The Lost Order
by Steve Berry
Copyright: 2017
Pages: 487
Read: April 5-17, 2017
Rating: 4/5
Source: Publicist for Review
Blurb: 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, one hundred and sixty 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. Complicating matters further are the political ambitions of a reckless Speaker of the House and the bitter widow of a United States Senator, who together are planning radical changes to the country.
From the backrooms of the Smithsonian to the deepest woods in rural Arkansas, and finally up into the rugged mountains of northern New Mexico, The Lost Order is a perilous adventure into our country’s dark past, and a potentially even darker future.
Review: So I did something I never do. I read a book out of series order. It’s not something that I like to do …. ever. But something about this book immediately caught my eye when it was pitched to me. So I took the plunge, and said why not? I can say that while I did miss some things along the way (and don’t worry, I will backtrack and read the two books I skipped), it was nothing really earth-shattering that left me kicking myself for reading out of order. In fact this book could easily read as a standalone quite well. So don’t let the fact that it’s book #12 in the Cotton Malone series deter you from picking this one up.
For me this book had a somewhat slow start. It probably didn’t help that I was dealing with some medical things relating to my daughter when I first started this book. So while I *say* it had a slow start, it might just have been because of the way things were going in my personal life. The last 250 pages were a blur – I read them very quickly and couldn’t stand to put the book down. It got extremely good, extremely fast.
I like Cotton’s character. I always have. He’s just a really interesting character. I think he’s really the perfect blend of being a total badass while remaining believable. It also doesn’t hurt that I like all the supporting characters as well. So that probably makes Cotton more enjoyable to me. As always, Mr. Berry seamlessly blends fact vs. fiction. I always love the very ending of each book where he separates the facts from the fiction. Everything he writes always seems so plausible. That’s really what makes these books so appealing to me. It also doesn’t hurt that I have a fascination with the Civil War, so that was just another attention grabber this book had for me.
So while I did a bad thing (reading a series book out of order – ha!), I’m happy to say that it didn’t affect my feelings on the book at all. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. And I highly recommend it to everyone. Even if you’re not a series fan, or not caught up with this series, pick it up – it’s a really good read!!! I look forward to seeing what happens next with the characters – seeing what adventures await Cotton! This was just a good, solid read. It was a lot of fun and left me wanting more Cotton Malone!!
I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
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