The Venetian Betrayal

A Novel

By: Steve Berry

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 15 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

After narrowly escaping incineration in a devastating fire that consumes a Danish museum, Cotton Malone - former Justice Department agent turned rare-book dealer - learns from his friend, the beguiling adventurer Cassiopeia Vitt, that the blaze was neither an accident nor an isolated incident. As part of a campaign of arson intended to mask a far more diabolical design, buildings across Europe are being devoured by infernos of unnatural strength. Born from the ashes is a new Eastern European nation whose ruthless leader will soon draw Cotton into an intense geopolitical chess game against a shadowy cabal of power brokers. The prize lies buried with the mummified remains of Alexander the Great - in a tomb lost to the ages for more than 2,000 years. Trekking from Denmark to Venice, to Central Asia, Cotton and Cassiopeia are determined to solve an ancient puzzle whose solution could destroy or save millions of people - depending on who finds the lost tomb first.

©2008 Steve Berry (P)2008 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

“[Steve Berry] has a genuine feel for the factual gaps that give history its tantalizing air of the unknown.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“There’s nothing tastier than a globe-spanning mystery...Berry’s books excel at bringing out fascinating tidbits of history.” (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

The pace and historical references

Great and believable characters in each book. Cotton Malone is a real bad ass! The narrator never got on my nerves kept my interest.

Visual Detail

All the turns and twists in the story contained a surprise. Some obvious, some slight and some very unexpected.

Not up to standards

The adventures of Cotton Malone are told in several Steve Berry books. He is an interesting thriller hero with a past in a highly secret federal service but retired to Denmark where he runs a small, peaceful rare book store. Peaceful except when Cotton Malone is called back to save the world once again. He always succeeds but needs the help of several friends from around the world. The Venetian Betrayal follows the formula with the villain being the dictator of a Mid Asia nation recently constituted and all the friends coming back to help. However hard this might be to believe, it gets a lot worse as Cotton and his friends have to stop an evil plot to spread biological weapons and in doing so find possible cures for some of the world's worst epidemics. When you add all this to the search for the burial grounds of Alexander the Great, it gets too much even for this genre. Read it if you have the time but there may be better ways to spend your time.

Another Great Book in this series

I discovered these books about a Cotton Malone and started following them. I love all the characters. I love the real history with added fiction. These books, in the genre of historical fiction, teach you history while adding a fictional adventure, making it a fun read. I recommend this book to all who love history with a creative license giving you a “ what if” scenario. Kudos to the author.

Berry At his best

Steve Berry has outdone himself with this one I highly recomend this one.

interesting thoughts.

has parallel s to true facts do makes it plausible and font need to suspend your belief in physics or other science

Sustains attention

The Venetian Betrayal is a wonderful piece of entertainment. I couldn’t put the book down. It held interest and mystery to the very end. The author did a great job of maintaining historical data and believable current intertwining plots. Characters are diverse and interesting.

The Reader Betrayal

This is another story involving the interesting Cotton Malone. Part Indiana Jones, part Robert Langdon, part James Bond. Berry again spins a story around historical information that is very clever if not all that plausible. The clues and solutions to the ancient secret that are uncovered are not as clever as in his other books.

Pretty Good

This book wasn't a struggle to finish and had an interesting premise. It was not a book that I thought about for a week afterwards, but I enjoyed it while it lasted.

Another fun listen

All the “what ifs” make this another of Steve Berry’s fun listens. And stimulates a desire to read other sources and get out maps. Surely the best result possible. Very enjoyable.