In New York Times bestseller Steve Berry's next Cotton Malone adventure, one by one the seven precious relics of the Arma Christi, the weapons of Christ, are disappearing from sanctuaries across the world. 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-blackmail that both the United States and Russia want, but for vastly different reasons. 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 to not only 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 between three nations over information that, if exposed, could change the balance of power in Europe. From the tranquil canals of Bruges, to the elegant rooms of Wawel Castle, to deep beneath the earth into an ancient Polish salt mine, Malone is caught in the middle of a deadly war-the outcome of which turns on a secret known as the Warsaw Protocol. Editorial Reviews 12/23/2019 With his 15th Cotton Malone novel (after 2019's The Malta Exchange), bestseller Berry once again shows there's no working author more skilled at combining thrilling adventure with engrossing historical detail. Ex-operative Malone is in Bruges, Belgium, for an antiquarian book fair when he stumbles onto the theft of a religious artifact, one of a string of international burglaries of the Arma Christi, seven holy relics of the Passion of Christ. Stephanie Nelle, head of the Magellan Billet, Cotton's former Justice Department agency employer, and Tom Bunch, a feckless adviser to corrupt U.S. president Warner Fox, task Cotton with stealing one of the remaining relics as the entrance fee to an exclusive illicit auction of Soviet-era material intended to blackmail Poland's president. Cotton, a reluctant but stalwart hero, is thrust into a deadly bidding war that could disrupt the fragile power balance between America and Russia. Berry seasons the plot with fascinating lore and vivid locations, as informative as any textbook. If only textbooks were this exciting. Agent: Simon Lipskar, Writers House. (Feb.) - Publishers Weekly Praise for The Warsaw Protocol "Berry blends a fascinating history of Poland and its neighbors and tweaks it a bit to deliver a novel that is both thrilling and timely." - Associated Press "This novel is a history lesson wrapped around a thriller injected with steroids . . . Berry pumps the veins of history with action-packed adrenaline of global espionage and intrigue." - The Chicago Tribune "Berry once again shows there's no working author more skilled at combining thrilling adventure with engrossing historical detail." - Publishers Weekly "Berry has called Dan Brown and raised him, taking the lead in the big-money game of the religious-relic thriller." -Booklist Praise for Steve Berry "The intrigue is intense . . . . Thriller fans will have their violence fix, but the real fun is in learning about the inner workings of the church, its history dating all the way back to Constantine, and the troubled past of Malta . . . . This one will appeal to Dan Brown fans and anyone else in the mood for a page-turning yarn." -Kirkus Reviews on The Malta Exchange "[Berry] really is very good at the historical-conspiracy thriller; he's a skilled writer-much more so than Dan Brown, to whom he's often compared-and a more dexterous plotter than many of his contemporaries. Fans of the Malone series will give this one an enthusiastic thumbs-up." - Booklist on The Malta Exchange "The Lost Order, Steve Berry's latest Cotton Malone adventure, combines the history of a secret society with a look inside the Smithsonian Institution -and it's terrific. Berry has written another gripping novel." -Jeff Ayers, Associated Press (USA Today, Washington Post, ABC News) on The Lost Order "Another terrific blend of history and thrills." -Library Journal "Best of 2017" on The Lost Order - From the Publisher 2019-12-09 Holy relics, a salt mine, and treachery feature in this 15th entry in the author's Cotton Malone series (The Malta Exchange, 2019, etc.). Former lawyer and American intelligence officer Cotton Malone is now a bookseller who goes to Bruges, Belgium, for an antiquarian book fair. He's hired by a former boss to steal the Holy Lance, one of the seven "weapons of Christ," or Arma Christi. That is the price of admission to a secret auction, in which various countries will bid on compromising information about Poland's president, Janusz Czajkowski. The point? Czajkowski is an honorable man who will not allow the U.S. to build a missile system on Polish soil, and the EU- and NATO-hating U.S. President Fox is one of several people who want the Polish leader out of the way at all costs. "If I wanted a conscience, I'd buy one," Fox says. Readers will have to pay close attention to suss out the meaning of Czajkowski's Warsaw Protocol because the author hardly hammers it home. But the story is fun regardless, especially with characters like the smart and resourceful Malone and the Polish foreign intelligence officer Sonia Draga, "a fortress, often scaled and assaulted, but never conquered." The complex plot leads to a magnificent Polish salt mine (a real place) that's hundreds of meters deep with nine layers, has hundreds of miles of tunnels, brine lakes people can't sink in, and lots of tourists. Berry builds suspense nicely, allowing readers to anticipate the violence that eventually comes. To a great extent, the novel is a richly detailed homage to Poland, its culture, and its ability to survive so many invasions over the centuries. The connection between Arma Christi and an unwanted American missile system feels a wee bit iffy, but at least the latter won't be called the Holy Lance. An enjoyable read. Berry's fans won't be disappointed. - Kirkus Reviews