The Charlemagne Pursuit

January 26, 2009
In his fourth adventure, Copenhagen bookseller (and former U.S. government agent) Cotton Malone seeks the truth about his father, the commander of an experimental submarine that vanished in 1971. His quest makes him a target of the murderously ambitious Admiral Ramsey, an architect of the coverup, as well as an unwilling competitor and ally to twin German heiresses also looking for information about the fate of the submarine and its mission to Antarctica to search for an ancient civilization. Scott Brick's reading is perfectly acceptable, if not exceptional, and he keeps the many action sequences well paced. A reasonable attempt is made to differentiate between the genders of the characters, but Brick's accents (particularly the German) skirt the thin line between believable and comedic. His reading doesn't detract from the text of this solidly exciting, over-the-top thriller, but it doesn't enhance it, either. A Ballantine hardcover (Reviews, Sept. 29).

Starred review from September 29, 2008
In bestseller Berry's fourth thriller to feature ex–Justice Department agent Cotton Malone (after The Venetian Betrayal
), Malone embarks on a search for answers about his father, Capt. Forrest Malone, after learning that instead of dying in 1971 in a nuclear sub accident in the North Atlantic, his father actually died while on a secret submarine mission to the Antarctic. Meanwhile, bad guy Adm. Langford Ramsey schemes to become the next ranking officer of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The two story lines merge as a group led by Malone races to Antarctica, where they find a strange underground city belonging to the Aryans, an advanced race who inhabited the earth at the dawn of our own civilization. A meticulous researcher, Berry carefully integrates such elements as Charlemagne, Nazis, ancient manuscripts, historical puzzles and scientific surprises into the plot. Those who relish suspense in the Da Vinci Code
vein will snap this one up, the best yet in the series. 10-city author tour.

Cotton Malone's father died in a submarine disaster when Cotton was a child. Now, many years later, he's determined to find out how and why his father died. His quest becomes intertwined with the quest of competing twin German sisters whose father died in the same accident. Deceit, ambition, and the search for an ancient civilization are the driving forces behind this story. Scott Brick portrays the multitude of characters in a workmanlike way; his German accents are good, and he is particularly successful with voicing the villains. Interest may flag for some when the details of the pursuit are described, but the Navy intrigue will keep listeners attentive. The author's note at the end is helpful. S.S.R. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine