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)

Terrible

I made the mistake of buying this audible book early on because it was on the "most downloaded" list and needed a book for my travel. This was before their were any audible customer reviews. Something I never do and learned a lesson! The book was terrible and had I read the reviews that now exist I would never have purchased it. The comments about how the author kept flipping from one scene to another constantly made it incoherent and the plot so disjointed it became impossible to follow.. I agree the Scott Brick did a great job and one of the reasons I purchased it....however the plot was so discombobulated ...even with his great reading ability...I couldn't finish it.

hardly worth the money

Why did I come back to Steve Berry? One dimensional characters, boring story line and so-so narration.
This book goes no where

A silly piece of fluff

Not even Scott Brick can make dramatic a story as silly as this. Skip this one.

The Jefferson Key: A Novel

Scott Brick adds a dimension of suspense to this. I am a big Mitch Rapp fan and this story is right up his alley. Anyone who follows the the Rapp series will throughly enjoy..

Great listen; great narration, worth the credit

this was my first cotton malone story. I have listened to a number of scott brick narrations, jack reacher, harry bosch, and pedergast thrillers. i think this is the best brick - mostly because his voice does not get in the way. if you know scott brick's melodramatic style, you know he has a great voice, but it does get in the way too often. the story is very clever, has lots of sharp turns on a dime, and the style of back and forth between the story threads worked well. i am glad for the person who could tell what was coming next... but i am quite confident that is not the case. if you are predicting cotton malone survives, that might be a safe bet since the series revolves around him, but the ins and outs that make the story - nope - too many twists and turns. a great listen.

don't waste your money

This is a poorly crafted, confusing story with such poor character development that at the end I really didn't care about any of them. To top it off, the narrator is not my favorite. Sorry but this will be my last purchase from this author and I will think twice about this narrator.

Cotton & Cassiopeia come to America

The Jefferson Key is the eleventh (I think) Steve berry novel that I have read, and despite its "Continental locale", it is one of his best efforts.
I normally enjoy Berry's superior research that will introduce me to a new and interesting place or "time & place". I especially appreciated the author's notes, read at the end of the audiobook. These notes serve to distinguish 'historical fact' from 'author's fiction'.
I was literally stuck to my seat, in anticipation of the finale-- as I was caught listening to the few chapters in my car, and I sat in my car (in my garage for the 30 minutes), rather than interrupt the rescue of Cassiopeia. The author does a n excellent job constructing a villain that was dastardly in thought & deed, though quite believable. Scott Brick provides an excellent narration-as always. (Brick is one of my two favorite narrators).
If you enjoy the Cotton Malone-Cassiopeia Vitt characters, you will enjoy this audiobook. You may even discover some interesting history concerning the 'Founding & Political History' of our country(USA), -I did. I enjoyed it. {4.25/5 stars}.
fpn

Wow, what a great story

Warning! Do no get this book unless you can afford to get locked into a story that you can't walk away from. The scenes change rapidly through a plot of intrigue. This is super storytelling with just enough history (and some of it true) to make the story spellbinding.

Below expectations

Not at all near the quality of his previous work! Redundant unbelivable shoot 'um up.

Too Much Literary License?

With apologies to the author - I know you wroked hard on this and all your novels, this one is just too far fetched. I found myself shaking my head numerous times over the books premise, the incredible luck the main characters have in finding extra ammunition, clothes, food, etc and the travelling from Nova Scotia to the Carolina's and back, as if they were going to lunch. The whole thing was just too much. Sorry, could not make the book believable. I was actually glad when it was over --

Berry at his best again!

Superb from Berry once more. Gripping story spanning the USA and Canada. Historical fact laced with '007-like' action and gripping intrigue.
Can't wait to continue my way through Steve Berry's books, and already know that I'll be returning to this one again one day :)

Kept me engaged

I didn’t want to stop listening loved it, another great book in the cotton Malone range

Enjoyable

I enjoy all books by this author, but this one is a bit too silly. I know it's fiction and all his books are very creative at that, but the story was a bit too much even for me.

Still, it was good fun and part of a good series.