confrontation in a remote South American village, he makes a discovery that stretches back to the horrors of World War II, to the astounding secret of a child’s birth, to Martin Bormann and Eva Braun—and to a fortune in lost gold. BONUS: Includes excerpts from Steve Berry's The Jefferson Key and The Columbus Affair.

Four United States presidents have been assassinated—in 1865, 1881, 1901, and 1963 — each murder seemingly unrelated and separated by time.But what if those presidents were all killed for the same reason: a clause in the United States Constitution—contained within Article 1, Section 8 — that would shock Americans? This question is what faces former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone in his latest adventure. When a bold assassination attempt is made against President Danny Daniels in the heart of Manhattan, Malone risks his life to foil the killing—only to find himself at dangerous odds with the Commonwealth, a secret society of pirates first assembled during the American Revolution. In their most perilous exploit yet, Malone and Cassiopeia Vitt race across the nation and take to the high seas. Along the way they break a secret cipher originally possessed by Thomas Jefferson, unravel a mystery concocted by Andrew Jackson, and unearth a centuries-old document forged by the Founding Fathers themselves, one powerful enough—thanks to that clause in the Constitution—to make the Commonwealth unstoppable.

In this original eBook novella by the New York Times bestselling author of The King’s Deception, globetrotting intelligence agent Cotton Malone is lured into dangerous intrigue surrounding the world’s most famous royals—and uncovers a murderous conspiracy of terrorists and traitors, all born from an ancient tale of Saxon history. In England to participate in the trial of suspected international terrorists, Justice Department agent Cotton Malone is mysteriously summoned to an audience with the Queen of England. A cryptic call has warned of looming danger to the ailing queen’s son and grandson—the next two heirs in line for the throne. And when the source of that ominous information, a notorious tabloid publisher, dies mysteriously, the royal family has reason to fear a genuine conspiracy. But they also suspect that the enemy lies within—and no one at Buckingham Palace, or even the nation’s own Secret Intelligence Service, can be trusted. Now it’s up to Malone to discover the truth. Matching wits with a power-mad politician and a vicious royal blue blood, he must race against time through the streets of London to the forbidden reaches of Iceland, all to stop a monstrous plot to seize the monarchy—one that stretches back to the time of Arthur.

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.

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.

In this short story from the thrilling anthology FaceOff, New York Times bestselling authors Steve Berry and James Rollins—along with their popular characters Cotton Malone and Gray Pierce—team up for the first time ever. In a visit to Copenhagen, Gray Pierce happened upon a bookshop owned by an ex-lawyer named Cotton Malone, but he never had a chance to really get to know the owner. Too bad, because they had a lot in Both men were ex-military, both worked for covert agencies—Malone as a freelancer under the auspices of the Justice Department; Pierce via the Department of Defense—and both are good at what they do. Flash forward a few years to when Malone and Pierce finally get together for more than a passing hello. Halfway around the world from Denmark, Malone and Pierce are passengers on a luxury riverboat out of Brazil, both on the hunt for a maniacal botanist who’s scheming to sell the spoils of his latest Amazonian excursion—a rare orchid containing a deadly neurotoxin—to the highest bidder. That means Malone and Pierce have the length of the river boat cruise to stop him before the poison falls into the wrong hands. It’s definitely an action-packed several hours. For more exciting pairs, check out all eleven short stories in FaceOff !

The 16th Amendment to the Constitution is why Americans pay income taxes. But what if there were problems associated with that amendment? Secrets that call into question decades of tax collecting? In fact, there is a surprising truth to this hidden possibility. Cotton Malone, once a member of an elite intelligence division within the Justice Department known as the Magellan Billet, is now retired and owns an old bookshop in Denmark. But when his former-boss, Stephanie Nelle, asks him to track a rogue North Korean who may have acquired some top secret Treasury Department files—the kind that could bring the United States to its knees—Malone is vaulted into a harrowing twenty-four hour chase that begins on the canals in Venice and ends in the remote highlands of Croatia.With appearances by Franklin Roosevelt, Andrew Mellon, a curious painting that still hangs in the National Gallery of Art, and some eye-opening revelations from the $1 bill, this riveting, non-stop adventure is trademark Steve Berry—90% historical fact, 10% exciting speculation—a provocative thriller posing a dangerous question: What if the Federal income tax is illegal?

