Steve Berry

Alpha et Omega
$13.25
The book was written in German and I don't know German. It was not clear on the web that it written in anything other than English. The book arrived on time and in very good condition and it was easy to return. However, It cost about half the price of the book to return it. I would like to get another copy in English but I'm afraid it will be in German from someone else. If it is only available in German, that was not clear on the website. I'm a huge Steve Berry fan so will look for it elsewhere.

The Venetian Betrayal (Cotton Malone)
$9.99
I bought this because I was intrigued by the book description, but I found the book very difficult to get into and kept getting stuck in the first 6 chapters. After about seven attempts I just gave up and put the book to the side. I'm not sure if the characters just didn't have the depth I was looking for or if they were not interesting enough to me...or perhaps it was the writing style. I am sure the book would have been a great read if I could just have gotten through it more. I read a whole genre of books so it's not because I'm drawn to just one subject - this was just not an easy read.

The Paris Vendetta: A Novel
$26.00
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 personal: 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?

The Venetian Betrayal: A Novel (Cotton Malone)
$25.95
Ah I really wanted to like this book but it was terrible. So bad in fact that I only made it half way through, it's a mess. The characters don't even begin to make sense...what is up with Zavastina...a really annoying character. I fear it's his idea of the strong female, she's just ridiculous. There's plagues (never clear if it's AIDS or AIDS & another plague), intricately carved discs, lesbian lover, chases all over the place, etc. Absolutely no cohesion whatsoever. By the middle of the book I started feeling angry that I spent money on it, the characters, the mash of huge themes. I cannot ever remember leaving one in the middle and being so utterly annoyed with it. I read Mr. Berry's Amber Room which was ok but that's it for me and Mr. Berry, I won't bother with any more of his books.