The Malta Exchange by Steve Berry

The Malta Exchange by Steve Berry

A deadly race for the Vatican's oldest secret fuels New York Times bestseller Steve Berry's next international Cotton Malone thriller: The Malta Exchange.

"Berry is the master scientist with a perfect formula." -- Associated Press

The pope is dead. A conclave to select his replacement is about to begin. Cardinals are beginning to arrive at the Vatican, but one has fled Rome for Malta in search of a document that dates back to the 4th century and Constantine the Great.

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 re-write 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.

The knights have existed for over nine hundred years, the only warrior-monks to survive into modern times. Now they are 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. The final confrontation culminates behind the walls of the Vatican where the election of the next pope hangs in the balance.

The Lincoln Myth, The King's Deception, The Columbus Affair, The Jefferson Key, The Emperor's Tomb, The Paris Vendetta, The Charlemagne Pursuit, The Venetian Betrayal, The Alexandria Connection, The Templar Legacy, The Third Secret, The Romanov Prophecy, and The Amber Room are among Steve Berry's New York Times and #1 international bestselling novels. His books have been translated into 40 languages and sold in 51 countries, totaling more than 17,000,000 copies. Every Steve Berry novel is based on historical events. It was because of this devotion that he and his wife, Elizabeth, founded History Matters, a organization dedicated to historic preservation. Since 2009, Steve and Elizabeth have traveled around the country raising funds through talks, receptions, galas, luncheons, dinners, and their popular writers' workshops to rescue threatened historic treasures.

Over 2,500 pupils have attended the sessions to date. The American Library Association honored their efforts in 2012, naming Steve the inaugural spokesman for National Preservation Week. He was also appointed to the Smithsonian Libraries Advisory Board by the Smithsonian Board of Regents to help promote and support the libraries' objective of providing information in all forms to scientists, curators, researchers, students, and the general public. He's been awarded the Royden B.

Davis Distinguished Author Award and Poets & Writers' 2013 Writers for Writers Award His novel The Columbus Affair won the Anne Frank Human Writes Prize, and his historic preservation work earned him the International Thriller Writers' Silver Bullet in 2013. Steve Berry was born and raised in Georgia, where he received his education at Walter F. Johnson High School. Mercer University's George School of Law

He worked as a trial lawyer for 30 years, 14 of which he served in elective office. He was a founding member of the International Thriller Writers, a organization of over 2,600 thriller writers from all over the world, and served as its co-president for three years. Visit www.steveberry.org for additional information.