THE VENETIAN BETRAYAL by Steve Berry
Steve Berry is the master of the minute. He fills his novels with such detail that even if you aren't completely sure his facts are facts, you buy it anyway. He did it with his first novel THE AMBER ROOM and he has perfected it in every novel since then. Now in THE VENETIAN BTERAYAL he has it down to an art form. I dare you to not believe his logical statements concerning the burial site of Alexander the Great, and how it might be the tomb of St Mark.
Alexander is a key character in this new story. His life, death and burial are the stuff of legend and in this new book by Berry we have a madwoman, named Zovastina, obsessed with the Alexander legend. She is the head of an Asian country and is ruthless in her life and her actions. She wants to know the secrets hidden in Alexander's tomb and will stop at nothing to get them.
This brings her into the path of Cotton Malone, Berry's erstwhile hero. He, and his friends from previous stories - Cassiopea Vitt, Henrik Thorvalson and Stephanie Nelle - are all involved in an effort to stop the madwoman from wreaking havoc in her country and others. It is a deadly game and Cotton et all are facing death itself in order to stop Zovastina.
The action takes place all over Europe and Asia with the plot flying between cities of importance. Berry keeps the plot moving and the mystery deepening in such a way that the reader barely has time to breathe. You only get glimpses of relationships that may or may not evolve.
Steve Berry's plots are unbelievably intricate with each step and misstep adding to the solution of the grand mystery that is being sought. You know that in the end the puzzle will be solved and with Berry you get a solution that makes sense.
With each successive book Berry gets more and more capable. His knowledge of Europe and Asia permeates the descriptions of the cities in which the action takes place. He knows people; he knows weaponry; he knows governments; and he uses all this information to bring that total credibility to his plots.
You can lose yourself in THE VENTIAN BETRAYAL and enter another world where you can be bold and brave. It is a story which will absorb you as you race through page after page and then tosses you breathless back into your chair when it all comes to an end.
Steve Berry and Cotton Malone are a perfect combination of writer and character. It is a use of knowledge and experience that pays off for the reader who loves books of high drama, suspenseful pursuits and intricate plots.
THE VENETIAN BETRAYAL is published by Ballantine Books. It contains 496 pages and sells for $25.95.