Part of Cotton Malone, book 7
First published 2011
Former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone throws himself into the line of fire when assassins target President Danny Daniels in Manhattan. He stops the killing but uncovers something far worse. The Commonwealth, a secret society tracing back to Revolutionary War pirates, has been systematically murdering American presidents. Lincoln in 1865, Garfield in 1881, McKinley in 1901, Kennedy in 1963. All died for the same reason. A hidden clause in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution gives the Commonwealth terrifying power. Malone and Cassiopeia Vitt race from city to sea, breaking Thomas Jefferson's secret cipher and solving Andrew Jackson's mystery. They discover a document the Founding Fathers themselves created and concealed. The Commonwealth will use this centuries-old forgery to become unstoppable unless Malone can expose the truth that connects four presidential assassinations across 150 years.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, adventure, mystery, action, political-thriller
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, conspiracy-theory, race-against-time
Setting: Manhattan, New York
Period: 1865, 1881, 1901, 1963, Revolutionary War
456 pages · Hardcover · Ballantine Books