{Review} The King's Deception

What it's about: 

Cotton Malone is back! Steve Berry’s new international adventure blends gripping contemporary political intrigue, Tudor treachery, and high-octane thrills into one riveting novel of suspense.
 
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. (view source)

What I thought: Well, I loved this book. I'm a huge Steve Berry fan. Have been ever since I stumbled upon him in the library a few years ago. I've not picked up a Berry book that hasn't sucked me in from the first minute, and this one was no exception. The long wait between Malone books is always worth it because the sites and historical facts are investigated throughly, which makes the books even more fascinating.

A new twist for me was the historical element - I've never been that interested in England's history. I'm not sure why, maybe because they still have a monarch so I'm "whatever". Somehow the mystery behind the former Iron Curtain has always intrigued me more. That may be a thing of the past though after reading this.

This has all the intriguing characteristics of the Berry books, lots of historical facts (mixed with some fiction), mixed in with some subterfuge and back stabbing. I was ready for a break from Cotton Malone when The Columbus Affair was released - but I'm glad he's back! A few more threads woven into the fabric of his life and we are set for another book.

The one drawback I have to reading Steve's books in eReader format is there are always pictures of things he's talking about. I like those best in the print books.

Thank You Ballentine Books and Netgalley, through whom I received an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.