The Malta Exchange by Steve Berry, Book Review

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Dan Brown said of this book, ‘My kind of thriller’ and I see why. Lots of interesting history, conspiracy, violence and travel to engaging settings. This latest Cotton Malone book, the 14^th in the series, can be read as a stand-alone by anyone new to this engaging protagonist. 

The author Steve Barry has obviously done his research into the Knights of St John of Jerusalem, their Malta base, Rome and the Vatican and even Mussolini, his secret correspondence with Churchill and Mussolini’s death in Northern Italy. If you are a devout Roman Catholic, you might want to give this novel a miss, as the author does not shy away from controversial interpretations of early church history and the corruption at the heart of the Vatican. For those, who like pacey action thrillers blended with conspiracy, then go for it!

The Cotton Malone books are probably some of the most action-packed historical crime novels on the go. Malone has now retired as an operative from the US Justice Department and under cover of being a book seller with a shop in Denmark, he is a private agent who takes on intriguing freelance work now and again. And it doesn’t get more intriguing than his involvement with the Knights of Malta and the selection process for the next Pope. Aided by Luke Daniels, his promising side kick, he undergoes a rollercoaster of thrilling dangers and attempts on his life to find out what really is going on with the mystery of the Nostra Trinita.  

The American Steve Berry is an internationally bestselling author. I like his appendix at the back of the book, explaining which plot elements are taken from the history books and which he has invented and interwoven. He is currently co-president of International Thriller Writers.

The Malta Exchange was published by Hodder & Stoughton in hardback (£18.99) in 2019.