BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Steve Berry’s The Emperor’s Tomb and a Cotton Malone dossier.
As a child, f... read full description
As a child, f... read full description
reviews
Nov 17, 2010
Julie
rated it: 
Another Cotton Malone thriller, this book offered what Berry readers have come to expect: international intrigue, a thousand-year-old mystery, and action. Malone is trying to unravel the secrecy behind his father’s death aboard a submarine on a classified mission in Antarctica. This leads him to a family who is also seeking answers to the death of their father who was also on board the sub. But the quest to find answers leads them to a deeper mystery involving a strange language and a link t
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Apr 15, 2011
Brett
rated it: 
I love Steve Berry's writing, and Cotton Malone is one of my favorite characters. That being said, this book was a mess from start to finish.
Cotton is there, and he's the Cotton that I love. But his entire supporting cast is absent, which is lame, because they help to make the books. It's doubly lame because Cotton and Cassiopeia had started to get heated romantically at the end of the last novel. Instead, Cotton is drawn into searching for the truth behind his father's death, placing More...
Cotton is there, and he's the Cotton that I love. But his entire supporting cast is absent, which is lame, because they help to make the books. It's doubly lame because Cotton and Cassiopeia had started to get heated romantically at the end of the last novel. Instead, Cotton is drawn into searching for the truth behind his father's death, placing More...
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May 27, 2011
Jeanette
rated it: 
Steve Berry has a very fertile imagination. He always creates an exciting and thought-provoking mix of historical fact and wild conjecture. This one has Cotton Malone seeking the truth about how his father really died 38 years ago. There's a U.S. government cover-up of a long-ago Antarctic expedition. It's tied in to worldwide Nazi searches for the origins of their master "Aryan" race.
Imagine the possibility of an advanced civilization existing thousands of years before a More...
Imagine the possibility of an advanced civilization existing thousands of years before a More...
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Jan 13, 2009
Mia
rated it: 
Ugh, this was a total drag. Normally I really like the Cotton Malone books, but this one did not work for me. There were too many characters flitting all around the world and it took over 250 pages for any of them to end up in the same place. I felt like I was reading three different novels and all I wanted to do was read one that involved Cotton. Total disappointment
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Sep 07, 2011
Chris
rated it:
The last Steve Berry book I read was The Templar Legacy and to be honest, I did not enjoy it. I was willing to give Berry another chance because I loved The Romanov Prophecy. I was not disappointed. The Charlemagne Pursuit is excellent.[return][return]The story starts out in Germany with Cotton Malone, an ex-operative for the U.S. government, trying to find information on the mysterious and classified death of his father, the captain of a lost experimental submarine. Things quickly get bad a
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Jan 04, 2010
This was my first Steve Berry novel, so judging by the book description, I was expecting a "Da Vinci Code" ripoff. However, the book's hero, Cotton, is more like James Bond meets Indiana Jones. He can always make that jump, he can get around in any foreign country, and he has a weird penchance for bedding the enemy. Berry makes up for his "she-looks-suspicious-I-think-I'll-sleep-with her" ridiculous stance on women with Cotton's former colleague Stephanie, who helps solve the
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Mar 27, 2009
Rossrn
rated it:
I've read each of Berry's Cotton Malone books and some have grabbed me more than others. His topics tend to be ones of interest to me, and the character of Malone is intriguing.
This book featured a European family with wealth beyond measure that had Nazi ties, who was connected to Malone by virtue of their relative and his father being aboard a US Navy submarine that sank in Antartica in 1971. The sub was on a secret mission and little else was known.
Also involved was a More...
This book featured a European family with wealth beyond measure that had Nazi ties, who was connected to Malone by virtue of their relative and his father being aboard a US Navy submarine that sank in Antartica in 1971. The sub was on a secret mission and little else was known.
Also involved was a More...
Jan 19, 2012
Richard
rated it:
Rating: a breathless 4* of five
Steve Berry does it all right in The Charlemagne Pursuit. He starts right, in the pulse-pounding submarine accident that triggers the action in the book; he ends right, with late-night antics about to begin; he keeps his story moving at a fast clip in between, with love, murder, betrayal, revenge, more betrayal, hate, then love again.
It's a pleasure to give yourself over to a plot-drive thrill ride of a book at least four or five times a year. I More...
Steve Berry does it all right in The Charlemagne Pursuit. He starts right, in the pulse-pounding submarine accident that triggers the action in the book; he ends right, with late-night antics about to begin; he keeps his story moving at a fast clip in between, with love, murder, betrayal, revenge, more betrayal, hate, then love again.
It's a pleasure to give yourself over to a plot-drive thrill ride of a book at least four or five times a year. I More...
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Aug 26, 2011
Jay
rated it:
Infatuation is a cruel emotion. Earlier this month I raved about my first encounter with Steve Berry -- The Jefferson Key. I reveled in the fact that there were many books by Berry that I could explore. Did I enjoy my first dive -- The Charlemagne Pursuit -- into the Berry backlist? Not so much.
