Customer Reviews

The Paris Vendetta: A Novel

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Danish billionaire Henrik Thorvaldsen obsesses over the terrorist incident in Mexico City that left seven dead including his son. He cannot move on as the brain behind the assault has remained free although he now knows who he is.

Henrik sends apparently fired Secret Service Agent Sam Collins to break into the Copenhagen bookstore owned by former United States Department of Justice (DOJ) operative Cotton Malone. The grieving Dane hopes to obtain Malone's cooperation to help bring down the killer Lord Ashby who has ties to a financial cartel the Paris Club planning an assault on the global economy for avaricous gains that the DOJ hopes to counter. The starting point in the plan is a plot to destroy a landmark that could kill hundreds; war is usury profitable for the finance community.

With terrific ties to Napoleon in Corsica and an exciting action packed story line, the latest Cotton Malone thriller (see The Charlemagne Pursuit) is a fun read. Filled with twists and over the top of the Eiffel Tower villains, fans will enjoy Malone's newest retirement caper mindful of War, Inc and If Looks Could Kill although not a satire. Malone teams up with a grieving angry father and a First Amendment conspiracy buff to thwart the latest capitalist plot to have the masses finance war with money and blood so the affluent can make outrageous profits.

Harriet Klausner

Steve Berry's books are like candy; you read them quickly because the plot is compelling, and you have a pleasant aftertaste. This is the latest in a string of books written about Cotton Malone, the American ex-pat bookseller now living in Denmark. No matter how hard he tries to be retired, just like Michael Corleone "They keep dragging me back".

This is another quest for something valuable, in this case the fabled "lost treasure" of Napoleon. The quest takes us to various interesting places, but most prominently to Paris, where most of the action is centered.

A few new characters for the "good guys" are introduced (and I suspect we may read about them again in the future), and there are the usual coterie of "bad guys". The plot may be a bit "out there", but the book is a very good way to spend a few pleasant hours, finish the book, and wait expectantly for the next Cotton Malone book.

This was much better than The Charlemagne Pursuit. The Paris Vendetta does have it's problems but it is very readable and takes the reader for a little adventure ride so I give it 3 stars. Not too bad. I'm not trying to be some overly critical reader here, but I hate it when the pieces don't fit together very well. Again he uses Book Store Cotton as his main driver to move the story ahead but it may be time to kill off Cotton or retire him for awhile. Gggeezzzz this poor guy is getting older and some of the antics he's doing are beyond impossible and the scenes with poor Cotton and the helicopter and the runaway plane at the Eiffel Tower must have worn the guy out. As usual Berry throwns in a some history and speculation and some invention to spice up the story and although Napoleon's Treasure is a very central point it does seem to get lost in the action mish-mash and seems to just be an afterthought; which helps to make this a very average middle-of-the-road-thriller.

I don't see any problems with some of the shortened chapters, afterall they clearly avoid chapters crammed with too much.

There are also points where it really drags because it Steve will go into the travelogue mode and overdescribe some details about geography, history or architecture. Not a bad read but not a great read. I like a thriller to put me a bit more on the edge of my seat.

If you like some thrills and some history I'd recommend this book for you to read.

I picked up a copy of The Paris Vendetta in an airport book store. For reading to while away the time during a long flight it serves its purpose, but I am frustrated that all the "bestsellers" seem to follow the same formula: Impossibly conniving, ridiculously wealthy protagonists and villains alike, action constituting the main plot line with little connection to real life situations, and totally fictitious omnipotent governmental agencies. Steve Berry is very skillful in using the device of parallel plot lines with chapter after chapter ending in suspenseful moments, all designed to motivate the reader to go on to the next chapter just to find out what is happening. Nevertheless this is just another in a long series of very forgettable books with much form and no substance, the historical references notwithstanding. If you are looking for a good "beach book" or a quick read to redeem some empty time this fits the bill. Sadly it is nothing more than that.

It could be that Steve Berry's recurring protagonist, Cotton Malone, has started to grow on me. The sixth and latest thriller to feature the former Department of Justice hero is titled The Paris Vendetta, and reprises the Danish billionaire Henrik Thorvaldsen who wants to find out who killed his son. So, Cotton is hauled out of his Copenhagen bookstore on another adventure. Along the way there's a search for Napoleon's secret treasure. Berry isn't a terrific writer, but readers who like a quick-to-read thriller might find a few entertaining hours reading this one.

Rating: Three-star (Recommended)

Having read all of Berry's books, I found this one a little bit draggy. I also could tell from the way things were going that something not so good was going to happen to one of the main characters. It will be interesting to see where we go from here on this. I enjoyed the Napolean aspects and history of the book, although I must agree with some of the other reviewers that it was sometimes hard to stay involved in the story. Pleasant read all the same.

This is another Cotton Malone adventure with the usual cast of characters. The plot starts slow and remains slow for most of the novel. This is another letdown, it lacks detail and excitement, and the characters are not fully developed.

I love a good thriller unfortunately this was not one, I have enjoyed most of the Malone books, but the last two efforts are tedious reading, lacking suspense or excitement. Not worth the price if purchased new as I did. ` Berry `disappointed with this novel.

An easy read but there were a number of small sub plots that seem to disappear. Author should have worked harder to tie things together at the end. Example: (without giving away the story) there was an inside source of information; it was never identified or tied into ending events. Doubt if I'll read other books by this author.

Unlike other reviewers, this is my first Steve Berry book. I was not familiar with Cotton Malone, and only found out from the other reviewers here that Berry had written previous books with Malone as the lead protagonist. Not knowing that going in, I had no clue that he was the main character. Berry tells the story from so many points of view (changing voices and continents at each new chapter) that I was miserable for the first half of this book. No one single character is fleshed out enough for me to care, even Malone. Call me simplistic, but I find it difficult to jump around so much in point of view and location. I did find the historical information about Napoleon interesting, but the info started boring me after awhile. The plot really drags in parts. Berry ramps it up towards the end, but I'd already decided that this book was average long before then. Unfortunately, I'll have to think twice before I read another Steve Berry book.

I've been a fan of Steve Berry since I read The Amber Room. In his later books he introduced Cotton Malone and I find his character original, reluctant, lost, heroic, family-man all rolled in one. The Paris Vendetta is a fast-paced book that sends the reader on yet another adventure as Cotton works with the help of friends and semi-friends. The enemies are real and a reminder of how heroes like Cotton are at work to thwart them from reaching their goals. Good job, Mr. Berry!

David Lucero, author of THE SANDMAN