What happens if both the president and vice-president-elect die before taking the oath of office? The answer is far from certain—in fact, what follows would be nothing short of total political chaos. Shot down over Siberia, ex-Justice Department agent Cotton Malone is forced into a fight for survival against Aleksandr Zorin, a man whose loyalty to the former Soviet Union has festered for decades into an intense hatred of the United States. Before escaping, Malone learns that Zorin and another ex-KGB officer, this one a sleeper still embedded in the West, are headed overseas to Washington D.C. Noon on January 20th—Inauguration Day—is only hours away. A flaw in the Constitution, and an even more flawed presidential succession act, have opened the door to disaster and Zorin intends to exploit both weaknesses to their fullest. Armed with a weapon leftover from the Cold War, one long thought to be just a myth, Zorin plans to attack. He’s aided by a shocking secret hidden in the archives of America’s oldest fraternal organization—the Society of Cincinnati—a group that once lent out its military savvy to presidents, including helping to formulate three invasion plans of what was intended to be America’s 14th colony—Canada. In a race against the clock that starts in the frozen extremes of Russia and ultimately ends at the White House itself, Malone must not only battle Zorin, he must also confront a crippling fear that he’s long denied, but which now jeopardizes everything. Steve Berry’s trademark mix of history and speculation is all here in this provocative new thriller.

The Lost Order continues renowned New York Times top 5 bestseller Steve Berry’s Cotton Malone series with another riveting, history-based thriller. The Knights of the Golden Circle, founded on July 4, 1854, was the largest, most dangerous clandestine organization in American history. It formulated grand plans—to expand the United States, change the constitutional landscape, and forge a Southern empire, enslaving a ‘golden circle’ spanning two continents. To finance its goals, the Order amassed an amazing trove of stolen gold and silver, which they buried in hidden caches across the United States. Treasure hunters have searched for decades, but have never found any of the Order’s major hoards.Now, 160 years later, the knights still exist. Two factions within the Order want the treasure—one to spend it, the other to preserve it. Thrust into that civil war is former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone. Starting with a hunt for clues inside the Smithsonian Institution, Malone discovers that an ancestor within his own family may hold the key to everything: a Confederate spy named Owen “Cotton” Payne. Complicating matters further are the political ambitions of a ruthless Speaker of the House and the widow of a United States Senator, who have plans of their own—plans that conflict in every way with the Order. From the quiet back rooms of the Smithsonian, to the dangers of rural Arkansas, and finally into the rugged mountains of northern New Mexico, The Lost Order is a perilous adventure into our country’s dark past, and a potentially darker future.

Experience a heart-pumping and thrilling tale of suspense! Originally published in THRILLER (2006), edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author James Patterson. In this alternative-history-with-a-twist Thriller Short, New York Times bestselling writer Steve Berry explores one of Cotton Malone’s early missions, from a time when Malone was still employed as one of the Magellan Billet’s twelve agents. Malone is sent on a mission to a small, central Asian country run by an enigmatic dictator, Yossef Sharma, whose alliance with the United States must be kept under wraps. It’s not a mission Malone enjoys, since Sharma has a penchant for burning books. Things get even more interesting when Sharma connects Malone with the world’s most infamous criminal, a man who wants to surrender. Things are not always what they seem, and Malone will need Sharma’s help if he plans to set things right and give the devil his due. Don’t miss any of these exciting Thriller James Penney’s New Identity by Lee Child Operation Northwoods by James Grippando Epitaph by J. A. Konrath The Face in the Window by Heather Graham Kowalski’s in Love by James Rollins The Hunt for Dmitri by Gayle Lynds Disfigured by Michael Palmer and Daniel Palmer The Abelard Sanction by David Morrell Falling by Chris Mooney Success of a Mission by Dennis Lynds The Portal by John Lescroart and M. J. Rose The Double Dealer by David Liss Dirty Weather by Gregg Hurwitz Spirit Walker by David Dun At the Drop of a Hat by Denise Hamilton The Other Side of the Mirror by Eric Van Lustbader Man Catch by Christopher Rice Goodnight, Sweet Mother by Alex Kava Sacrificial Lion by Grant Blackwood Interlude at Duane’s by F. Paul Wilson The Powder Monkey by Ted Bell Surviving Toronto by M. Diane Vogt Assassins by Christopher Reich The Athens Solution by Brad Thor Diplomatic Constraints by Raelynn Hillhouse Kill Zone by Robert Liparulo The Devils’ Due by Steve Berry The Tuesday Club by Katherine Neville Gone Fishing by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

