The Jefferson Key

A Novel

By: Steve Berry

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

Four United States presidents have been assassinated - in 1865, 1881, 1901, and 1963 - each murder seemingly unrelated and separated by time.

But what if those presidents were all killed for the same reason: a clause in the United States Constitution - contained within Article 1, Section 8 - that would shock Americans?

This question is what faces former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone in his latest adventure. When a bold assassination attempt is made against President Danny Daniels in the heart of Manhattan, Malone risks his life to foil the killing—only to find himself at dangerous odds with the Commonwealth, a secret society of pirates first assembled during the American Revolution. In their most perilous exploit yet, Malone and Cassiopeia Vitt race across the nation and take to the high seas. Along the way they break a secret cipher originally possessed by Thomas Jefferson, unravel a mystery concocted by Andrew Jackson, and unearth a centuries-old document forged by the Founding Fathers themselves, one powerful enough - thanks to that clause in the Constitution - to make the Commonwealth unstoppable.

©2011 Steve Berry (P)2011 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“One of the most spellbinding and ingenious openings in all of thrillerdom. The cast of characters is huge but every one of them is memorable. The action is intense and masterfully choreographed. As always with Steve Berry, you’re educated about significant things while your knuckles are turning white and the pages are flying. Easily Cotton Malone’s most epic, swashbuckling adventure.” (David Baldacci)

"The Constitution. . . secret codes . . . loads of history. . . AND pirates! What else does anyone need? The Jefferson Key won't just haunt your nights - it'll haunt your life. Cotton Malone is coming back to the scariest place of all: Home." (Brad Meltzer)

" The Jefferson Key starts with a bang and holds the reader in its grip until the last page. Fascinating American history, up-to-the-minute politics, pulse-pounding action. This is a story Mitch Rapp would love." (Vince Flynn)

Awful story of gratuitous violence.

Take a slightly believable plot and add a huge amount of running around and this is what you get. I'm a big fan of the Mitch Rapp books and this one can't hold a candle to them. The plot races along with a lot of non-surprises ending up with, as Shakespeare said - "A lot of sound of fury signifying nothing". What really got me though was the gratuitous violence graphically described. And remember, I'm a Mitch Rapp fan.

Irritating style of interrupts.

Writer takes you to a point and switches scenes. He does it so often it gets tiresome. Several characters and situations are taking place and he keeps switching scenes just when something is about to happen. So you have to keep track of who is doing what to whom. This continues ad nauseam and makes for a disjointed read.

Stupid Story - Great narrator

I gave up on this when characters I didn't care about and couldn't follow were shooting up Jefferson's Monticello. Dumb

25 pounds of groceries in a 1 pound bag - bad

This book is confusing, there are too many characters that require more development. The level of character development is weak and there are too many to keep track of. The plot is loosely based in American History which even the author acknowledges he has taken several liberties. The liberties are far fetched and are cheesy. This book is bad.

Ups and Downs, so hard to follow

This book has the shortest most choppy chapters I have ever heard. They jump between 7 different characters ever 1 min. I am half way through and am not sure I can complete. I listen to 3 books a month and I don't think I have ever not finished one. I am trying to power through this one because its interesting but it sucks to listen such short chapters. Don't Buy.

Disappointed

I am a big fan of Cotton Malone, however this book did nothing for me. I found it hard to follow and it just didn’t hold my interest. I’m also a big fan of Scott Brick, but even his narration couldn’t keep my interest.

Strictly a summer read.

Strictly a summer read. Many clich??s. Much extended dialogue between characters during fierce gun battles. Etc. The epilogue makes clear that the author, Steve Berry, had great fun traveling around to research his book. Speaking as a lawyer, the central thesis of the plot, that what one Congress does, another subsequent Congress cannot undo, is false. Whenever the Constitution grants Congress plenary power, Congress may exercise that power as it sees fit without second-guessing by the executive or the courts. Thus, in the past in real life, one Congress has granted a tax exemption, which was relied on by many, and then a subsequent Congress has abolished the exemption retroactively to the date it was first enacted. This meant all those who relied on the exemption and did not pay the tax, now years later owned taxes. When this was challenged, the U.S. Supreme Court yawned and said Congress had plenary power to tax and thus could do anything it wanted. What? You don???t like this? Write your Congressman! Same with Letters of Marque and Reprisal. Also, if a statute to grant a right in perpetuity were to be drafted properly, it would say to ???Abner Hale and his heirs in perpetuity???. If it were to say, as it did in this book, to ???Abner Hale in perpetuity,??? the right would expire at Abner Hale???s death. But you can suspend belief in these basic realities as you listen to this book on the beach. As for the reader, he needs to learn to pause between scene shifts. There were many such shifts in this book, which the reader powers through without a pause. This means the listener has a hard time keeping track among scene shifts to different gun fights in different locales among different characters.

BORING!!! DID NOT HOLD MY ATTENTION.

When you are listening to a great book, you know how you want everyone to be quiet and you attempt to remove any and all distractions around you so you will not miss one single detail???...This book is NOT that good! I found myself constantly day dreaming and realizing I forgot to pause the book when something would distract me. Maybe its because this is my first encounter with Cotton Malone, but his character in this book was not interesting at all...or any of the other characters for that matter. Some of the historical info about privateers and ties to our country's early political endeavors was interesting, but not enough to get you through the convoluted story line...use your credits to get The Schumann Frequency and The First Boxer by Chris Ride...thats how to tell a historically based story! It might be better for someone from a political family or a broader understanding of politics than I.

Saved by Scott Brick ( Sort of!)

I could listen to Scott Brick read the local phone directory. Unfortunately, that is about how interesting I found this book. In spite of dashing back and forth between locations and characters, the author failed to arouse any suspense or excitement in me. I generally knew what was going to happen next and simply waited for the inevitable. The characters were one dimensional and I really didn't care what happened to them.The plot was tiresome and I am sorry I wasted a credit.

Bad News

I was disappointed in an earlier Steve Berry book, but I thought I would take another chance. No more. I felt like I was watching TV with someone who likes to change the channel every 3 seconds. He moved from one plot to another every other paragraph. The plot was predictable and lifeless. Critical elements were explained pages after they were first exposed to the reader. I like Scott Brick, but even he couldn't save this book.