Scan barcode
A review by lunacaelum
The Malta Exchange by Steve Berry
2.0
I've been reading Steve Berry books for years. I have to say this is definitely not his best work.
Berry's fictional dives into history is one of the things I love about his work, and usually his weaving of historical info dumps is smooth enough to progress the story. But in this novel it just felt very disconnected, and frankly some of it could have been done without, it felt very forced. I got the impression this was a very phoned-in effort on his part.
It felt like there were two separate narratives to this novel: (1) Cotton Malone hired to hunt down some letters sent between Mussolini and Churchill and (2) intrigue within the Hospitallers and Catholic Church on the eve of a Conclave to elect a new pope. These two narratives were connected via the search for the Nostra Trinita, but they were not weaved together very well, it seemed very forced. Not to mention the Cotton Malone appearances seemed were disappointing at best, despite this being advertised as a Cotton Malone novel (Luke Daniels had most of the action, but failed at nearly every turn). The brief appearance of the Magellen Billet/Stephanie Nelle fell flat too.
And while I'm not religious, Berry's rant against religion in his acknowledgments section was petty and unprofessional. I certainly expect more from an author who's been in the game a while.
I hope his next book is better than this one.
Berry's fictional dives into history is one of the things I love about his work, and usually his weaving of historical info dumps is smooth enough to progress the story. But in this novel it just felt very disconnected, and frankly some of it could have been done without, it felt very forced. I got the impression this was a very phoned-in effort on his part.
It felt like there were two separate narratives to this novel: (1) Cotton Malone hired to hunt down some letters sent between Mussolini and Churchill and (2) intrigue within the Hospitallers and Catholic Church on the eve of a Conclave to elect a new pope. These two narratives were connected via the search for the Nostra Trinita, but they were not weaved together very well, it seemed very forced. Not to mention the Cotton Malone appearances seemed were disappointing at best, despite this being advertised as a Cotton Malone novel (Luke Daniels had most of the action, but failed at nearly every turn). The brief appearance of the Magellen Billet/Stephanie Nelle fell flat too.
And while I'm not religious, Berry's rant against religion in his acknowledgments section was petty and unprofessional. I certainly expect more from an author who's been in the game a while.
I hope his next book is better than this one.