The next book in the Cotton Malone series, Bishop's Pawn, was very different that any of the past stories. This one isn't an adventure that is currently taking place, keeping us on the edge of our seats as we, and the characters, all follow down a mysterious path. No, this one is a story that Cotton is actually telling us about his first mission with the Justice Department. Here he is still a JAG lawyer, in a struggling marriage, pre-son, and when he's embroiled in a friend's bad end to their marriage, Stephanie Nelle shows up to help him out as well as recruit him for a special project.

What should be a simple recovery from a sunken ship, turns into an action packed mystery surrounding the MLK Jr. assassination and corrupt FBI trying to cover their past actions. Throw in a former CIA and FBI informant turned mobster from Fidel Casto's Cuba and a daughter desperately trying to uncover her father's past and you get a bunch of characters in over their heads when the stakes are high. Cotton's story telling portrays that story like any other Berry novel with the added benefit of regular critiques of his own actions and stupidity. All culminating into a fantastic novel that draws you in and surprises you at every turn. The added mystery of a secret that seems very plausible to wrap things up with a bow.

Minotaur Books and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of The Bishop's Pawn. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

Although the name "Cotton Malone" is very familiar to me as author Steve Berry's iconic main character, The Bishop's Pawn is my first foray into Malone's world. As a fledgling, I was curious to see if the history of the character was just too deep to conquer without having read the novels that have come before.

In choosing The Bishop's Pawn as the first, I made the right decision. This novel is a prequel of sorts, a look back into the history of Cotton Malone when he was a young naval lawyer. The story surrounds the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr, a time period in history for which I have a particular interest. Author Steve Berry hits the right balance between history, mystery, and fiction, all the while maintaining an interesting character in Cotton Malone. The author's depth of historical knowledge is obvious and his speculation into the assassination of the civil rights leader is insightful. I can honestly say that I will be reading the previous novels in the near future and I recommend this book to any reader who is a fan of historical fiction and mystery.

I enjoy Steve Berry, and while I liked elements of this novel, parts of it kept losing me. I enjoyed the glimpses into the more distant past relating to Martin Luther King, Jr., but grew disinterested in the case from the 90s. Too many "bad guys" to track, maybe? I liked the look into Malone's first case with Stephanie Nelle, but was not enraptured with this tale.

In this, the 13th Cotton Malone adventure, Cotton finds himself at the Martin Luther King family home at the King Center in Atlanta 50 years after Dr. King’s death. Cotton meets Rev. Foster, a member of King’s inner circle and we are taken back 18 years to Cotton’s first job as a Federal agent. The book is set in various parts of Florida. At the beginning of the story, Cotton is a Navy lawyer working in the Naval base at Mayport, near Jacksonville. He meets Stephanie Nelle, a Justice department official who recruits him to help recover a case with important papers and a rare Double Eagle coin from a sunken vessel in waters off Key West. Cotton also discovers that many others want to retrieve the case and its contents.

Once he gets his hands on the the documents, Cotton must travel from Key West to Palm Beach to St. Augustine to Gainesville to Disney World in his quest to hand them in to Stephanie Nelle. He discovers that the documents relate to the death of Martin Luther King and possible government involvement in the assignation.

This is a fast paced story and might appeal to those interested in the Civil Rights movement as well as those old enough to have lived at the time.

When I start reading a Steve Berry book, I can hardly contain my excitement. I know it will be a page turner and I have to resist the urge to devour it in one sitting. His newest novel The Bishop's Pawn was once again another stellar installment in the Cotton Malone series and it took all my restraint not to read it in one day.

The Bishop's Pawn takes a look at the feud between J. Edgar Hoover and Martin Luther King, Jr., and what influence that might have had on King's assassination in Memphis on April 4, 1968. Cotton Malone is a young Navy lawyer and his commanding officer feels he might be somewhat of a loose cannon. Then Stephanie Nelle enlists Cotton's services for the Justice Department on a mission involving a rare coin and it isn't long before Cotton realizes this assignment isn't exactly what he bargained for. In addition to the coin, Cotton finds a secret stash of files with information on Martin Luther King's assassination. Both the FBI, the Justice Department and other individuals will stop at nothing to secure what Cotton has unearthed while the legacy of the civil rights movement could hang in the balance.

