Publisher: Hachette Audio (Audiobook – 20 February 2024)

Series: Cotton Malone – Book 18

Length: 13 hours and 21 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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The always exciting Steve Berry continues his long-running Cotton Malone series with the intriguing and addictive novel, The Atlas Maneuver, which once again blends modern plots with historical riddles.

Over the last few years, I have been having a wonderful time getting to know the works of acclaimed thriller author Steve Berry.  Known for his intricate and complex works that dive into the past, Berry is an amazing author whose style and story focus really appeals to me.  I have had a wonderful time getting through the last several books in his main series, the Cotton Malone books, as well as his standalone novel, The Omega Factor.  Cotton Malone is a particularly fun series following the titular Cotton Malone as he attempts to stop sinister modern-day plots that have their roots in ancient conspiracies and secrets.  All the Cotton Malone books I have read have been extremely epic in their own way, including The Malta Exchange, The Warsaw Protocol, The Kaiser’s Web, and The Last Kingdom (one of my favourite books of 2023), and I cannot recommend them enough.

As World War II entered its final phase, the retreating Japanese hid vast quantities of looted gold and other stolen valuables throughout the Philippines.  Stored in hidden underground bunkers, the gold was supposed to be used to rebuild Japan after the war and expand its interests.  But with the location of the vaults lost, most of the gold remained hidden, except for a small fraction recovered by the United States government and the nascent CIA, who kept it for themselves in secret.

In the present day, retired Justice Department agent Cotton Malone, is in Switzerland, working for an old CIA friend to keep a potential asset safe.  However, when someone tries to take his target out, Cotton soon finds himself thrust into the middle of a dangerous battle between a shadowy branch of CIA and the Bank of St. George, one of the world’s oldest financial institutions, with whom the recovered gold was entrusted.

Forced to act, Cotton begins to unravel a dangerous conspiracy and discovers that the directors of the Bank of St. George are seeking to initiate a radical plot involving bitcoin, the elusive online currency, which could destabilise the entire financial world and leave them in control.  Working with a skilled Japanese agent, his lover, and a ghost from his past, Cotton seeks to stop the plot before it is too late.  But with a deadly team of CIA assassins also closing in, no-one is safe and everyone is a target.

This was a pretty interesting novel from Berry that I had an excellent time with.  Thanks to its unique thriller story combining historical secrets with contemporary mysteries and plots, The Atlas Maneuver proved to be an amazing and intricate novel that I found to be quite impressive.

I really enjoyed the compelling story that Berry came up with for his latest novel, especially as he once again successfully blends an elaborate historical conspiracy with an exciting modern thriller story.  This story came together extremely well and overall proved to be quite an exciting read as Berry comes up with several compelling story arcs that you become absorbed in.  Starting off with a glimpse at the origins of the hidden Japanese war loot, The Atlas Maneuver soon jumps to Cotton Malone as he finds himself drawn into a plot to disrupt the world economy by a powerful bank through bitcoin.  Working with an old flame whose financial brilliance is behind much of the bank’s plans, Cotton desperately tries to keep her safe, while also contending with a relentless Japanese agent.  At the same time, Cotton’s partner Cassiopeia Vitt and old CIA associate Derrick Koger attempt to discover the location of the lost wartime gold that was supposed to be in the bank’s possession.  Their inquiries lead them into conflict with the bank, as well as a shadowy arm of the CIA that attempts to take out everyone associated with the case.

The alternating thrusts of the hunt for lost gold and the attempts to stop the elaborate financial attack make for great reading, and Berry continuously raised the stakes while also dragging the story back to the past with the fun historical inclusions.  While the story did drag in places, especially around the middle, I honestly couldn’t turn away from this book at times, especially when the action got particularly intense and there were multiple fun figures to follow.  Berry perfectly sets up the big conclusion of The Atlas Maneuver, which has surprisingly more devastation than expected.  I loved the dark and ironic ending to some of the storylines that emerged, and I felt this strong finish enhanced the entire book as a result.  Berry also leaves the story on an excellent emotional cliffhanger, that I feel is really going to pay off later in the series, and I will ensure I come back for the next Cotton Malone book.

I really liked how Berry set out his methodical and intense story as he once again relied on his classic style that prioritised historical inclusions, while also ensuring that the new book is accessible to all readers.  Thanks to the author’s excellent use of multiple perspectives, you get a great wide-angle perspective story, which allows you to understand the motivations, desires and actions of most of the opposing parties.  I always love books that show the story from the antagonist’s perspective, and this was a great example of that as you got to see the leader of the evil bank manipulate one of the other main characters, while also trying to implement her wider plan.  Berry utilises these multiple perspectives to tell an excellent overarching story, and while the parts focusing on Cassiopeia Vitt and Derrick Koger felt a little too detached from Cotton Malone’s storyline, for the most part this was a very cohesive tale.  The writing is also very tight and fluid in The Atlas Maneuver as Berry does a great job moving the story along, while also including his trademark historical lectures and flashbacks.  The mixture of modern-day action, elaborate schemes and examinations of the past was pretty on-point for this latest Cotton Malone book, and you really get drawn into the story as a result.  There were also some fantastic character interactions, especially as the protagonist is forced to interact with a love interest from his past who looks set to change the status quo of the series.  I had such a good time reading this book, and it proved to be an excellent addition to Cotton Malone series.

