The Venetian Betrayal

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Steve Berry’s The Columbus Affair and a Cotton Malone dossier.
In 323 B.C.E, having conquered Persia, Alexander the Great set his sights on Arabia, then suddenly succumbed to a strange fever. Locating his final resting place–unknown to this day–remains a tantalizing goal for both archaeologists and treasure hunters. Now the quest for this coveted prize is about to heat up. And Cotton Malone–former U.S. Justice Department agent turned rare-book dealer–will be drawn into an intense geopolitical chess game.
After narrowly escaping incineration in a devastating fire that consumes a Danish museum, Cotton learns from his friend, the beguiling adventurer Cassiopeia Vitt, that the blaze was neither an accident nor an isolated incident. As part of campaign of arson intended to mask a far more diabolical design, buildings across Europe are being devoured by infernos of unnatural strength.
And from the ashes of the U.S.S.R., a new nation has arisen: Former Soviet republics have consolidated into the Central Asian Federation. At its helm is Supreme Minister Irina Zovastina, a cunning despot with a talent for politics, a taste for blood sport, and the single-minded desire to surpass Alexander the Great as history’s ultimate conqueror. Backed by a secret cabal of powerbrokers, the Federation has amassed a harrowing arsenal of biological weapons. Equipped with the hellish power to decimate other nations at will, only one thing keeps Zovastina from setting in motion her death march of domination: a miraculous healing serum, kept secret by an ancient puzzle and buried with the mummified remains of Alexander the Great–in a tomb lost to the ages for more than 1,500 years.
Together, Cotton and Cassiopeia must outrun and outthink the forces allied against them. Their perilous quest will take them to the shores of Denmark, deep into the venerated monuments of Venice, and finally high inside the desolate Pamir mountains of Central Asia to unravel a riddle whose solution could destroy or save millions of people–depending on who finds the lost tomb first.
From Publishers WeeklyScott Brick continues to bolster his status as one of the best narrators of international thrillers with his excellent reading of Berry's latest. Once again, Cotton Malone, a retired intelligence officer turned rare book dealer, is thrown into the middle of a diabolical plot for world domination. Irina Zovastina, the Supreme Minister of a powerful collective of old Soviet republics, has an insidious plan to use biological weapons, at the cost of millions of lives, in a maniacal attempt to conquer the world. For her stratagem to succeed, she must unearth a secret hidden within the final resting place of Alexander the Great, a burial site whose location has been shrouded in mystery for millennia years. Brick easily negotiates his way through this complex plot, his confident delivery keeps the suspense high while bringing a solid reality to a story that often walks a fine line between the believable and the improbable. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review'Pure intrigue. Pure fun.' — Clive Cussler on Steve Berry 'A major twist… the puzzles are so much fun… radical thinking of the Gospels that's sure to spark some lively debate … pretty grabby stuff' — Wall Street Journal on THE TEMPLAR LEGACY 'Complex and fast-moving thriller writing, delivered with a great deal of dash, and shades of The Da Vinci Code' — Good Book Guide on THE TEMPLAR LEGACY 'Sexy, illuminating … my kind of thriller.' — Dan Brown on THE AMBER ROOM 'Writes with the self-assured style of a veteran' — Dan Brown 'Not to be missed. Anagrams and complicated symbology… a complex, well-written, and extremely readable story.' — Library Journal on THE TEMPLAR LEGACY 'Steve Berry is a writer on the rise.' — David Morrell, author of NIGHTSCAPE and CREEPERS 'Conspiracies and plots abound… Berry handles his thriller tradecraft skilfully, [and] his descriptions are stellar.' — Booklist on THE THIRD SECRET 'International intrigue, swashbuckling action, indestructible hero from the American South… Not to be missed.' — Kirkus Reviews, on THE ROMANOV PROPHECY