Cotton Malone Series

Embark on a thrilling global adventure where history, art, and dangerous secrets intertwine. Follow a protagonist with a unique background as he unravels complex conspiracies rooted deep in the past. Each installment promises a fresh mystery and a heart-pounding chase, testing his intellect and courage. Are you ready for a journey filled with twists and historical revelations?

Recommended Reading Order

The Templar Legacy
Steve Berry
460 pages
17 hours of reading
The ancient Knights Templar, once wielding immense wealth and power, vanished during the Inquisition, leaving their hidden treasures lost. Now, two factions competing for this treasure have uncovered its true nature, which could transform the modern world. Cotton Malone, a former U.S. Justice Department operative turned antiquarian book dealer in Copenhagen, is drawn back into a dangerous world when his former supervisor, Stephanie Nelle, is attacked during a mission unrelated to national security. She possesses vital clues to ancient puzzles across Europe, aiming to solve a mystery that has captivated scholars and treasure hunters for centuries: the legendary wealth and forbidden knowledge of the Templars, thought lost after their destruction in the fourteenth century. However, she faces competition from Raymond de Roquefort, a shadowy zealot commanding a ruthless army of assassins, who is desperate for the information Stephanie holds. Cotton, unwilling to remain on the sidelines, joins the fray, but as he delves deeper into the ancient conspiracy, he realizes that much more than lives are at stake. In this lethal race filled with intrigue and treachery, a shocking discovery awaits that could either save or doom the civilized world, depending on who wields it.
1
3.9
The Alexandria Link
Steve Berry
544 pages
20 hours of reading
"Too bad former secret agent Cotton Malone knows how to unearth the lost contents of the Library of Alexandria; now his bookstore has been ransacked and his son kidnapped."--From source other than the Library of Congress.
2
4.0
The Venetian Betrayal
Steve Berry
A pacy international thriller with a historical twist, from the New York Times bestselling author.
3
4.0
The Charlemagne Pursuit
Steve Berry
509 pages
18 hours of reading
Ex-agent Cotton Malone wants to know what really happened to his father, officially lost at sea when his submarine went down in the north Atlantic in 1971. But when he uses his government contacts to obtain the submarine`s sealed file, he finds he is not the only person looking for answers. Malone is in the line of fire when he is attacked in an attempt to take the file. He is pitched into a lethal power struggle between Dorothea Lindauer and Christl Falk, twin sisters whose twisted ambition takes sibling rivalry to new levels. Malone and the twins embark on a dangerous adventure involving Nazi explorations in Antarctica, US government conspiracies, and a series of cryptic historical clues built into the legend of Charlemagne. Forced to choose a side when neither can win, Malone is determined to uncover the truth behind his father`s death - but will he be able to escape his own?
4
3.9
The Paris Vendetta
Steve Berry
Cotton Malone's closest friend, Henrik Thorvaldsen, is in serious trouble - and the men who want to kill Thorvaldsen are on Malone's doorstep. Malone soon discovers that the key to saving his friend's life - and his own - lies in the past with an astounding treasure that Napoleon took to his grave.
5
3.9
The emperor's tomb
Steve Berry
448 pages
16 hours of reading
A new Cotton Malone adventure that takes our hero from Europe to the Far East in a race to unlock the mystery of an ancient tomb. Hearing that his old friend Cassiopeia Vitt is in trouble, Malone follows the few clues he has and realises that they are in the middle of something huge, involving Russian and US oil interests and a centuries-old secret. After stumbling across two dead bodies and into the crosshairs of his former boss, Malone finds himself in a race to unravel the mystery of an emperor's tomb, a sinister society, and a deadly battle between two ruthless men for supremacy in China - and the world.
6
4.0
The Jefferson key
Steve Berry
480 pages
17 hours of reading
Cotton Malone has been called on to defend his country's safety in many exotic locations around the world, often using his knowledge of history to get to the heart of mysteries and conspiracies stretching back for centuries. But never has the danger been quite so close to home. A stunning opening sets the tone of explosive action and mind-bending intrigue as Cotton battles an extraordinary group of families whose unseen influence dates back to the pages of the U.S. Constitution - and whose thirst for power is about to be satisfied by the cracking of a code devised by Thomas Jefferson himself.
7
3.9
The King's Deception
Steve Berry
409 pages
15 hours of reading
A behind-the-scenes political fight between the United States and England has the unintended result of landing Cotton Malone's son, Gary, in the hands of a man with a dangerous personal agenda. It also forces Malone to come face-to-face with a baffling historical mystery: a long-buried secret that throws into question the legitimacy of the entire reign of Elizabeth I - a revelation with explosive modern-day consequence.
8
4.0
The Lincoln Myth
Steve Berry
448 pages
16 hours of reading
In September 1861, a shocking secret, passed down through presidents, lands in Abraham Lincoln's hands amid the Civil War's early bloodshed. He faces a crucial choice: use this volatile knowledge to save lives or protect the fragile nation. In the present day, the remains of Mormon pioneers, victims of a brutal expedition, are uncovered in Utah, igniting a political battle in Washington, D.C., involving an international entrepreneur and a powerful senator. Meanwhile, a Justice Department agent goes missing in Denmark, captured by a zealot driven by divine visions. Cotton Malone, a former agent now selling books in Denmark, is thrust back into danger after a call from his old boss sends him racing to rescue an informant with critical intelligence. This perilous mission pulls him into a deadly conflict rooted in a constitutional war initiated by the Founding Fathers over two centuries ago. As Malone navigates threats from Copenhagen to Salzburg and the mountains of Utah, he confronts a dangerous conspiracy linked to Lincoln's legacy. He risks everything—his life, freedom, and love—in a desperate quest for the truth that could determine the fate of the United States.
