Skip to main content

Steve Berry

Biography

Steve Berry

Steve Berry is the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of 18 Cotton Malone novels, five stand-alone thrillers and several works of short fiction. He has over 26 million books in print, translated into over 41 languages. With his wife, Elizabeth, he is the founder of History Matters, an organization dedicated to historical preservation. He serves as an emeritus member of the Smithsonian Libraries Advisory Board and was a founding member of International Thriller Writers, formerly serving as its co‑president.

Books by Steve Berry

by Steve Berry - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

In the waning months of World War II, Japan hid vast quantities of gold and other stolen valuables in boobytrapped underground caches all across the Philippines. By 1947, some of that loot was recovered by the United States government, which told no one about the find. Instead, those assets were stamped classified and secretly assimilated into something called the Black Eagle Trust. In the present day, retired Justice Department operative Cotton Malone is in Switzerland doing a favor for a friend. But what was supposed to be a simple operation turns violent, and Cotton is thrust into a war between the world’s oldest bank and the CIA, a battle that directly involves the Black Eagle Trust. He quickly discovers that everything hinges on a woman from his past, who suddenly reappears harboring a host of explosive secrets centering on bitcoin.

by Steve Berry with Grant Blackwood - Adventure, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Luke Daniels receives a frantic call from an old friend. Jillian Stein made a mistake, and now her life may be in danger. A shadow team of highly trained operatives are on the hunt in Belgium. Intervening, Luke finds himself embroiled in a war between two determined sides --- one seeking the truth, the other trying to escape the past. Thomas Rowland is a Washington insider but also a man with a past. For him, everything turns with what happened on November 22, 1963. What history has recorded is wrong. There is much more to the story, and Rowland is at the center of that terrible reality. He will do anything to keep the world from learning what actually occurred on that fateful day --- including killing Luke, Jillian and anyone else who might be a threat.

by Steve Berry - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

King Ludwig II of Bavaria was an enigmatic figure who was deposed in 1886, mysteriously drowning three days later. Eccentric to the point of madness, history tells us that in the years before he died, Ludwig engaged in a worldwide search for a new kingdom --- a place he could retreat into and rule as he wished. But a question remains: Did he succeed? Enter Cotton Malone. After many months, Malone’s protégé, Luke Daniels, has managed to infiltrate a renegade group intent on winning Bavarian independence from Germany. In a race across Bavaria for clues hidden in Ludwig’s three fairy-tale castles --- Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee --- Malone and Daniels battle an ever-growing list of deadly adversaries, all intent on finding the last kingdom.

by Steve Berry - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

The Ghent Altarpiece is the most violated work of art in the world. Thirteen times it has been vandalized, dismantled or stolen. Why? What secrets does it hold? Enter UNESCO investigator Nicholas Lee, who works for the United Nations’ Cultural Liaison and Investigative Office (CLIO). Nick’s job is to protect the world’s cultural artifacts --- anything and everything from countless lesser-known objects to national treasures. When Nick travels to Belgium for a visit with a woman from his past, he unwittingly stumbles on the trail of a legendary panel from the Ghent Altarpiece, stolen in 1934 under cover of night and never seen since. Soon Nick is plunged into a bitter conflict, one that has been simmering for nearly 2,000 years.

by Steve Berry - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Two candidates are vying to become Chancellor of Germany. One is a patriot having served for the past 16 years, the other a usurper, stoking the flames of nationalistic hate. Both harbor secrets, but only one knows the truth about the other. They are on a collision course, all turning on the events of one fateful day --- April 30, 1945 --- and what happened deep beneath Berlin in the Fürherbunker. Did Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun die there? Did Martin Bormann, Hitler’s close confidant, manage to escape? And, even more important, where did billions in Nazi wealth disappear to in the waning days of World War II? Former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone discovers the truth about the fates of Hitler, Braun and Bormann --- revelations that could finally expose a mystery known as the Kaiser’s web.

by Steve Berry - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

The seven precious relics of the Arma Christi, the weapons of Christ, are disappearing from sanctuaries across the globe. After former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone witnesses the theft of one of them, he learns from his old boss, Stephanie Nelle, that a private auction is about to be held where incriminating information on the president of Poland will be offered to the highest bidder. The price of admission to that auction is one of the relics, so Malone is first sent to a castle in Poland to steal the Holy Lance, a thousand-year-old spear sacred not only to Christians but to the Polish people, and then on to the auction itself. But nothing goes as planned, and Malone is thrust into a bloody battle among three nations over information that, if exposed, could change the balance of power in Europe.

written by Steve Berry, read by Scott Brick - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

One by one, the seven precious relics of the Arma Christi, the weapons of Christ, are disappearing from sanctuaries across the world. After Cotton Malone witnesses the theft of one of them, he learns from his old boss, Stephanie Nelle, that a private auction is about to be held where incriminating information on the president of Poland will be offered to the highest bidder. The price of admission to that auction is one of the relics, so Malone is first sent to a castle in Poland to steal the Holy Lance, a thousand-year-old spear sacred not only to Christians but to the Polish people, and then on to the auction itself. But nothing goes as planned, and Malone is thrust into a bloody battle among three nations over information that, if exposed, could change the balance of power in Europe.

