Part of Cotton Malone, book 5
First published 2009
Cotton Malone expects quiet days running his Copenhagen bookshop. Instead, a Secret Service agent crashes through his door with killers close behind. The agent drags Malone into a deadly conspiracy that reaches back to Napoleon's death in 1821. The emperor died with a secret: the location of vast riches he plundered from palaces, treasuries, and the Vatican itself. Now the Paris Club, a group of wealthy conspirators, plans to use that treasure to destroy the global economy. Malone's friend Henrik Thorvaldsen has discovered their scheme, but the Danish businessman harbors his own agenda. He wants revenge against the aristocrat who murdered his son. Thorvaldsen's personal vendetta forces Malone into an impossible choice between loyalty to his friend and duty to his country. The hunt takes them from Denmark to England and finally to Paris, where Malone must outwit a professional terrorist and prevent a catastrophic attack. He races through the ancient streets and cathedrals of the French capital, playing a lethal game where one wrong move means death.
Genres: historical-fiction, adventure, mystery, thriller, action
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Copenhagen, Denmark, England, France, Paris, Vatican
Period: 1821, 21st-century
418 pages · Hardcover · Ballantine Books