The Admiral's Mark

by Steve Berry (conflated)

Part of Cotton Malone, book 0.5

First published 2012

Cotton Malone's brother-in-law Scott Brown dies while scuba diving in Haiti. The official police report doesn't satisfy Cotton's wife or her sister. They want answers. Cotton travels to Haiti to investigate what really happened. Beneath the clear Caribbean waters, he discovers that Scott found something extraordinary: the wreckage of the Santa Maria, Christopher Columbus's flagship. Scott died protecting this discovery. Cotton isn't alone in his search for the truth. An Israeli intelligence agent pursues the same secret that cost Scott his life. A dangerous Austrian will kill anyone who stands between him and the prize. Cotton finds himself trapped in a deadly game that stretches across Haiti's north shore and deep underwater. Something has been lost for five centuries, and now multiple parties will do anything to claim it. Cotton must survive long enough to uncover what Scott died trying to protect.

Genres: historical-fiction, adventure, mystery, thriller, action

Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking

Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family

Setting: Haiti, Caribbean

Period: 21st Century, 15th Century

45 pages · ebook · Ballantine Books

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