As I have said several times on this blog, Cotton Malone is one of the best literary characters of all time. The Bishop's Pawn offers all of the historical intrigue along with the heart-racing adventures that I have come to expect from a Cotton Malone novel. I did particularly enjoy that it offered a look back into how Cotton became involved with the Magellan Billet and I also appreciated how the narrative was composed. I heard Steve Berry say in an interview that his novels are 90% historical fact and I believe that is one of the reasons I'm so drawn into his stories. I always come away in awe that I never knew this particular pocket of historical information existed or took place.

As always, I cannot more strongly recommend Steve Berry's books. They never disappoint and you always come away wanting to read more. Our book club frequently selects his novels since they always offer up some good discussion points and we enjoy reading about Cotton's latest quests.

I received this book courtesy of Minotaur Books St. Martin's Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

“The Bishops Pawn” is Steve Berry’s thirteenth 13th Cotton Malone story. The premise of the book is that the FBI and J. Edgar Hoover were responsible for the assassination Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The action centers on the events leading up to April 4, 1968, and is as especially timely subject on the 50th anniversary of the assassination.

Berry weaves fact and fiction together in this intriguing, suspenseful story. Realistic touches added to the fictional story make this a believable and compelling work of fiction. The characterizations have a ring of truth, and descriptions of public figures seem quite accurate. Much of the information presented in Malone’s first person narrative could be straight out of previously released FBI files.

I received a copy of “The Bishops Pawn” from Steve Berry, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley. I had not read any of Berry’s previous books, and I greatly enjoyed this one, which was unexpected because I do not usually read “history-based” books, and I am not a big fan of first person narratives. It was fast paced with plenty of intrigue, deception, and unexpected revelations. It was especially nice that Berry included endnotes that were just as illuminating as the book itself. He clarified his research and sources and clearly delineated historic fact from his fictional additions

I have read several books in Steve Berry's series about Cotton Malone but this one was different. There was no suspense as to whether or not he survives because this is his backstory. We finally get to find out how he started working for Stephanie Nelle and the Justice Department.. Suspense is still part of the story in how he survives, who is working with him and who is working against. Once again, Berry manages to write a possible plot wrapped around a true and tragic time in American history.

The Bishop’s Pawn is the 13th books from the Cotton Malone series and my first introduction to Steve Berry’s writing. I thought it was great and look forward to more by this author in the future.
5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books & St. Martin’s Press for access to the eARC of this book!
I have enjoyed Steve Berry’s Cotton Malone books since I was introduced to them by my dad. The integration of historical events with fictional political intrigue is always compelling, and The Bishop’s Pawn- centering on the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. is no exception. I really appreciated Berry’s foray into first person writing, and seeing Cotton’s start at the Magellan Billet. However, I can see Berry’s fictional take on the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. being upsetting to some readers.

The Bishop's Pawn is written in the first person, which differs from Mr. Berry's other Cotton Malone books. We're taken back into Cotton's past, to his first foray as an intelligence officer. At the center of everything is a gold coin and a file that the FBI and the Justice Department both want; at any cost.
The cast of characters includes Martin Luther King, Jr and J. Edgar Hoover and the enmity that grew between them.
Cotton met Stephanie Nelle for the first time, and was tasked with getting the coin and the cache of files on the King assasination. He traveled all over Florida, from St. Augustine to Disney World, chased by agents from both Justice and the FBI, both sides willing to kill him. Bodies are strewn across the state, until Cotton was the last man standing.
Was King's death a carefully planned conspiracy, or the actions of one man-James Earl Ray? We are taken into the inner workings of King's organiI zation and Hoover's FBI. All the lies are peeled away, one layer at a time.
I wanted to love this book, but came away only liking it.

A young Cotton Malone is thrown into his first clandestine assignment and while being new at this, he learns the ropes quickly.

Bishop's Pawn is full of actual history of the MLK assassination woven with Cotton's first assignment in clandestine operations.. If you have read the Cotton Malone series, Bishop's Pawn will take you back in time, to give you a picture of a young Cotton Malone.

Steve's ability to put fact and fiction together, made for an enlightening and enjoyable read.

