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Aug 11, 2007

Sammy rated it:

I think this another one of those many books that has been riding on the coattails of The Da Vinci Code. Mind you, it's just the latest in an apparant series of book following Cotton Malone's adventures. Perhaps that's why I never really got all that involved in the book was because I had never really gotten to know the characters and there were just so many that I was expected to.

Even so, with the plot jumping to three different places and three seperate storylines (for the most p More...

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Mar 25, 2009

Linda rated it:

The first Cotton Malone mystery I've read, and I'll read more. A little like the DaVinci code in that it deals with historical lost library of Alexandria that existed (or is rumored to have existed) 1500 years. It appears to have been well researched and gave me insight into something I knew little about.

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 03, 2010

Slayermel rated it:

This book was action packed right from the get go, I had a really hard time putting it down. I found the concept of the Old Testament being mistranslated from it's original Hebrew and all the problems this would cause in the world between the Muslims, Christians and Jews very interesting and it made for a great story. I loved how Steve Berry weaved in real places, and historical events with his fictional story. I found the Characters in the story quite likable as well. The Tension between Cot More...

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Mar 04, 2008

Carol rated it:

This book was fast paced and exciting. Hard to put down.

The story is about a the lost Library of Alexandria, a library that contained all the books from antiquity to the first three or four centuries (A.D.). The library was said to have been destroyed about that time. However, in this book the library was secreted away by monks who are now the guardians. Only certain people such as learned scholars are 'invited' to see the library by the 'guardians' of the library. The catch is t More...

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Feb 26, 2009

Frederick rated it:

The Alexandria Link has much in common with Dan Brown's DaVinci Code, and that is not meant as a negative criticism. In both there is a search for a mysterious treasure by a male and female protagonist, who cleverly unravel the clues in many places as to where the prize is hidden. In both the protagonists are pursued by ruthless villains intent on stopping them before they reach the goal. The pace is non-stop in each book, and there are sufficient twists and turns to keep the reader attentive to More...

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Feb 24, 2009

Alan rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Dec 27, 2010

Linda rated it:

Former secret service agent, Cotton Malone, becomes embroiled in another post-retirement situation after his son is kidnapped and his rare book store is burned. The head of the Order of the Golden Fleece, a network of politically powerful European business men and women, seeks the lost library of Alexandria in hopes of finding information that could destabilize the Middle East and create more economic power for the Order. Many years prior, Cotton helped to protect and hide a man, called the Alex More...

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Jun 23, 2009

Sandie rated it:

With The Alexandria Link, author Steve Berry takes us on a search for the legendary lost Library of Alexandria which was assumed to have been destroyed but has in fact been preserved by a group known as the Guardians. We ride along with retired U.S. government operative Cotton Malone as his quest takes him from damp streets of London to a chateau in Vienna, from historical locations in Lisbon and the United States to a desert in the Sinai as he hunts for the document which could reveal a secret More...

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Sep 21, 2011

Joe rated it:

The central focus of the plot, while not original, was very intriguing. The plot surrounding the possibility of missing texts from the Library of Alexandra, and their revelations to history was very well constructed. Involving leading members of the US political stack, including the president, VP, and attorney general, added suspense but followed in a pattern reminiscent of Baldacci, and several other contemporary suspense authors.
The main plot is in the vein of a Dan Brown Angels & Demons More...

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Sep 11, 2009

Joy rated it:

The story was promising and in fairness to the author,this book was a result of a lot of research, creativity, imagination, and effort. The locations were interesting since most of them were in Europe, where great architecture stands, a lot of landmarks' descriptive writing was impressive. The complex plots and subplots in the story are tangled in a mess, no one is whom they seem, but some characters got the chance to develop, with a little background here and there. Given the things I stated ab More...

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May 22, 2011

Brandy rated it:

I love Steve Berry! Cotton Malone, after the events of The Templar Legacy, is again caught up in events that are drawing him into a situation he didn't expect. His ex-wife shows up to tell him that their son Gary has been kidnapped. The resulting confrontaion results in his shop being torched and he and Pam being on the run while trying to figure out who is behind the kidnapping and danger to their son. What they don't know is that the search for Gary will draw them into an even bigger inter More...

