The 14th Colony: A Novel (Cotton Malone Book 11)
The 14th Colony: A Novel (Cotton Malone Book 11) book cover

The 14th Colony: A Novel (Cotton Malone Book 11)

Price
$9.99
Publisher
Minotaur Books
Publication Date

Description

“Berry raises this genre's stakes.”— The New York Times “I love this guy.”— Lee Child “One of Berry's best books to date.”— Associated Press on The Patriot Threat “My kind of thriller.” — Dan Brown on The Amber Room “Steve Berry is a master at weaving together historical details with fiction to create a spellbinding thriller… The Patriot Threat is suspenseful, entertaining and thought provoking. As usual, Berry’s writing is smooth, the plot well thought out, and the characters realistic. Another winner from Steve Berry.”— Examiner.com “As always with Steve Berry, you're educated about significant things while your knuckles are turning white and the pages are flying by.”— David Baldacci “Every American should read [ The Lincoln Myth ].”— Florida Times Union “Steve Berry’s sizzling, scintillating and aptly titled The Patriot Threat …provides an extraordinarily well researched, prescient and beautifully structured tale that whisks us off across the globe and through history in search of an elusive truth dating to FDR. [Berry] remains a master of form and function, a stylist as well as a storyteller...Blistering reading entertainment at its level best.”— Providence Journal “The 10th installment in Mr. Berry’s Cotton Malone series, The Patriot Threat is a fast-paced and entertaining traditional thriller along the lines of The Da Vinci Code. It’s loaded with action, character sketches, fascinating history and Mr. Berry’s liberal use of poetic license.”— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette “Another page-turning thriller blending history, speculation and face-paced action.”— Kirkus Reviews on The Patriot Threat STEVE BERRY is the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of eleven Cotton Malone novels, and four standalones. He has 20 million books in print, translated into 40 languages. With his wife, Elizabeth, he is the founder of History Matters, which is dedicated to historical preservation. He serves as a member of the Smithsonian Libraries Advisory Board and was a founding member of International Thriller Writers, formerly serving as its co-president.

Features & Highlights

  • Bestselling author Steve Berry’s trademark mix of history and speculation is all here in this provocative Cotton Malone thriller,
  • The 14th Colony
  • .
  • What happens if both the president and vice-president-elect die before taking the oath of office? The answer is far from certain—in fact, what follows would be nothing short of total political chaos.
  • Shot down over Siberia, ex-Justice Department agent Cotton Malone is forced into a fight for survival against Aleksandr Zorin, a man whose loyalty to the former Soviet Union has festered for decades into an intense hatred of the United States.Before escaping, Malone learns that Zorin and another ex-KGB officer, this one a sleeper still embedded in the West, are headed overseas to Washington D.C. Noon on January 20th—Inauguration Day—is only hours away. A flaw in the Constitution, and an even more flawed presidential succession act, have opened the door to disaster and Zorin intends to exploit both weaknesses to their fullest. Armed with a weapon leftover from the Cold War, one long thought to be just a myth, Zorin plans to attack. He’s aided by a shocking secret hidden in the archives of America’s oldest fraternal organization—the Society of Cincinnati—a group that once lent out its military savvy to presidents, including helping to formulate three invasion plans of what was intended to be America’s 14th colony—Canada. In a race against the clock that starts in the frozen extremes of Russia and ultimately ends at the White House itself, Malone must not only battle Zorin, he must also confront a crippling fear that he’s long denied, but which now jeopardizes everything.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(2.6K)
★★★★
25%
(2.2K)
★★★
15%
(1.3K)
★★
7%
(607)
23%
(2K)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

Not impressed heretofore

I read The Templar Legacy over a decade ago and I have eagerly awaited each new Cotton Malone book since. I preordered this book nearly four months ago. I am currently about 30% into this book and I'm not impressed. With other CM books I would read for hours until my eyes watered. They were proverbial page turners. Not so much yet with this point. I have had to put the book down several times. It had been my impression that Mr. Berry was a thorough and dedicated researcher. The style and tone of this book almost sems like it was written by someone else. Some passages feel like they were taken from Wikipedia, a few words deleted or moved and put into the book.
I refer to the books description of a Soviet RA-115 (suitcase nukes). The definition given in the book on page 55 (Kindle) says,

An RA-115 "..."is engineered to last for years, so long as it's wired to a power source. In case of a loss of power, a battery backup is provided. If the battery runs low, the weapon had a transmitter that sends a coded message by satellite to a Russian embassy or consulate"

The Wikipedia entry on the RA-115 says,

"They can last for many years if wired to an electric source. In case there is a loss of power, there is a battery backup. If the battery runs low, the weapon has a transmitter that sends a coded message either by satellite or directly to a GRU post at a Russian embassy or consulate.

The passages are nearly identical. Is Mr. Berry using a ghostwriter?
81 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Have never seen an author who could write so long in one spot.

