Publisher's Weekly Review
At the start of Berry's ingeniously plotted seventh Cotton Malone novel (after The Emperor's Tomb), former U.S. Justice Department agent Malone, who's been summoned to New York City by his old boss, Stephanie Nelle, manages to thwart an attempt to assassinate the U.S. president outside a midtown Manhattan hotel. Malone soon finds himself in the middle of a power struggle with roots in presidential history. A cipher formulated by Thomas Jefferson and employed by Andrew Jackson has been unbroken for 175 years. Documents hidden by Jackson contain the key to the legitimacy-and the wealth and power-of the Commonwealth, a coalition of privateers or pirates dating from the American Revolution. Malone and his lover, Cassiopeia Vitt, must match wits and survival skills with several formidable foes, including rogue agent Jonathan Wyatt and Quartermaster Clifford Knox of the Commonwealth. Berry offers plenty of twists and vivid action scenes in a feast of historical imagination. Author tour. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
The U.S. Constitution allows the government to sanction piracy? Who knew? Well, Article I, Section 8, authorizing letters of marque, is technically more nuanced, but this is the conceit around which Berry structures his plot. The book begins with a (true) assassination attempt on the life of Andrew Jackson. The plotters (not true) are privateers who have perpetual rights to letters of marque, allowing them to make captures on land and water, and they don't like Jackson's restrictions. In the present day, family descendants have the same problem with the current president, and some opt for the same solution. Following his formula, Berry puts his operative, Cotton Malone, in an action-filled plot decorated with plenty of history, including a cipher concocted by Thomas Jefferson. One refreshing element is the women, good and bad, who can all hold their own, but an initial rookielike mistake by Malone seems out of character for a hero who's been through six previous books. Fast and furious, this entry in the series ends with a fascinating author's note, detailing what's what.--Cooper, Ilen. Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Many thrillers feature rich men who consider themselves above the law and the good guys who stop them. That basic formula plays out in this political thriller, which finds a group of multimillionaires trying to assassinate the U.S. President. This is Berry's seventh series installment featuring Cotton Malone; Scott Brick's narration keeps the story tense. (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.