The first case of New York Times bestseller Steve Berry’s iconic hero, Cotton Malone. History notes that the ugly feud between J. Edgar Hoover and Martin Luther King, Jr., marked by years of illegal surveillance and the accumulation of secret files, ended on April 4, 1968 when King was assassinated by James Earl Ray. But that may not have been the case.Now, fifty years later, former Justice Department agent, Cotton Malone, must reckon with the truth of what really happened that fateful day in Memphis. It all turns on an incident from eighteen years ago, when Malone, as a young Navy lawyer, is trying hard not to live up to his burgeoning reputation as a maverick. When Stephanie Nelle, a high-level Justice Department lawyer, enlists him to help with an investigation, he jumps at the opportunity. But he soon discovers that two opposing forces―the Justice Department and the FBI―are at war over a rare coin and a cadre of secret files containing explosive revelations about the King assassination, information that could ruin innocent lives and threaten the legacy of the civil rights movement’s greatest martyr. Malone’s decision to see it through to the end ― from the raucous bars of Mexico, to the clear waters of the Dry Tortugas, and ultimately into the halls of power within Washington D.C. itself ― not only changes his own life, but the course of history. Steve Berry always mines the lost riches of history—in The Bishop's Pawn he imagines a gripping, provocative thriller about an American icon.

A deadly race for the Vatican’s oldest secret fuels New York Times bestseller Steve Berry’s latest international Cotton Malone thriller.The pope is dead. A conclave to select his replacement is about to begin. Cardinals are beginning to arrive at the Vatican, but one has fled Rome for Malta in search of a document that dates back to the 4th century and Constantine the Great. Former Justice Department operative, Cotton Malone, is at Lake Como, Italy, on the trail of legendary letters between Winston Churchill and Benito Mussolini that disappeared in 1945 and could re-write history. But someone else seems to be after the same letters and, when Malone obtains then loses them, he’s plunged into a hunt that draws the attention of the legendary Knights of Malta. The knights have existed for over nine hundred years, the only warrior-monks to survive into modern times. Now they are a global humanitarian organization, but within their ranks lurks trouble—the Secreti—an ancient sect intent on affecting the coming papal conclave. With the help of Magellan Billet agent Luke Daniels, Malone races the rogue cardinal, the knights, the Secreti, and the clock to find what has been lost for centuries. The final confrontation culminates behind the walls of the Vatican where the election of the next pope hangs in the balance.

In New York Times bestseller Steve Berry's latest Cotton Malone adventure, the arrogant greed of politics comes face-to-face with the weight of history. One by one the seven precious relics of the Arma Christi, the weapons of Christ, are disappearing from sanctuaries across the world. After former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone witnesses the theft of one of them, he learns from his old boss, Stephanie Nelle, that a private auction is about to be held where incriminating information on the president of Poland will be offered to the highest bidder—blackmail that both the United States and Russia want, but for vastly different reasons. The price of admission to that auction is one of the relics, so Malone is first sent to a castle in Poland to steal the Holy Lance, a thousand-year-old spear sacred to not only Christians but to the Polish people, and then on to the auction itself. But nothing goes as planned and Malone is thrust into a bloody battle between three nations over a secret that, if exposed, could change the balance of power in Europe. From the tranquil canals of Bruges, to the elegant rooms of Wawel Castle, to the ancient salt mines deep beneath the earth outside Krakow, Malone is caught in the middle of a deadly war—the outcome of which turns on something known as the Warsaw Protocol.