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Jan 28, 2009

Rjpayomo rated it:

The reviews for this series of books on Amazon are low. And yes, the action is outlandish, the connections between coincidental historical evidence is reaching, and the neat and tidy cleanup is too easy...

but you didn't read the Da Vinci Code for perfect fiction either.

This book is entertaining, full of backstabbing (that's becoming formulaic for Steve Berry's Malone books) and full of neat cultural and historical observations. The only thing that really seems to change More...

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Oct 18, 2011

Elli rated it:

Lots of action! In this second book of the series Cotton Malone answers the door to his home above is bookshop in Copenhagen to find his very worried and angry ex-wife announcing that their son was kidnapped...and his son's life depends on his cooperation with an unknown source will determine whether the boy lives or not! And the book is off to it's fast start and really does not slow down. I enjoyed it. Includes a number of factual historical places with descriptions and attitudes....and th More...

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Feb 01, 2012

Beth rated it:

"The Alexandria Link" is the second in the Cotton Malone series, and it starts off right where the first one left off -- in Cotton's bookshop with his ex-wife on the doorstep.

It wasn't really the mystery in this story that kept the pace. Yes, Cotton and his ex are off to find the Library of Alexandria, or rather, what was saved from the Library prior to all its various sackings and burnings at the hands of people who, frankly, didn't have a healthy respect for knowledge. But More...

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Aug 09, 2010

Cameling rated it:

Good thriller. Cotton Malone is paid a visit by his hysterical ex-wife who tells him that their son has been kidnapped and that he has something the kidnappers want. What follows is a fast-paced thriller that involves the search for the Library of Alexandria, a hero's quest, plenty of people running around shooting other people or getting shot at themselves, the US government, the Israeli and Saudi governments, a plot to assassinate the US President (but who are the traitors?), a group of inter More...

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Mar 23, 2010

Oldesq rated it:

Ex-special forces type Cotton Malone is dragged back into the shadowy espionage world when a secret society kidnaps his teenage son. Intrigue ensues as governments and black ops groups force Malone to pursue a Dan Brownish quest in a search for the Alexandria Link involving the ancient history of the middle east and the library of Alexandria.

In the meantime Malone's old boss Stephanie is caught up in a power struggle that goes to the highest level of government where the VP, the Pre More...

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Nov 07, 2008

Gerald rated it:

I'm a fan of Alexandrian history, and also of spy novels. So you'd think I'd love this.

But when this author (speaking through a character) brags that the Iraq war will bring stable democracy to the Middle East, I stopped reading.

Gerald.
Boychik Lit

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Feb 08, 2011

Hira rated it:

The Alexandria Link brings to us the story of the Alexandria Library, a legendary library lost to the mayhem and destruction caused by historical and political unrest, which has been preserved by a group of people known as the Guardians. We come across Cotton Malone, a government agent, who journeys from England, Spain, United States and then to the Sinai Desert in search for a document, a "link", which if revealed could put the entirety of the modern world in jeopardy.

Rich More...

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Jun 15, 2009

Casta rated it:

I "read" this book in Audio CD format. The narrator was one I've heard before, reading books by other authors, and is, admittedly, not one of my favorites. I picked up "The Templar Legacy" in an airport bookstore, and read my first 'Cotton Malone' story, which appears to have been the prequel to this book. There were parts that I enjoyed, and parts that felt a little formulaic. I can't tell if Berry is intentionally laying out his plotlines and framing devices with the in More...

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Jul 30, 2009

Josh rated it:

Reading this book I felt a ton of conflicting thoughts and emotions. There were many things I really enjoyed about it, but there was also one large issue that really roiled my blood and is preventing me from giving this book anything higher than 2 stars. Let me first discuss what I liked. This story has three storylines moving parallel to each other. All,though, are connected and are many times propelling each of the three threads along. The big idea of this book is the search for the lost Libr More...

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Jan 10, 2012

Vanessa rated it:

it really is intriguing if you like the controversies surrounding the old testament.Bringing into the plot that the burnt library of alexandria may still exist is a bit far- fetched (After all its not child's play to hide something so massive from the world for 1500 years), but the story is still satisfying as there are not any loopholes in the plot.Berry has done a great work to popularize the theory of the lebanese historian and scholar kamal salibi. It made me look up his name on the net and More...

