The Warsaw Protocol

A Novel

By: Steve Berry

Narrated by: Steve Berry, Scott Brick

Length: 23 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

In this audiobook, Steve Berry and Macmillan Audio team up again to bring listeners an expanded, annotated Writer's Cut edition of The Warsaw Protocol. This Writer's Cut edition features fascinating behind-the-scenes commentary read by the author. Critically-acclaimed and award-winning narrator Scott Brick returns to his role as Cotton Malone - eponymous hero of Berry's iconic New York Times best-selling series - as the seven precious relics of the Arma Christi, the weapons of Christ, disappear one by one from sanctuaries across the world. If you'd like to listen to The Warsaw Protocol WITHOUT Steve Berry's commentary, just play the program from the beginning. To listen to the Writer's Cut version WITH Steve Berry's commentary, start with Download Part 2 at 11 hours, 49 minutes.

After former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone witnesses the theft of one of them, he learns from his old boss, Stephanie Nelle, that a private auction is about to be held where incriminating information on the president of Poland will be offered to the highest bidder - blackmail that both the United States and Russia want, but for vastly different reasons.

The price of admission to that auction is one of the relics, so Malone is first sent to a castle in Poland to steal the Holy Lance, a 1,000-year-old spear sacred to not only Christians but to the Polish people, and then on to the auction itself. But nothing goes as planned and Malone is thrust into a bloody battle between three nations over information that, if exposed, could change the balance of power in Europe.

From the tranquil canals of Bruges, to the elegant rooms of Wawel Castle, to deep beneath the earth into an ancient Polish salt mine, Malone is caught in the middle of a deadly war - the outcome of which turns on a secret known as the Warsaw Protocol.

Praise for Scott Brick as Cotton Malone:

"Brick is a masterful narrator, raising the tension in the action scenes while keeping the listener engaged in the slower historical segments." (AudioFile Magazine on The Malta Exchange)

"Narrator Scott Brick's smooth voice flows with the twists and turns of Berry's political thriller...Secrets unravel, and tensions rise as Brick shifts vocal focus from the historical secret society to contemporary conspirators who include corrupt politicians and judges." (AudioFile Magazine on The Lost Order)

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books

©2020 Steve Berry (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Berry once again shows there’s no working author more skilled at combining thrilling adventure with engrossing historical detail." (Publishers Weekly)

"Berry has called Dan Brown and raised him, taking the lead in the big-money game of the religious-relic thriller." (Booklist)

Loved this book!

More a book about international intrigue than international conspiratorial adventure, Steve Berry's writing grabs and holds your interest and involvement in his latest thriller. I can't wait until his next release!

Great book

Berry does his homework which he seems to enjoys as much as he does writing

Great story line

Quite easy to imagine that many of the plots and collaboration really happened. Great history perspective. The last in the Cotton Malone series?
Oi vei!! What are we going to do.

Really Politics

I am not a fan of president bashing no matter who it is. Steve Berry does not mince his dislike for the current president. I have been reading these novels for years. I am saddened and will look to other authors moving forward.

Stellar book and performance as always!

It’s a stellar book with a great performance as usual! I have loved this series so much! I cannot wait for the next book that is hopefully on the horizon! Thanks

Warsaw Protocol Review

Great book, in keeping with the rest of the Cotton Malone series. Loved the history weaved into the story. Scott Brick did a killer job of narrating, it kept the story very interesting. Looking forward to the next book in the series.

Great, but

Love Steve Berry and the research element of his story telling. Sad that torture found its way into this book. An unfortunate outcome of people being educated about terrorism is torture has become a standard way in tv, movies, and writing to up tension, increase drama, garner ratings and unintentionally drive readers like me away.
Think back to the 90s, how prevalent was waterboarding or electric shock torture?
Love how Mr.Berry weaves a tale. wish he could've left out the torture and cruelty. will look for the next book with hope

Engrossing and the series moves forward

I saw that a few of the reviews were unimpressed by this book. But I decided to go ahead anyway. I admit to being a bit curious, as my entire family, save myself, were first generation Polish immigrants. Stories of the days of World War 2 and the subsequent Soviet have never been a point of interest to me.... too close to home. This book builds it's foundation on those difficult days but is also takes the events of the recent books and moves that narrative forward. This time the story begins in Belgium with Cotton stumbling into the middle of a theft of a religious artifact. From there he is pulled into an ill conceived plan by the new US president to blackmail the Polish president into allowing a missile base to be placed on Polish soil. This idea goes over badly with Cotton. But also caught in the middle of this plan is Stephanie. Her future and her job depend on the results. Add in a stolen antiquity auction, murderous Russian agents, international information brokers, spies, political informers, traitors, and a lot more. By the end of the story, the whole series moves to a new normal. I recommend this book, particularly the audio version. Most people will be hard pressed to pronounce a lot of the Polish language references.

Overdone

Not my favorite. I think this was my second or third time on a Cotton Malone adventure, but I found myself really not liking his character in this book. The arrogance and snide remarks were too much. Also, I’m pretty liberal but the political undertones of this book are pushed HARD. There were historical parts of this book that were genuinely interesting, especially because I have Polish heritage; however, after the “auction” scene, I found myself just wanting to book to end.

Good listen

This one was a good listen, but certainly not the best Steve Berry ever. Can’t imagine Cotton Malone as anyone but Scott Brick. He is outstanding as always. I thought I agreed with others about Berry commenting at the end of each chapter. BUT at the end when he held comments to the end it was hard to relate them back to the story. So I guess I like and don’t like it both ways.