The Jefferson Key

Starred review from April 25, 2011
At the start of Berry's ingeniously plotted seventh Cotton Malone novel (after The Emperor's Tomb), former U.S. Justice Department agent Malone, who's been summoned to New York City by his old boss, Stephanie Nelle, manages to thwart an attempt to assassinate the U.S. president outside a midtown Manhattan hotel. Malone soon finds himself in the middle of a power struggle with roots in presidential history. A cipher formulated by Thomas Jefferson and employed by Andrew Jackson has been unbroken for 175 years. Documents hidden by Jackson contain the key to the legitimacyâand the wealth and powerâof the Commonwealth, a coalition of privateers or pirates dating from the American Revolution. Malone and his lover, Cassiopeia Vitt, must match wits and survival skills with several formidable foes, including rogue agent Jonathan Wyatt and Quartermaster Clifford Knox of the Commonwealth. Berry offers plenty of twists and vivid action scenes in a feast of historical imagination. Author tour.

May 1, 2011
The U.S. Constitution allows the government to sanction piracy? Who knew? Well, Article I, Section 8, authorizing letters of marque, is technically more nuanced, but this is the conceit around which Berry structures his plot. The book begins with a (true) assassination attempt on the life of Andrew Jackson. The plotters (not true) are privateers who have perpetual rights to letters of marque, allowing them to make captures on land and water, and they dont like Jacksons restrictions. In the present day, family descendants have the same problem with the current president, and some opt for the same solution. Following his formula, Berry puts his operative, Cotton Malone, in an action-filled plot decorated with plenty of history, including a cipher concocted by Thomas Jefferson. One refreshing element is the women, good and bad, who can all hold their own, but an initial rookielike mistake by Malone seems out of character for a hero whos been through six previous books. Fast and furious, this entry in the series ends with a fascinating authors note, detailing whats what.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)