9
3.8
The patriot threat
Steve Berry
464 pages
17 hours of reading
The 16th Amendment to the Constitution legalized federal income tax, but what if there were problems with the 1913 ratification of that amendment? Problems that call into question decades of tax collecting, and could even bring down the US economy. There is a surprising truth to this possibility - a truth wholly entertained by Steve Berry, a top-ten New York Times bestselling writer, in his new thriller, The Patriot Threat. His protagonist, Cotton Malone, once a member of an elite intelligence division within the Justice Department known as the Magellan Billet, is now retired. 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 water in Venice and ends in the remote highlands of Croatia. With appearances by Franklin Roosevelt, Andrew Mellon, and a curious painting that still hangs in the National Gallery of Art, Steve Berry's trademark mix of history and suspense is 90% fact and 10% exciting speculation.
10
3.9
The 14th colony
Steve Berry
464 pages
17 hours of reading
The electrifying new Cotton Malone thriller by international bestseller Steve Berry. People say the Cold War is coming back. For some, it never went away. Shot down over Siberia in what was to be a simple meet-and-greet mission, ex-Justice Department agent Cotton Malone is forced into a fight for survival against Aleksandr Zorin, 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 is headed for North America to join another long-term sleeper embedded in the West. Armed with a Soviet weapon long thought to be just a myth, Zorin is aided by a shocking secret hidden in the archives of America's oldest fraternal organization, the Society of Cincinnati. Past presidents used this group's military offensive - including advice on the invasion of what was to be America's 14th Colony - Canada. Inauguration Day for a new President of the U.S.A. is only hours away. Zorin's deadly plan is timed to bring about political chaos. In a race against the clock from Russia to the White House itself, Malone must not only battle Zorin, he must also confront his deepest fear, a crippling weakness that he's long denied but one that now jeopardizes everything. Steve Berry's trademark mix of fact, fiction, history and speculation is all here in this fast-paced and utterly compelling new thriller.
11
4.0
The Lost Order
Steve Berry
493 pages
18 hours of reading
The Lost Order continues renowned New York Times bestseller Steve Berry’s Cotton Malone series with another riveting, history-based thriller.
12
4.0
The Bishop's Pawn
Steve Berry
340 pages
12 hours of reading
Former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone uncovers a disturbing link between a case from his past and the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. that risks innocent lives and threatens the legacy of the Civil Rights movement's iconic martyr.
13
4.0
The Malta Exchange
Steve Berry
416 pages
15 hours of reading
A deadly race for the Vatican's oldest secret fuels New York Times bestseller Steve Berry's latest international Cotton Malone thriller.
14
3.8
The Warsaw Protocol
Steve Berry
352 pages
13 hours of reading
The latest international thriller featuring Cotton Malone - one by one the seven precious relics of the Arma Christi, the weapons of Christ, are disappearing from sanctuaries across the world.
15
3.9
The Kaiser's Web
Steve Berry
400 pages
14 hours of reading
In New York Times bestseller Steve Berry’s latest Cotton Malone adventure, a secret dossier from a World War II-era Soviet spy comes to light containing information that, if proven true, would not only rewrite history — it could impact Germany's upcoming national elections and forever alter the political landscape of Europe. 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.
16
4.1
The Last Kingdom
Steve Berry
464 pages
17 hours of reading
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.
17
4.4
Cotton Malone: The Atlas Maneuver
Steve Berry
416 pages
15 hours of reading
From celebrated New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry comes the latest adventure featuring Cotton Malone, who unravels a World War II mystery involving the legendary lost treasure known as Yamashita's Gold, valued at billions. In 1945, Japan concealed vast amounts of gold and stolen valuables in booby-trapped underground caches across the Philippines. By 1947, some of this treasure was recovered by the U.S. government, which classified the assets and secretly integrated them into the Black Eagle Trust. In the present day, retired Justice Department operative Cotton Malone is in Switzerland on a simple errand for a friend. However, the situation escalates into violence, thrusting him into a conflict between the world's oldest bank and the CIA, directly tied to the Black Eagle Trust. As he navigates this perilous landscape, Cotton encounters a woman from his past who reappears with explosive secrets related to bitcoin, which is being weaponized for an impending assault on global financial systems. Faced with dire consequences, Cotton must act, but each of his moves seems misguided. His journey takes him from the banking halls of Luxembourg to the secret vaults of Switzerland, and ultimately into the treacherous mountains of southern Morocco, where he confronts the elusive Atlas Maneuver.
18
4.1
Cotton Malone: The Medici Return
A Cotton Malone Novel
Steve Berry
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.
19
The Devil's Bible
Steve Berry
20