The Bishop’s Pawn
Written by Steve Berry
I love a good conspiracy theory and Steve Berry is among the best at telling a great conspiracy story. The Bishop’s Pawn is an origin story for Berry’s famed Cotton Malone and centers around the fictionalized final days of Martin Luther King and his murder in 1968. At the time of this story, some thirty years after the assassination of King, Malone, based on his maverick reputation, specific skill set and at the suggestion of friends in high places, is recruited by Stephanie Nelle to recover a very valuable, highly illegal coin from a sunken boat off the coast of Florida. The situation is at once not what it seems and soon Malone is being hunted by several factions at once. His reluctant partner is a Florida Orange County police officer who is using the coin and what it is intended to buy to get information that her father, who had been a low-level confidant of MLK, has been hiding from her and the world for the last three decades.
This is classic Cotton Malone; wonderfully written, quick paced and full of intriguing plot twists. Various theories about the murderer and what connections he may have to the FBI and other organizations have been floating around for decades. The author has done a masterful job of weaving organic proven facts in his fictional world. While I was actually quite shocked at the final twist of the story, given what I know of that historical time frame, I find it, sadly, quite plausible. This is another must-read for Berry and Cotton Malone fans
I Read What You Write! 