The Templar Legacy (Cotton Malone Series #1) » (~)

Steve Berry first burst on the scene in 2003 and 2004 with The Amber Room and The Romanov Prophecy, a pair of twisty, adrenaline-laced thrillers with intriguing historical mysteries at their heart. Since then, Berry's novels have gone on to gather international momentum, earning spots on The New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and BookSense bestseller lists.

Although his undergraduate degree was in political science and he actively practiced law for 29 years, it was his interest in history that led to Steve to writing international suspense thrillers. Simply put, the books he liked to read became the books he liked to write. He continues to wrap his novels in fascinating secrets, conspiracies, and mysteries from the past (religious prophecy, ancient manuscripts, lost treasure, Vatican intrigue, etc.), concocting dandy plots his readers love to unravel.

Berry credits the nuns who taught him in Catholic school with instilling the discipline needed both to craft a novel and to find a publisher. Indeed, he claims to be the poster child for stick-to-itiveness: It took him 12 years and 85 rejections to finally sell a manuscript to Ballantine Books. Clearly, his perseverance has paid off. Today, his novels appear in 50 countries and 37 languages worldwide. He lives in the historic city of St. Augustine, Florida. He and his wife, Elizabeth, have founded History Matters, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving our heritage. To learn more about Steve and the foundation, visit steveberry.org .

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.

From the Hardcover edition.

Publishers Weekly

There are times when Corrigan attempts the French accent of this book's arch-villain, Raymond de Roquefort, that he sounds like nothing so much as Peter Sellers's Inspector Clouseau with a bad head cold. Corrigan gamely tackles what so many other readers tiptoe around, imitating each of the voices in Berry's international array of shadowy operators. While the results are occasionally, unintentionally comic, Corrigan is to be commended: his multivoiced, one-man-band reading makes for a wildly enjoyable listen. Berry's novel follows in the tradition of The Da Vinci Code, mingling medieval Christian secrecy and contemporary intelligence-agency intrigue. Corrigan contains multitudes, and his able array of voices show a man who greatly enjoys the opportunity to have the stage of Berry's book all to himself. Having fun with his reading, Corrigan masterfully conveys the entertainment value of Berry's convoluted story. Simultaneous release with the Ballantine hardcover (Reviews, Dec. 19, 2005). (Feb.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.