The building of suspense from historical nuance that I valued in "Jefferson," became a ricochet-rabbit experience here. Cramming Charlemagne, the Nazis, a vanished experimental subm More...
The building of suspense from historical nuance that I valued in "Jefferson," became a ricochet-rabbit experience here. Cramming Charlemagne, the Nazis, a vanished experimental subm More...
Jul 26, 2011
This book was my first introduction to Cotton Malone and Steve Berry. I have to say that I was hooked from the first page. The style and pacing were absolutely perfect for this story.
I suppose that for persons familiar with Cotton’s story from previous books would know how the search for what really happened to his father would impact on him. I have to say though that it is a testament to Mr. Berry’s art that I didn’t even realize that I was reading a book about a series character unt More...
I suppose that for persons familiar with Cotton’s story from previous books would know how the search for what really happened to his father would impact on him. I have to say though that it is a testament to Mr. Berry’s art that I didn’t even realize that I was reading a book about a series character unt More...
Feb 18, 2011
Paul
rated it:
Steve Berry has become one of my favorite mystery authors, and once again, he does not disappoint. If you like your mysteries wrapped up in historical facts, historical possibilites, and tied together with intrigue and action - Steve Berry is for you!!!!
This is Steve Berry's seventh book. Three of his books are stand alone mysteries, however to truly enjoy "The Charlemagne Pursuit" one should read the following books in order:
"The Templar Legacy"
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This is Steve Berry's seventh book. Three of his books are stand alone mysteries, however to truly enjoy "The Charlemagne Pursuit" one should read the following books in order:
"The Templar Legacy"
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Oct 17, 2009
Debbie
rated it: 
Cotton Malone never knew what really happened to his father nearly forty years ago. He knew from the Navy’s account, that his fathers submarine had been lost, but there had always been something about that record that hadn’t been enough for Cotton. After spending his life in service, he finally asked for the classified report on the USS Blazek hoping to finally find the answer of where his father was and what he had died for. The file had barely been passed to him when trouble started. The list
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Jan 12, 2011
Larry
rated it:
I am finding this novel particularly interesting because it tells a great deal about Charlemagne, King of the Holy Roman Empire (He died in 1814 CE). Doing my Family History searches I have discovered that I and my family are direct descendants of Charlemagne. This books talks a great deal about Charlemagne and his conquests, his personality and some of his life. His headquarters, if you want to call it that, was in Aachen, Germany where he had built the beautiful cathedral which he called hi
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Jan 03, 2009
Rob
rated it:
I have been looking at the other reviews for this book and so far nobody has said downright negative about. Maybe it's because it is only the 4th in the series of adventures by Cotton Malone, former agent of the Magellan Billet, an ultra-secret organization without specific areas of responsibility. From this and previous volumes, I have learned that it is a small organization (12 members) composed of men and women who are lawyers or at least with legal training headed by Stephanie Nelle. Cotton
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Aug 01, 2010
Joy
rated it:
This is the fourth Steve Berry book I've read and I liked it a lot. I was wary of this author after reading "The Romanov Prophecy" and "The Alexandria Link", but after reading "The Third Secret", I figured he must've improved, and so he did. The writing style is more fluent, the plot and characters more complex, and the story more intriguing. I always admired writers who can mesh fact and fiction, his notes at the end also helped separate the two. Speaking of the en
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Feb 06, 2012
Amy
rated it:
Abridged CD/Code Mystery: Wow, this was bad. I can't fully blame the author because this may be a good paperback read. I don't blame narrator Scott Brick, who read tons of novels for a living. I blame the producer/director for this jumble of do-do. The director had Brick read the book really fast. When there was a change of paragraph (scene or characters), there wasn't any sort of pause in between. It kept rolling on and became confusing because there were so many characters in three parts of th
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Feb 21, 2010
Don
rated it:
The second book that I have read by Steve Berry. I will probably read some of this others, in part because I like the mystery mixed with historical myth and legend. While this book was entertaining, I did not enjoy as much as his other that I have read, "The Last Templar," although that was probably primarily because of the different history involved. This book deals with King Charlemagne, at least tangentially, and more directly with the concept of Civilization One, the idea that t
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May 28, 2011
Kevin
rated it:
Steve Berry delivers another solid work of historical fiction with The Charlemagne Pursuit. In order to discover the truth about his father's fate, Cotton Malone enters unlikely partnerships with a number of characters which leads him towards solving another mystery altogether: the Charlemagne Pursuit.[return][return]Filled with historical puzzles and mysteries from the era of Charlemagne, the novel appeals to readers that enjoy fiction based on historical mysteries. While the twisting and turni
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Aug 02, 2010
Casta
rated it:
I almost put this aside partway in (Audio CD version), but was on a long drive with few other audio options to keep me entertained, so I left the book playing. There were a lot of characters to keep track of, which is always challenging in Audio-format books. There were long stretches of "boring" in The Charlemagne Pursuit and it didn't keep me as engaged as some of the previous Cotton Malone stories. This one had a lot of personal background on our Mr. Malone as he sorts out some o
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Nov 06, 2010
iubookgirl
rated it:
A son's quest for truth, a government cover-up, and an ancient mystery. Intrigued yet? You should be. When Cotton Malone, former U.S. government agent turned rare book dealer, was ten, his father and the submarine he commanded disappeared in the North Atlantic. In The Charlemagne Pursuit, Cotton sets out on a mission to find the truth about his father's death. He soon finds himself entangled in the Charlemagne Pursuit, the search for proof of an unknown ancient civilization on one side and the d
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Aug 02, 2011
Mattias
rated it:
I have so far loved Berrys books about Cotton Malones exploits in the world. And I liked this one as well but I have to say that is the least appealing of Malones adventures. The earlier books have had a quicker pace and more thrills mixed togheter with religion and history. This book is somewhat slower and more talky and the middle section of the book is for the first time in one of Berrys books quite boring. I missed Cassiopea and Thorvaldsen as well even though Stephanie larger part in the b
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Feb 11, 2010
Mary
rated it:
This is the first novel I’ve read by this author. I really enjoyed the book. It was fast paced and the characters weren’t confusing. Each character was well written and the story had a nice flow. Cotton Malone is on a quest to find out how his father really died, this is the basic premise. He is helped by a former boss, Stephanie, and two twin sisters who’s grandfather and father, who are dead, happens to have some information from an ancient civilization that just might help. Along the wa
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Dec 06, 2009
Rob
rated it:
Classic Steve Berry. Dan Brown type historical intrique with an Indiana Jones slice of unbelievable, yet page-turning action. This book follows the pursuit of an ancient civilization, discovered through the ancient texts of Charlemagne.
The pivotal character is Cotton Malone - a figure used in a few other Berry books. However, no need to have any previous knowledge of Cotton to enjoy this novel. The author does a great job of holding 2 continuous, tightly related story lines - 1 i More...
The pivotal character is Cotton Malone - a figure used in a few other Berry books. However, no need to have any previous knowledge of Cotton to enjoy this novel. The author does a great job of holding 2 continuous, tightly related story lines - 1 i More...
Nov 23, 2010
Erik
rated it:
Brief Synopsis: Cotton Malone tries to find out what happened to his father back in 1971 when his submarine sank. The Oberhauser family is trying to verify the existence of an ancient culture whose advanced technology led to many of the advancements in other cultures during modern history. An Admiral in the US Navy has dreams of being Vice President and needs to cover up what happened to Malone's father's sub, or his dreams will crash to a halt. All three story lines cross and lead to an exc
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Aug 03, 2011
Tina
rated it:
As always, Steve Berry does an excellent job of taking some actual pieces of history and weaving it in to an interesting and somewhat plausible story that keeps you entertained. The idea of a first civilization, the sinking of the submarine with Cotton's father on it, and the political ramifications that could have, all came together nicely and I enjoyed the way the individual story lines worked separately until the end. Having read several in the series though, I don't feel this was the best, a
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Jan 17, 2012
Annie
rated it:
I realized I enjoyed this book when I got about 40 pages from the end and it got exciting, however up to that point I was not too excited about it. I feel like it took me a while to get through the first two thirds and there seemed to be way to many characters to keep straight. I felt like there was too much surrounding the main plot and that kept me from getting into the story. I would recommend this book if you like stories with lots of characters and subplots, and if you like historical f
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Feb 23, 2011
Bob
rated it:
This book precedes has Cotton Malone retired Justice Department agent involved in a search for his father who was lost in a submarine accident in the Antarctic when cotton was a young boy. There is lots of secrecy and mis-information about the subs demise and the search leads Cotton into uneasy cooperation with a pair of sisters (Twins) whose family of German millionaires are searching for clues to a lost early civilization mentioned in texts from the time of Charlemagne. Also involved are sev
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Jan 08, 2010
Michael
rated it:
Once again Mr. Berry delivers on the promise that Dan Brown doesn't. With now five titles in his Cotton Malone series, each book continues to impress as a thriller and as an interesting historical hypothesis. Though it would appear that I am reading these in reverse order, I can't help but be impressed with the level of detail, historical insight and character depth each of these novels express. Even though I read this type of novel for the authors take on past events, I find that the characte
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Jan 02, 2011
The review pertains solely to the audio version. Although it started out fairly action packed, I had to abandon it. I spent more time rewinding through sections as the story flipped back and forth so much that I would frequently become confused. There was no clear dilineation between time frames. In a printed book, these changes are conveyed much easier, an audio book needs something else to announce the change. Another irritant, there was no statement clearly stating the disc had ended "En
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Oct 12, 2010
Kaye
rated it:
Cotton Malone gets pulled into a mystery that leads him to finding out what really happened to his father who died on a classified Navy Sub mission. Stephanie in Washington DC is trying to stop the murders of an another secret Navy mission. Of course the two are related but that is what makes these books fun. I missed Casseiope and Henrik from this novel and found myself at times more interested in the plot in Wash DC than the mystery Cotton was solving. Again, like the last novel a lot was
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