Cotton Malone is back and we finally learn how his story began! Written in a first-person narrative, almost the entire story is a flashback to when Cotton first got recruited by Stephanie Nelle. The adventure focuses on the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King and the people around him. As always, there is a great deal of historical accuracy with just enough fiction to make the tale more intriguing.
If you have read the previous books in the series, you will certainly enjoy this latest novel. If you are new to the series, the flashback makes this a perfect starting point.

I loved this book because it was very believable and historically accurate. I was educated and entertained at the same time.

The Bishop's Pawn is Steve Berry at his best. Looking back at the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.., he is able to use new information on this tragedy. He creates vivid characters and is respectful toward the times of Kings' movement. I read straight through, as entranced as I was.
Thanks NetGalley, for the ARC.

The Bishop’s Pawn by Steve Berry was a interesting read. I find Steve Berry’s books fascinating. I love how he takes some fact from history and then adds other information and layers on more and more. He does this in such as way that you are unsure where the line between reality and fantasy is. Bishop’s Pawn is another example of this type of novel. We are introduced to the story of Martin Luther King’s death and through various documents, conversations and secret information we are introduced to theory upon theory of what really happened. He tops it off with a humdinger of a twist at the end which then changes everyone’s perspective.

The Bishop’s Pawn had a great beginning and a great ending. I felt the middle was a little repetitive and dragged. I have never really been a proponent of any side of Martin Luther King’s death, so I was able to look at this book with fresher eyes than some people. The Bishop’s Pawn by Steve Berry is a good read with a kick butt ending.

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Steve Berry, Minotaur Books and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

Steve Berry is back to provide readers with another instalment of the Cotton Malone series. In this piece, things go back to the beginning, before Magellan Billet, when Malone was still a lieutenant in the Navy and working for the JAG. After a failed attempt to help a friend finds Malone tossed in a Florida jail, he’s approached by one Stephanie Nelle from the Justice Department. She can make the arrest and any charges disappear if he will help her with a secretive and very important mission. He must retrieve a rare gold coin and ensure it is returned to her as soon as possible. Having nothing to lose, Malone ambles down to the waterfront, where he finds the item, alongside a number of documents that appear to be highly classified. Etched with ‘Bishop’s Pawn’ on the cover, Malone is curious and soon discovers that these files are highly sought, when an agent of the Cuban Secret Police comes to fetch them in a less than courteous manner. From that point, Malone learns that there are many seeking the documents, including the FBI, who will stop at nothing to ensure they are not seen by anyone else. Malone soon realises that he’s stumbled into the middle of the Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination conspiracy and that these documents may reveal a narrative no one expected. Could there be more to the assassination than first thought? Might this ‘Pawn’ document prove that J. Edgar Hoover was behind the entire operation to exterminate King while the race riots and civil rights movement was heating up? As Malone dodges blood-thirsty people on both sides of the equation, he must decide if working for Justice and retuning the documents to Stephanie Nelle is the right move, or whether burying the narrative from the public is the best choice of all. Another brilliant piece by Berry, who digs up loose threads in history and weaves his own narrative in a magical way. A wonderful addition to the Cotton Malone series, it will keep series fans quite content. Those new to Berry and the series need not shy away, as it builds the foundation of a wonderful set of novels and may whet the appetite of those looking to explore this phenomenal collection.