I liked the story, but the writing had me frustrated. I would have quit reading after the first couple of chapters, but I did pay for it, and slogged my way through. It was frustrating. I've never seen anybody who could write so long in one spot. It was like treading water. Here's the issue I had. You're reading a section where one of the heroes is taking on a group of bad guys. He's running through a mansion (of course, it's always a mansion in these types of books) in the middle of a gun fight, and you're anticipating the outcome, and the author is describing the pictures on the walls and the fine quality of the wood. Crap! The guy is running for his life- he's not going to be looking at that sort of texture. I found myself skipping whole sections of verbose descriptions. I can promise I will never darken the pages of another book by this guy, and it seems he has a lot more where this came from. He's a veritable word factory.
16 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

I thoroughly enjoyed this book

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I own all of Steve Berry's books. This one is my favorite by far. Having grown up in Erie County New York there was always talk of Canada becoming part of the US. This is a must read book. The 20th Amendment is thoroughly explained. It is interesting who becomes president if something happens to the President. It is true that on the evening of the State of the Union one of the cabinet members will not be there. That person is the person who will be the next president if something happens to the President Vice-President and the other cabinet members. Great read. I hope who ever reads this book will thoroughly enjoy it as much as I have. I forgot another important part of the book. The storyline centers around Benjamin Tallmadge's journal and the Society of Cincinnati. I wanted to learn more about the Society of Cincinnati but couldn't find any information. I did down load Benjamin Tallmadge's memoir that he left for his son. Benjamin Tallmadge was the spymaster for George Washington and the Culper Ring. A lot of research went into this book. Best of Steve Berry yet.
15 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

More of a right wing political journal than a novel

I read several of these before and enjoyed them. I might have enjoyed this one except it reads like the author is trying to get Ronald Reagan put on Mt. Rushmore. Seriously, way too much revisionist history here. If I want to hear this kind of inaccurate story telling, I will listen to Fox News.
9 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Another very good book from Berry

I love how this author writes. His historical fictions are very well done, and after reading do many of his books you know the characters as if they were friends. This time he takes you on a journey from Russia to Washington D.C. where an ex KGB man knows how to destroy the American Government. The Society oh Cincinnati has the Talmedge Journal which tells the story of a secret tunnel between St. John's Church and the White House. The story goes back to the War of 1812 and the burning of the White House. It tells of our failed attempts to invade Canada. It brings you up to date by this madman's desire to destroy America by killing the president during his swearing in ceremony. I believe if you like historical fiction you will enjoy this book. If you haven't read s anything by Berry yet try this and you'll be hooked. I have enjoyed everyone of his books, I have read them all.
6 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Another very good book from Berry

I love how this author writes. His historical fictions are very well done, and after reading do many of his books you know the characters as if they were friends. This time he takes you on a journey from Russia to Washington D.C. where an ex KGB man knows how to destroy the American Government. The Society oh Cincinnati has the Talmedge Journal which tells the story of a secret tunnel between St. John's Church and the White House. The story goes back to the War of 1812 and the burning of the White House. It tells of our failed attempts to invade Canada. It brings you up to date by this madman's desire to destroy America by killing the president during his swearing in ceremony. I believe if you like historical fiction you will enjoy this book. If you haven't read s anything by Berry yet try this and you'll be hooked. I have enjoyed everyone of his books, I have read them all.
6 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Ugh. Save your time.

Look, if you want to read a book that opens with an imagined conversation between (an overly astute) Ronald Reagan and (an overly impressed-with-Reagan) Pope John Paul and in this conversation they say a lot of things "oh, yes, Mr Reagan, I agree communism is evil", "that's great Pope, because communism really is evil", "yes, Ron, I couldn't have said it better myself. So evil. Evil evil evil -- HIGH FIVE", and gets worse from there, then be my guest.

Beyond that, it's decently paced, and might keep your turning the pages till the end if you don't turn your stomach on the Reagan pablum first.

This was the first Steve Berry book I have read and I thought it would be filled with thoughtful analysis of an interesting time in history. Bzzzzt. This is junk writing, wrapped together with a worship of Reagan I thought was reserved for Young Republican Clubs, not serious writers.

Not worth the $1.99 I paid for it with a kindle special offer.
4 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Good fiction mixed with history and fact

This type of writing has always fascinated me. I respect the time and careful research that form the basis of a thought-provoking and engrossing tale. I love the fact that Steve Berry writes books that inform , teach and entertain all at the same time. For those of us who want to differentiate between fact and fiction, the author includes disclosure at the end of every novel. This particular story is fast paced, concerned with fairly modern history and totally enjoyable. I eagerly await the next Cotton Malone novel.
4 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

How to make up a story to make a President look good

Once every five to ten years I have an issue finishing a book, this was one of them. If you want a running dialogue on"the greatness of Reagan" or how he saved the world this book is for you. But if you want a little reality, this book is not for you. Berry doesn't seem to remember that USSR was bleeding money in Afghanistan!!!
3 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Boring read

I was very disappointed with this book. Very little suspense and little intrigue. I will not be reading any more of this series.
3 people found this helpful