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Feb 06, 2010

Andi rated it:

This is one one Steve's best page turners. It's hard to put down from start to finish. Steve does an amazing amount of research prior to writing his books, do you have to read the both the foward and backward to know if you reading something true of made up. All his books are like this. His righting if on par with James Rollins, Brad Thor, and Matt Bronleewe, and that saying very high praise for all of them. They re all great.

In this book in particular his bookstore in Copenhage More...

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Nov 16, 2010

Paolo rated it:

Excellent. This is really one book which didn't waste my time reading it. I hate it when I read a story that doesn't really give me a thrill. The "earth-shattering" revelation or the revelation "that's destined to change the course of human history" and all that in this book is very interesting. I really like Steve Berry's writing/ I like what he does when he gives a background of the story plot at the end of the novel (I don't know about other authors) explaining certain key More...

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Sep 21, 2010

Marita rated it:

Really enjoyed getting back to the "family" of characters. The people we live with are such a big part of who we are that it was great to see Berry expand on that in a thriller paced book! I loved the intrigue and political havoc this kind of a scenario might really set in motion. Movie like action which I loved. I've read so many Jesus speculations books that bringing in the Old Testament origins felt fresh and super interesting to me. For this to feel more realistic though the Vatica More...

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Oct 30, 2009

Toni rated it:

Book2 in the Cotton Malone series

This daring and thrilling novel opens with a confrontation between Malone and his ex-wife Pam over the handling of their teenage son's kidnapping and their narrow escape from the fire bombing of his bookstore. This has all the appearances of an attempt to blackmail Cotton into revealing a secret he sworn to never disclose...the existence of the Library of Alexandria.

This sudden turn of events has Cotton returning to his roots as a secret a More...

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Aug 05, 2011

Terri rated it:

I did not really care for the first Steve Berry/Cotton Malone book that I read, but I really enjoyed this novel. For one thing, the audio version was read by Scott Brick, one of my favorites. The subject matter was also something that I was interested in. Be warned, however. If you are expecting this to be an Indiana Jones type of novel about the search for the Library of Alexandria, you will be disappointed. This novel is much more of a political thriller that uses the story of the Library More...

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Sep 25, 2010

Kaye rated it:

Cotton Malone again gets dragged into adventure to find the Lost Library of Alexandria. This time Cotton's teenage son is kidnapped and his ex-wife become an annoying part of the adventure. Again blends, folk lore, history and science. This one also throws in a a conspiracy plot against the president. Like with his first novel, he really questions the accuracy of the writers who shaped Christianity. So again if that bothers you don't read. In this case he has Jerome writing letters changin More...

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May 20, 2009

Karmen rated it:

In the tradition of the Dan Brown theological novels, this one proposes the following:

1. Alexandria Library contents were saved
2. Included in the contents were much earlier versions of the Old Testament bible
3. The Old Hebrew bibles noted that the Jewish homeland was south of present-day Israel; possibly Saudi Arabia

The novel (based on some fact) follows Cotton Malone (a former government agent) as he wrestles with a secretive Order of the Golden Fleece (actua More...

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Aug 30, 2010

Spencer rated it:

Quite disappointed with this book to be honest. After the amazing novels 'Templar Legacy' and 'Romanov Prophecy' I thought this book was average in comparision. To be fair though I whizzed through the last 150 pages, trouble was it took me a bit of determination to get there. I couldn't get my head round the sub-plot involving Stephanie Nelle and kept flicking back through the pages in order to understand what was going on. Unfortunately when you then don't understand a story or part of it your More...

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Aug 25, 2009

Rebecca rated it:

Somehow this book wasn’t as enjoyable for me as other books in The Da Vinci Code genre. The writing was pretty bad; however I don’t expect great writing in a spy thriller, so it wasn’t that that bothered me. I usually listen to these kinds of book on CD, when I just want a light ‘read’ while I drive, but I picked this up from a friend who was cleaning out her bookshelves in May before a move. While I read this novel in an afternoon for sheer entertainment, I mostly felt bored and annoyed as op More...

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