I always love the elaborate and compelling dives into various parts of history that Berry takes the reader on in the Cotton Malone series.  Berry, who clearly does his research on all things history, once again set his new novel around a unique piece of history, which has intriguing implications for the modern day thriller storyline.  In this case, much of the story revolves around Yamashita’s gold, the infamous treasure hoard supposedly located in the Philippines.  The author does a deep dive into the subject highlighting all the history surrounding it, as well as mentioning many of the intriguing details that followed it as people attempted to find it.  Much of the plot of The Atlas Maneuver revolves around the fate of this gold, and Berry really does a great job of highlighting its importance and the cultural implications surrounding it.  While certain elements of Yamashita’s gold featured in The Atlas Maneuver were exaggerated or changed for narrative purposes, you really get a good grounding in history surrounding it.  I found this focus on the lost treasure to be highly fascinating, especially as it wasn’t something I was too familiar about before.  However, this only proved to be the tip of the historical iceberg, as other intriguing historical events were also cleverly featured throughout the book.  compelling examinations about the early days of the CIA, banking history, the financial affairs of Switzerland and Luxembourg, and post-war recovery of Japan are also covered in interesting detail, much of which helps to give context to the current story and which are cleverly inserted into the modern-day plot.  These historical elements are truly fascinating, and I love the unique conspiracies and hidden secrets that Berry creates utilising them.

In addition to this 20^th century history, Berry also chooses to dive into something a little more modern with a detailed look at bitcoin, which also has a significant impact to the plot of The Atlas Maneuver.  Berry dives into the history surrounding bitcoin, how it came into being and how it eventually expanded out in a major currency.  While some of this history is altered for the book, there is still a lot of detail about its origins and how it become prevalent throughout the world, which I honestly didn’t know a lot about, and was quite fascinating.  Berry also tries to capture other aspects of bitcoin, such as its function, how it is mined, and how it is currently viewed throughout the world.  There is a focus on bitcoin’s potential, and how it can be used to change economies and grant financial freedoms to people.  I liked how Berry took a neutral, if hopeful, stance around bitcoin, as while certain characters are critical of the cryptocurrency, many see its potential and hope to make the world a better place through its usage.  I honestly found the entire inclusion of bitcoin to be highly interesting, and the focus on its manipulation, creation and exploitation drove the plot to some cool places.

Another aspect of all Berry’s books that I really enjoy is his highly detailed examinations of various intriguing places that his protagonists end up in.  These background settings are always a key part of the book, and I like how well Berry incorporates them into the story, especially as the history or unique locations are invariably explored or utilised in the plot.  While The Atlas Maneuver lacks some of the grandiose sites that I enjoyed in the previous books, there is still a range of cool locations featured here that are well done.  This includes deep looks at several cities and locations with Switzerland and Luxembourg, as well as a lengthy excursion to Morocco.  Berry loving describes all the historical cities, lakes and other key locations in high detail, and it is always very clear when he is working from memory, especially as some of his characters’ reactions clearly mirror his own.  These detailed depictions always allow the reader to effectively envision the locations quite clearly, and it is a lot of fun imagining the daring exploits taking place in these picturesque locales.  I always love Berry’s descriptions of these locations, not only because I find the history fascinating, but because there are so many places featured in these books that I want to visit.  As such, this is a great part of The Atlas Maneuver, and I cannot wait to see what cool locations Berry features in his next book.

As has been my custom with most of the Cotton Malone series, I ended up listening to The Atlas Maneuver on audiobook, which ended up being a pretty great way to enjoy this book.  Coming in a nearly 13 and a half hours, this is a moderately long audiobook, so it took me a little while to get through it.  However, I felt that the way it helped to portray the intense action and thrilling storyline was very impressive, especially as having the story read out to me engrained the elaborate historical details a little better.  The Atlas Maneuver once again featured the fantastic voice work of veteran audiobook narrator Scott Brick, who has lent his voice to all the previous Cotton Malone books.  Brick has a very serviceable voice that works well for the thriller books he usually narrates, especially as it helps to highlight the great action sequences and elaborate conspiracies.  Thanks to his good voice work, the plot of The Atlas Maneuver moves along at a brisk pace, and I really got swept up in the elaborate story.  As such, I feel that the audiobook version is a great way to enjoy The Atlas Maneuver, and I had an excellent time getting through it.

Overall, The Atlas Maneuver by Steve Berry was an amazing book that I had an outstanding time getting through.  Once again successfully combining intriguing and elaborate historical conspiracies with an exciting thriller storyline, The Atlas Maneuver was a blast from start to finish and will be deeply appreciated by both fans of the long-running Cotton Malone series and new readers experiencing Berry’s writing for the first time.  A compelling read that comes highly recommended.

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