The King's Deception (Cotton Malone, Book 8) by Steve Berry

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.

Historical/government conspiracy novels are my guilty pleasure, and I have extremely positive memories of the early Cotton Malone books.  They are well-written, suspenseful, and have just enough historical information thrown in to give context.  But - I never finished the series.  I stopped in the middle, years ago, with this book.  So, I thought I'd give it another go and thus could move on in the series again.  

This is not good.  There are SO MANY opportunities for it to be amazing.  But no dice.  It feels forced, the historical elements are overdone and throw you out of the story rather than enhance it.  I found the characters flat, the suspense weak, and worst of all, the plot completely unengaging.  I just didn't really care what happened.  

So - please pick up some of Steve Berry's early works featuring Cotton Malone.  The Alexandria Link is great, as is The Venetian Betrayal.  When you hit this one - read the summary.  I'll be moving along with book 9, and hopefully he can pull it back together.  I rooting for you Steve!

2/5

640 pages