Two candidates are vying to become Chancellor of Germany. One is a patriot having served for the past sixteen years, the other a usurper, stoking the flames of nationalistic hate. Both harbor secrets, but only one knows the truth about the other. They are on a collision course, all turning on the events of one fateful day—April 30, 1945 — and what happened deep beneath Berlin in the Fürherbunker. Did Adolph Hitler and Eva Braun die there? Did Martin Bormann, Hitler’s close confidant, manage to escape? And, even more important, where did billions in Nazi wealth disappear to in the waning days of World War II? The answers to these questions will determine who becomes the next Chancellor of Germany. From the mysterious Chilean lake district, to the dangerous mesas of South Africa, and finally into the secret vaults of Switzerland, former-Justice Department agent Cotton Malone discovers the truth about the fates of Hitler, Braun, and Bormann. Revelations that could not only transform Europe, but finally expose a mystery known as the Kaiser’s web.

From celebrated New York Times bestselling author, Steve Berry, comes the latest Cotton Malone adventure, in which the discovery of a lost historical document challenges the global might of the United States. King Ludwig II of Bavaria was an enigmatic figure who was deposed in 1886, mysteriously drowning three days later. Eccentric to the point of madness, history tells us that in the years before he died Ludwig engaged in a worldwide search for a new kingdom, one separate, apart, and in lieu of Bavaria. A place he could retreat into and rule as he wished. But a question remains: did he succeed? Enter Cotton Malone. After many months, Malone’s protégé, Luke Daniels, has managed to infiltrate a renegade group intent on winning Bavarian independence from Germany. Daniels has also managed to gain the trust of the prince of Bavaria, a frustrated second son intent on eliminating his brother, the duke, and restoring the Wittelsbach monarchy, only now with him as king. Everything hinges on a 19th century deed which proves that Ludwig’s long-rumored search bore fruit—legal title to lands that Germany, China, and the United States all now want, only for vastly different reasons. In a race across Bavaria for clues hidden in Ludwig’s three fairytale castles—Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee—Malone and Daniels battle an ever-growing list of deadly adversaries, all intent on finding the last kingdom.

From celebrated New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry comes the latest Cotton Malone adventure, in which Cotton unravels a mystery from World War II involving a legendary lost treasure, Yamashita's Gold, worth billions. 1945\. In the waning months of World War II, Japan hid vast quantities of gold and other stolen valuables in boobytrapped underground caches all across the Philippines. By 1947 some of that loot was recovered, not by treasure hunters, but by the United States government, which told no one about the find. Instead, those assets were stamped classified, shipped to Europe, and secretly assimilated into something called the Black Eagle Trust. Present day. Retired Justice Department operative, Cotton Malone, is in Switzerland doing a favor for a friend. But what was supposed to be a simple operation turns violent and Cotton is thrust into a war between the world's oldest bank and the CIA, a battle that directly involves the Black Eagle Trust. He quickly discovers that everything hinges on a woman from his past, who suddenly reappears harboring a host of explosive secrets centering around bitcoin. The cryptocurrency is being quietly weaponized, readied for an assault on the world's financial systems, a calculated move that will have devastating consequences. Cotton has no choice. He has to act. But at what cost? From the stolid banking halls of Luxembourg, to the secret vaults of Switzerland, and finally up into the treacherous mountains of southern Morocco, Cotton Malone is stymied at every turn. Each move he makes seems wrong, and nothing works, until he finally comes face-to-face with the Atlas Maneuver.

From celebrated New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry comes the latest installment in his wildly popular Cotton Malone series —- an adventure that takes Cotton to Italy and Tuscany to solve a five hundred year old mystery. Cotton Malone is on the hunt for a forgotten 16th century Pledge of Christ—a sworn promise made by Pope Julius II that evidences a monetary debt owed by the Vatican, still valid after five centuries, now worth in the trillions of dollars. But collecting that debt centers around what happened to the famed Medici of Florence—a family that history says died out, without heirs, centuries ago. Two more things also hang in the balance. Who will become the next prime minister of Italy, and who will be the next pope. Finding answers to all three proves difficult until Cotton realizes that everything hinges on when, and if, the Medici return.