I have read and enjoyed Berry’s work for as long as I can remember, having enveloped myself in the nuances of the Cotton Malone series and the tweaks to history for the entire journey. What sets Berry apart is that his writing and storytelling pits fact against fiction in such a way that it is sometimes indiscernible to the reader, forcing them to refer to the ever-present piece at the end it find out what was based in reality and where Berry sought to bridge things with some of his own creative writing. With this being the dawn of Malone’s appearance with Justice, there are none of the other characters that series fans know so well, allowing a stronger focus on the protagonist. Malone is given some brief backstory at the beginning and it builds throughout. His reckless ways are still fairly new, though his intuition is strong and the reader can see some of the early crumbs of what will become his unique personality in the novels to come. Malone is determined to do what he feels is right, though admits that he does try to follow orders, when they suit him. The narrative hints repeatedly at the issues in his marriage, something that develops in the series. This introduction to such a wonderful character paves the way for some wonderful future revelations by the reader, should they take the time to enjoy the entire collection of novels. Some of the other characters work well to build the dramatic effect within the story, serving as high-ranking members of the government or agencies central to the King assassination at the time. Shedding light on those tumultuous times, Berry utilises these people to expound on an America at the crossroads of internal disaster and race disintegration, with the apparent stop-gap measure before them. Turning to the story itself, Berry imbeds so many interesting pieces as they relate to the King assassination, as well as providing the reader with some interesting insight into what might have happened. While the entire event was seemingly an open and shut case, there were many whispers over the past fifty years that receive their due mention in the narrative. At a time when race relations are again teetering, Berry’s novel opens up the discussion and explores how those days in the 1960s changed the way the world looked at civil rights in America. And with the fiftieth anniversary of the King assassination on the horizon, Berry fuels the fires of discussion and analysis once again. Written from a first-person narrative, Malone’s story receives a much more personal touch, allowing Berry to introduce the man who has been so important over the years. The narrative, mixed with documents and references to flashback moments in King’s life, proves a rich story on which to build this modern piece. Additionally, placing the story in and around 2000 permits both Berry and the reader to look both back and ahead, straddling history and using that unique perspective of hindsight and forethought. I thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of this piece and can only hope that others will also find something worthwhile.

Kudos, Mr. Berry, for another winner. I cannot wait to see what you have in mind as you keep Cotton interesting and ever-evolving, even in his rookie days.

I would give Steve Berry's "The Bishop's Pawn" 5 stars simply for the research and history he's given us on Martin Luther King, Jr. - a reminder that as great as he was, he was a mortal man. And J. Edgar Hoover was, simply put, a criminal. I love Cotton Malone and i loved reading about him in relation to a terrible time in history that we all need to remember.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Cotton Malone is one of my favorite series protagonists of all time. He's brave, he's honest, he's heroic, he's loyal, and he's got depth of character beyond the likes of many series leads. When we first started with Cotton, way back in The Templar Legacy, he was already retired from the Magellan Billet, and for the first time, we get to see one of his cases from when he was younger. In fact, in this one, we get a glimpse of his very first case working for Stephanie Nelle, an audition if you will, and boy is it a doozy! It revolves around the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and a supposed FBI conspiracy behind it.

I won't drag you down in the details, especially since Berry has produced a fast-paced, unputdownable read about Cotton's first taste of the spy life, and for the first time, the entire book is from just Cotton's perspective.

Plus, we get to go to Walt Disney World, one of my favorite places on the planet. Of course, after Cotton's romp through the lands of the Magic Kingdom, I'll never view it the same way.

Take a trip down memory lane with Cotton Malone, and enjoy.

Cotton Malone was with the US Navy's JAG department before being recruited by Stephanie Nelle to join the Justice Department's new agency, the Magellan Billet. In this book, the reader learns about his first job for Stephanie, and a lot about Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Civil Rights movement at that time. To say more would give away too much of the story.

This is one of my favorite series, by a favorite author, so I was very excited to read this book, and I was not disappointed. Although a first-person narrative is unusual for Mr. Berry and this series, it worked for this particular story. The single-person point of view, different from Berry's usual stance giving readers glimpses into the minds of several different characters, also worked. I was fascinated by the events as they occurred through the book, and devoured the entire book in just one day. I cannot wait to read Cotton's next adventure, and learn whatever history lesson Mr. Berry includes in the telling of that story.

This was my first Steve Berry book. I have been interested in reading his work for quite some time but his titles kept getting shuffled to the bottom of my TBR (to be read) list. I had no expectations going into this read. I think that was a benefit to me because I was not able to compare this Cotton Malone book to any other. Berry himself says he wrote this particular novel from a different perspective which some die hard Cotton Malone fans may or may not like. Overall this was a pretty typical action/adventure read. That is not to imply that I did not enjoy it. It was fast paced with plenty of intrigue, deception and unexpected revelations. The cusp of the plot surrounded around events leading up to and culminating with the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. While plenty of it is fabricated by Berry, the book was an eye-opening read into the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the actions of J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI. This book in no way diminishes the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In fact it may just do the opposite.