Author: Steve Berry
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 9781399706377
This time around, Cotton Malone has found himself roped into another adventure, at the behest of Luke Daniels, his protege. Daniels has gone undercover in a group seeking Bavarian independence from Germany. While on the surface, it seems a far-fetched idea, the strange events surrounding the deposition of King Ludwig II of Bavaria in 1886 manages to bring in a wide range of present day global powers into the play.
History, however, does not tell us whether Ludwig II succeeded, but there are signs of his attempt at finding a place he'd dreamt of. It seems the Mad King’s descendants may finally complete what he had set in motion - to create The Last Kingdom.
Will King Ludwig II of Bavaria wreak havoc on the new world order from beyond his 137-year-old grave? Not if Malone has anything to say about it. Malone, who retired from the Magellan Billet of the US intelligence service after 12 years to open a bookstore in Copenhagen, still takes the odd freelance job with the CIA, and this current one is a bit uncomfortable for his liking.
Derrick Koger, CIA chief of special operations, wants to recover a missing book and a document Ludwig had hidden somewhere before he died. So do a number of other players, including Prince Stefan von Bayern and his brother, Albert Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria, relatives who might plausibly claim to be the materials’ rightful owners; Marc Fenn, grand master of the Guglmänner (the black hooded and robed secessionist KKK Bavarians); ex-CIA killer Jason Rife, founder of a fearsome organisation called the Scythe; and finally, the consulate general of China.
Readers who are alert enough to pick their way through the historical facts and action sequences Berry crams into every chapter will discover, along with Malone, that Ludwig had his eye on a prime piece of real estate well outside his borders that’s become exponentially more valuable today for its raw rare earth deposits.
Ad hoc alliances are forged and then broken, where double crosses drive up the body count, with betrayals and mayhem happening at a breakneck pace, and two different sets of secret codes surface to keep puzzle solvers busy as Malone does his best to stay alive and ahead of his opponents.
As Malone and Daniels try to solve the mystery, they come upon a secret deed that could prove Ludwig II may have found his new Bavaria, far from the European continent. However, this document, should it be authentic, could cause major issues, as many powerful countries would like to lay claim to it themselves, using its geographic location, strategic argument, and access to various parts of the world. Hence, it is up to Malone with Daniels’ help, to keep their opponents from getting their hands on the deed.