kimbacaffeinate
Written on Jul 21, 2013
The tale begins as Cotton Malone sits down with his ex-wife and shares a story about events that occurred when he and their then fifteen year old son Gary traveled to Europe. Leaving out of Georgia, Malone, a retired Magellan Billet agent for the Department of Justice agrees to escort a teenage fugitive back to London. When they arrive, British operatives meet them but things quickly go awry. Gary and the fugitive go missing and Malone realizes he is in the middle of a diplomatic showdown regarding the release of a Libyan terrorist and it somehow revolves around Tudor secrets. The story that unfolds kept me flipping the pages and completely enthralled.
Cotton Malone is a likable character and it is easy to see why he was a highly successful and admired member of the Magellan Billet. He is level headed, quick thinking and is able to see the whole picture in the game of chess he finds himself thrust into. His son Gary is clever, questions everything and has a lot of baggage to deal with for one so young. Ian, the young fugitive is a pick-pocket who lives on the streets of London. He loves to read and often sleeps in Mary’s bookshop. He has been on the run ever since he witnessed a murder and picked the pocket of the dead man. He is smart, comes up with plans and added to the overall intrigue. Blake Antrim is a CIA operative in charge of operation, “King’s Deception” and I quite loathe this vile man. His movements in London have the CIA and MI6 involved as one works to reveal a secret and the other works to bury it. Kathleen is a SOCA (Serious Organized Crime Agency) officer currently on suspension who is called in by Thomas Matthews the head of MI6. She is a real firecracker and I enjoyed her role in the events that unfolded. Miss Mary and her twin sister both offer Malone invaluable knowledge and added to the tale.
The best formula for a suspense thriller is when the author weaves his tale around documented facts, writings, and real historical characters and events. Berry tweaked very few facts and created a tale that felt plausible right down to the present day reasons Britain wants to keep this secret from being revealed. I am quite fascinated by the Tudor period and have read many books pertaining to this period; both fictional and non-fictional. Queen Elizabeth I has always intrigued me, so seeing her and Robert Cecil, King Henry the VIII and more held me completely captive. The author brought the present day setting to life, as he weaved in the history of the places we visited making him a delightful tour guide. I had a panoramic view of the past and present, all while caught up in this brilliantly paced and action-packed thriller. I was impressed and felt the tale was tight, the characters fleshed out and the secrets, along with the political game that was afoot to be believable. Fans of Dan Brown will be delighted with The King’s Deception.
Copy received in exchange for unbiased review and originally published @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer
