The Paris Vendetta

A Novel

By: Steve Berry

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “All the Steve Berry hallmarks are here: scale, scope, sweep, history—plus breathless second-by-second suspense. I love this guy.”—Lee Child

Former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone wakes to find an intruder in his Copenhagen bookshop: an American Secret Service agent with assassins on his heels. Narrowly surviving a ferocious firefight, the two journey to the secluded estate of Malone’s friend Henrik Thorvaldsen. The wily Danish tycoon has uncovered the insidious plans of the Paris Club, a cabal of multimillionaires bent on manipulating the global economy. But Thorvaldsen also harbors a hidden agenda—a vendetta—that will force Malone to choose between friend and country, past and present. Starting in Denmark, moving to England, and ending up in the storied streets and cathedrals of Paris, Malone is forced to match wits with a terrorist for hire and to plunge into a desperate hunt for Napoleon’s legendary treasure, lost for two hundred years. It’s a breathless game of duplicity and death, all to claim a prize of untold value. But at what cost?

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Steve Berry’s The Columbus Affair and a Cotton Malone dossier.

©2009 Steve Berry (P)2009 Random House

Critic reviews

"Steve Berry always finds intriguing ways to link the past to the present in his fast-paced thrillers. The Paris Vendetta is his best yet."—Harlan Coben

Excellent novel

This is perhaps Berry's best effort in the Cotton Malone series. Thrilling from the get go, most of the story takes place in France during the present day with a story tie-in to the age of Napoleon Bonaparte. Cotton is put in the position of having to support one series friend and betraying the other series friend. The brunt of the story is the usual treasure chase, but in this outing, it is the strength of the characters that shines through. Berry's writing in this series entry is top notch.

The Paris Vendetta - Steve Berry

I really enjoy Steve Berry's books. However, I find the narrator's style of reading distracting and often off-putting. I just would like him to read the book and not interject so many voice inflections and poor attempts at accents. The story stands strongly on its own. It just doesn't need the affectations of the narrator. And, I know he is a popular narrator, he just has never worked for me.

Ok

This was not as attention holding as the other Cotton Malones but I am biased as I am still in search of Mitch Rapp.

Berry deserves a better narrator

While I enjoy Steve Berry's writing, I must agree with other reviewers about the poor voice given to this work. Scott Brick reads each sentence in the same dramatic tone. Whether Cotton is in the middle of an intense shoot-out or if he simply remarks on the weather, the narrator embodies the sentence with the same weight. One wonders whether Brick bothered to read the book at all, even as he reads it to us.

It's not about the narrator.

I don't understand all the negativity. I enjoyed the book. Scott Brick read this like he does everything else I've heard him do. I guess you either like him or not. I know a narrator can make or break a book. I had some difficulty in the first third of the story, but got into it after that. Maybe the problem was SB narration but feel there was just too much "setup". If You like Scott Brick's narration style, and a decent mystery, you will enjoy this one.

A somewhat different take on a Cotton Malone story

If you could sum up The Paris Vendetta in three words, what would they be?

Different (from other Cotton Malone stories)
Personal (in that it seems everything develops from personal issues)
Predictable (especially the ending)

What other book might you compare The Paris Vendetta to and why?

The entire Cotton Malone series is similar in style to works of many other authors like Dan Brown and Charles Brokaw. I am not sure what point there would be to directly comparing books ... I simply enjoyed it as great fiction with an interesting historical anchoring.

Which character – as performed by Scott Brick – was your favorite?

In this particular book I don't think Brick's portrayal of any of the chars stood out - but that may be because I like his take on Cassiopeia Vitt, and she isn't really in this book. Peter Lion was interesting too though.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes - but I can't reveal which here, as it would be a major spoiler for anyone wishing read/listen to it ;)

Any additional comments?

This Malone story seems really focused on personal relations and past issues. It gives the story a different feel than when the objective is national security or saving the president. This isn't necessarily a bad thing and the story isn't less interesting for that reason - but even with this altered focus the author continues to pursue the practical objective of what must be found and catching the bad guys, rather than fulfilling the expectation of some sort of resolution to all the personal issues and turmoil that has come out during the story.

For me at least, that leaves an odd sense of both being "let in" a bit more than in the previous Malone books, and yet at the same time still being held at arm's length. It's hard to connect with a char that spends hundreds of pages building up to a hugely emotional event, only to then have the event over and done with in a few short minutes.

For that reason, I rate this books lower than other Malone novels.

It's a great ride

One of his best yet. A very fun and fascinating adventure through the ages, packed with some firepower.

Mr. Brick's performance lackluster

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

It was not a waste of my time because I really like the stories composed by Steve Berry. Historical Fiction is at the top of my list.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Scott Brick also narrates the Clive Cussler novels and I like those, but this performance left much to be desired. I found his accents completely misused and monotonous. If he has the slightest idea of a scandanavian accent he should use it. And his narration especially during the dialogues, was "sing-song"

Was The Paris Vendetta worth the listening time?

A hard decision. It's a good story, but needed a better narration.

Any additional comments?

Scott Brick does a fine job with the Clive Cussler stories. Perhaps another voice here would be a better choice--even a female voice.

Solid, but not my favorite Berry effort

The Paris Vendetta had all of Berry's typical trademark elements, historic intrigue, good vs evil, colorful characters, and lots of plot twists, but the combination just didn't carry me along as all of his previous books did. Possibly I'm not as interested in Napoleon as previous book plots involving the Templars or Jefferson's fascination with codes. I remain a Steve Berry fan and look forward to Cotton Malone's next adventure.

Good but hard to follow.

I am reading and listening to the entire cotton Malone series in the order written. For some reason this one is harder to follow as an audiobook so I plan to purchase the printed version to help me fill in the gaps that are not connecting and oral narration.