The Paris Vendetta

By Steve Berry

Reviewed by Connie Barrington, on the road

I've been on the road a lot recently, so have been catching up with some audio books. I personally find a good action suspense story best to keep me company. Steve Berry's latest, The Paris Vendetta, helped the miles fly by. Fans of Dan Brown will probably enjoy Cotton Malone's adventures. Malone is an ex-Federal agent who has taken up residence in Copenhagen, yet seems to get pulled into assisting American law enforcement in spite of his retirement. His adventures combine history, books, art and architecture and historic sites. In the latest episode, Malone is called upon to assist his friend, Heinrich Torvalson, only to be catapulted into a search for an international terrorist wanted by the American government. Malone has to choose between his humanitarian instincts and his friend’s vendetta. Along the way we accompany him to Paris, visit many landmarks there and painlessly learn quite a bit about Napoleon. I appreciate the author’s addendum, distinguishing what is fact (a lot) from what is fictitious in the story. We have the series in print and some of the audios.

In the mood for more of the same, I picked up an author recommended by several friends, Daniel Silva. I quickly became immersed in the storyline (picking up mid-series) of A Secret Servant. Protagonist Gabriel Allon is a star of the Israeli secret service, an assassin and art restorer. Like Cotton Malone, he tumbles into a situation that involves American security and has to make some very difficult decisions about what to pursue. I am enjoying this book so much that I will check out the others in this series, which we also have available in several formats.

If you like this style of adventure, you may also wish to look into Raymond Khoury’s book, titles from Jack Higgins or those of Vince Flynn, available at the Imperial County Free Library.