Every year I look forward to Cotton Malone's next adventure. This year we get a glimpse into Cotton's first mission and how he started with the Magellen Billet. Loved the young Cotton and seeing how he became the amazing ex-agent he is today. This is a must for Cotton Malone and Steve Berry fans, it does not disappoint! #netgalley #bishopsbawn #steveberry

I have always thought the brilliance of Steve Berry is his ability to pick a point in time in which an event has occurred which is well known. That is to say that the event is well known but perhaps not the accurate story line of that event. These events provide much room for discussion, alternate possibilities, divergent consequences and unexpected occurrences.

Bishop’s Pawn is told as an 18 look-back at an earlier adventure of Berry’s most famous character, Harold Earl “Cotton” Malone. He is a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy acting as a lawyer and doing a friend a favor which lands Malone in jail on attempted murder charges. Enter Stephanie Nelle of the Magellan Billet a very selective division of the Justice Department who offers the “self-centered rookie” a chance at redemption. Plans are made, plans go astray, fact is often fiction and clarity is smoke in the wind.

Suffice it to say, that as in all Berry’s novels, there are characters who are bullies, there are innocents who involve themselves in events way over their depth, there are myriad locations where car, boat and plane chases occur, there are bullets flying, there are bad guys and more bad guys and you are never sure about the good guys. At the center of all this activity is one man who has kept his heart and mind closed to those he loves most for what he perceives as “the better good.” He was a man who “assumed an awful responsibility, thrust on him by a man who could not be denied.” The reader has to decide if he gained or lost everything.

This book and what it signifies is horrifying and yet a great case can be made for its logic. I finished this book over a week ago and it has rooted in my consciousness. My understanding of the events, as they have been told by history, is one thing, my intellect, pawing through the hypothesis in this book, is curious. Could it be possible? Read The Bishops’ Pawn and join the dialogue.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC

Conspiracy theories about Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination have swirled for years. Berry crafts a plausible story to meet the theories head on. Once again, Berry has taken a familiar historic event and added his own spin, to weave a story I couldn't put down.

Like all of the books in the Cotton Malone series, Berry makes you question everything you know about history. The majority of this novel takes place in the late 1990s at the very start of Cotton’s work with the agency. It is well written and truly makes the reader believe the events could have taken place in this manner and are coming out now 50 years after the fact.

Cotton Malone is back! I have been reading this mystery series since the beginning and it's a must-buy for me. The early books explored with lots of historical research ancient secrets across the globe (think a little Indiana Jones). The later books focus on American historical rumors and mysteries and, to be honest, I felt like they were falling off a bit. UNTIL NOW!! Steve Berry is in his fines form here with the latest mystery surrounding the assassination of MLK. Just in time for the 50th anniversary. This is the origin story of Cotton, a flashback to his recruitment by and first assignment from Stephanie Nelle. That makes it an easy stand alone for those readers who haven't yet gotten hooked by this series. Highly recommended.

I always love the Cotton Malone books, but this one was unique in that it took us back to his very first mission with the Billet. The story line is fitting with the release date, as it will be 50 years since the assassination. It has twists and turns, and I thought I was following it, but there was still a surprise ending! Another good one from Berry.

Reading Steve Berry's latest novel The Bishop's Pawn was interesting and informative. The novel begins when Cotton Malone meets Stephanie Nelle for the first time. She approaches him and wants his help to find and bring back a 1933 Double Eagle coin. It is supposed to be worth millions. He agrees and his adventure begins. His search for the coin leads him into frequent violent conflicts with government and FBI officials who don't want him to succeed. He is involved with a paster who worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr and was involved in his death.
The book is very interesting for two reasons. I enjoyed reading about a young and . inexperienced Cotton Malone. Reading about the early struggles for civil rights was exciting too. I strongly recommend this book.

Once again a fantastic book that keeps your attention from page one. Did not want to put this book down. Love Cotton Malone. A must read

Steve Berry and his wife Elizabeth are both ardent advocates for historical preservation. Their passion has taken them to a multitude of places and sites as well as the founding of an action group "History Matters" to raise both awareness as well as money to preserve historical zones. Many of Mr Berry's novels have had a little known historical event become the basis for the story told in the book.
"Bishop's Pawn" is the latest adventure of Mr. Berry's main protagonist:: Cotton Malone, but includes several changes in the format of the story. It is written in first person with Malone being the one telling the story. Than, it is a novel out of the continuing time sequence of Malone's career with the Magellan Billet, a secret group attached to the Justice Department. We are taken to the beginning of Cotton's work for Stephanie Nelle who founded the Magellan Billet and is it's supervisor. Eighteen years ago Malone was working as a lawyer in the Navy and trying to outgrow his reputation as a maverick. He is approached by Stephanie and asked to help with an investigation currently underway by the Justice Department. Cotton takes the assignment in the hope of getting into a situation other than his present tedious job with the JAG.
Cotton than finds himself involved with an extremely rare coin and a set of documents that provide explosive data on the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Malone becomes embroiled in a war between the Justice Department and the F.B.I. for possession of both objects.
Dr King is pictured in the novel as the giant that he was in the early days of the Civil Rights movement, but also shown as a man with faults and hesitations. The real life war between the F.B.I. and Dr King is brought vividly into the scenario. J. Edgar Hoover, the head of the F.B.I. at the beginning of Dr. King's work had an obvious hatred for the man.. Hoover ordered wire taps, surveillance, and branded Dr King as a trouble maker all against orders from Congress. Steve Berry brings out the distinct possibility that Hoover ordered the assassination of Dr King and was instrumental in bringing James Earl Ray Dr King's killer conveniently into the picture in order to do the actual shooting.
The book is a fascinating study of both the events surrounding Dr. King's murder and portraits of some of the individuals that both worked for and against him. Mr Berry eloquently pictures the F.B.I. as Hoover's fiefdom and due to the secret files held on many people by him was able to establish total control over the organization as well as becoming a law unto himself.
The ending consists of the airing of Mr Berry's thoughts about the murder of Dr King with actual facts presented to back up his theory. I feel that while Steve Berry may have written better books "Bishop's Pawn" is beyond any doubt the most thought provoking of them. Totally mesmerizing and the king of all nighters.

I love this series and this new one did not disappoint. This book was very interesting. I liked the historical aspect about Martin Luther King, Jr. The storyline kept me on end and wanting to know more.