by Steve Berry - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone is at Lake Como, Italy, on the trail of legendary letters between Winston Churchill and Benito Mussolini that disappeared in 1945 and could rewrite history. But someone else seems to be after the same letters, and when Malone obtains then loses them, he’s plunged into a hunt that draws the attention of the legendary Knights of Malta. They are now a global humanitarian organization, but within their ranks lurks trouble --- the Secreti --- an ancient sect intent on affecting the coming papal conclave. With the help of Magellan Billet agent Luke Daniels, Malone races the rogue cardinal, the knights, the Secreti and the clock to find what has been lost for centuries.

by Steve Berry - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Known as a maverick, Cotton Malone is a Navy lawyer in trouble when Stephanie Nelle, from the United States Justice Department, seeks his help in investigating a delicate situation involving a stolen rare coin and a rogue FBI faction. Soon Malone realizes that the Justice Department and the FBI are at war over something else entirely: a cache of secret files about the Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination --- documents thought long destroyed. Caught in the midst of this epic clash, Malone ultimately discovers a shocking truth --- one that could threaten the legacy of the civil rights movement’s greatest hero.

by Steve Berry - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

The Knights of the Golden Circle was the largest and most dangerous clandestine organization in American history. It amassed billions in stolen gold and silver, all buried in hidden caches across the country. Treasure hunters searched for over a century, but little of that immense wealth was ever found --- until now. When the news about the found treasure gets out, two factions of what remains of the Knights rush to seize their fair share. Thrust into this battle is former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone, who has his own ancestral connection to the Knights --- one that is far more complicated than he ever could have imagined.

written by Steve Berry, read by Scott Brick - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

The Knights of the Golden Circle was the largest and most dangerous clandestine organization in American history. It amassed billions in stolen gold and silver, all buried in hidden caches across the United States. Since 1865 treasure hunters have searched, but little of that immense wealth has ever been found. Now, 160 years later, two factions of what remains of the Knights of the Golden Circle want that lost treasure --- one to spend it for their own ends, the other to preserve it. Thrust into this battle is former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone, whose connection to the knights is far deeper than he ever imagined.

by Steve Berry - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Ex-Justice Department agent Cotton Malone is forced into a fight for survival against Aleksandr Zorin, a man whose loyalty to the former Soviet Union has festered for decades into an intense hatred of the United States. Armed with a weapon left over from the Cold War, Zorin plans to attack. He’s aided by a shocking secret hidden in America’s oldest fraternal organization --- the Society of Cincinnati --- a group that once lent out its military savvy to presidents, including helping to formulate three invasion plans of what was intended to be America’s 14th colony: Canada. In a race against the clock, Malone must not only battle Zorin, he must also confront a crippling fear that he’s long denied, but that now jeopardizes everything.

by Steve Berry - Adventure, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Cotton Malone, once a member of an elite intelligence division within the Justice Department known as the Magellan Billet, is now retired and owns an old bookshop in Denmark. But when his former boss asks him to track down a rogue North Korean who may have acquired some top secret Treasury Department files --- the kind that could bring the United States to its knees --- Malone is vaulted into a harrowing 24-hour chase that begins on the canals in Venice and ends in the remote highlands of Croatia.

by Steve Berry - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

From the streets of Copenhagen to the catacombs of Salzburg to the rugged mountains of Utah, the grim specter of the Civil War looms as a dangerous conspiracy gathers power. Cotton Malone risks life, liberty and his greatest love in a race for the truth about Abraham Lincoln --- while the fate of the United States of America hangs in the balance.

by Steve Berry - Adventure, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Cotton Malone and his 15-year-old son, Gary, are headed to Europe. As a favor to his former boss at the Justice Department, Malone agrees to escort a teenage fugitive back to England. But after he is greeted at gunpoint in London, both the fugitive and Gary disappear, and Malone learns that he’s stumbled into a high-stakes diplomatic showdown --- an international incident fueled by geopolitical gamesmanship and shocking Tudor secrets.

by Steve Berry - Adventure, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

When a controversial report from a war-torn region is exposed as a fraud, investigative journalist Tom Sagan's professional reputation crashes and burns. He is haunted by bad decisions and the shocking truth he can never prove: that his downfall was a deliberate act of sabotage by an unknown enemy. But before Sagan can end his life, fate intervenes in the form of an enigmatic stranger with a request that cannot be ignored.

by Steve Berry - Fiction, Thriller

Four presidents of the United States have been assassinated, each murder seemingly unrelated. But what if those presidents were all killed for the shocking same reason: a clause contained in the United States Constitution?

by Steve Berry - Fiction, Thriller

As a child, former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone was told his father died in a submarine disaster in the North Atlantic, but now he wants the full story and asks his ex-boss, Stephanie Nelle, to secure the military files. What he learns stuns him: His father’s sub was a secret nuclear vessel lost on a highly classified mission beneath the ice shelves of Antarctica. But Malone isn’t the only one after the truth.