Steve Berry, The Alexandria Link

The Alexandria Link

Steve Berry

Ballantine, Feb 2007, $25.95, 384 pp.

ISBN: 0345485755

Cotton Malone has retired from the spy game and has opened a bookstore in Copenhagen. He is shocked when his ex-wife Pam shows up at his apartment saying their teenaged son has been kidnapped. Applying skills he has never forgotten he rescues his son and deposits him with a trusted friend. The kidnappers wanted Cotton to give them THE ALEXANDRIA LINK, who is George Haddad, a biblical scholar.

Haddad was invited to go on a quest and if he succeeds he would be shown the Library of Alexandra. Unfortunately he told the wrong people about it and the Israelis tried to kill him. Cotton is the only person who knows where he is. Haddad has knowledge than can change the world's beliefs if what he believes of the Abraham Covenant ("God's land given to the people of Israel") is true. That knowledge is thought to be found in the Library of Alexandra and both Arab and Israeli groups are following the Pam and Cotton on their quest. The cartel the Order of the Golden Fleece want to use the Covenant when it is found to make a fortune from the chaos that will result in the Middle East once its contents are made known. Some highly placed forces in the U.S. government want the covenant used to destroy Israel. The Arabs want it to destroy Israel. Cotton and Pam have a hard journey ahead to find what they are looking for; as assassins from various groups and countries trail him.

The author of the bestseller THE TEMPLAR LEGACY writes another chilling thriller based on the premise knowledge is power that can shake up an entire world. Cotton is accompanied on his quest/mission by his ex-wife who finally sees what her husband did during the years of their marriage and comes to understand him better. Readers will like the hero, a person who values honesty and honor above all.

Harriet Klausner