What if the biblical basis for the Israeli state was incorrect? What if the real evidence for the creation of the Jewish state was in western Saudi Arabia? What if the ancient translations that led to the writing of the Old Testament from old Hebrew and Greek were open to an interpretation that could destabilize both Israel and Saudi Arabia and reorient the geopolitics of the Middle East? Intertwine the writings of St. Augustine and St. Jerome; add some nefarious characters that would stand to enhance their power and monetary profit, and sprinkle in American politics and you have the basic premise of Steve Berry’s novel, THE ALEXANDRIA LINK.The book is part of Berry’s series featuring Cotton Malone, a retired member of the U.S. Justice Department’s elite Magellan Billet who lives in Copenhagen and operates a bookstore. The story begins with a scene from April, 1948, when the British gave up their mandate over Palestine realizing that they no longer have the power to broker a peace between the Arabs and Jews. We meet George Haddad, a nineteen year old Palestinian who grows frustrated interrogating a man who had come to speak with his father. The man came with ideas pertaining to a peace settlement, but two weeks before the man’s visit his father had been killed. Haddad was in no mood to chat with another peace messenger in the midst of the nakba, “the catastrophe,” and executed his prisoner.The novel quickly shifts to contemporary Copenhagen where Cotton Malone is confronted by his estranged wife, Pam informing him that their son Gary was kidnapped. The ransom for Gary’s release is the “Alexandria Link,” something only Malone and a few others have knowledge of. The result is a bombing of Malone’s bookstore and violent confrontation that leads to Gary’s release. Despite this release the plot begins to further evolve as Malone realizes that he must uncover the “Alexandria Link,” which is the location of an ancient Egyptian library supposedly located in Alexandria. According to George Haddad, now a grown man, a philosopher and theologian, within the library lays evidence that God’s covenant with Israel delineated in the Bible may be mistaken. The Israeli and Saudi governments do not want this information to become public knowledge and their security services work to block any progress in discovering the library and its artifacts. In the United States the Vice President is allied with a European syndicate, called the Order of the Golden Fleece, whose chair, Alfred Hermann is determined to destabilize the Mideast for the economic and political benefit of his cabal.The plot brings Malone from Copenhagen, to London, Lisbon, the Sinai with his new companion his ex-wife Pam. Characters from previous novels have major roles; Henrik Thorvaldsen, a Jewish Danish billionaire and close friend of Malone; Stephanie Nelle his former boss in the Justice Department; and Cassiopeia Vitt, an art historian and well trained in the military arts. New additions include the previously mentioned Alfred Hermann; Dominick Sabre, an operative hired by Hermann who later in the book goes by the alias James McCollum who has his own agenda when it comes to the “Alexandria Link;” Larry Daley, a presidential advisor with his own plans; Attorney-General Brent Green who seems to support a number of positions; and President Robert Edward Daniels, Jr.As with all of Berry’s novels in the Malone series the reader must pay careful attention as the author integrates legitimate, theoretical, and counter-factual history with contemporary events and politics. Historical figures permeate the narrative as they are interwoven to support or discredit what the fictional characters deem important. The plot line concerns power politics and wealth but Berry tries to base much of his action on uncovering “knowledge” as a weapon in the geopolitics of the Middle East. In this case the knowledge rests on the concept that God’s promise to Abraham for a Jewish homeland in Canaan as written in the Torah is not accurate, thereby debunking the major argument in the Jewish religion for Israel’s existence. As the story progresses we witness Mossad agents enter and leave. Further an assassination plot to remove the President of the United States seems to be on the table. A proposed deal between al-Qaeda and elements in Washington is in place. Saudi assassins seem to appear everywhere. There is even an interesting visit by David Ben-Gurion to the Alexandria library and a host of other interesting historical occurrences that may or may not have ever occurred. Thankfully Berry provides an addendum at the end of the book to inform the reader as to what he has made up and what actually took place. But what cannot be denied is that he has chosen a topic that has tremendous relevance to current geopolitics in the Middle East. There is no doubt that the books opening scene displaying the hatred between Palestinians and Jews still remains in place today. All we have to do is point to the events of last summer between Israel and Hamas. Though a very good yarn, Berry does provide some important contemporary issues to contemplate.Berry has written numerous historical novels and though I have only read three, I look forward to continuing to explore his Cotton Malone series as they are interesting, educational, and very entertaining.
This is the second book in the Cotton Malone Series by Steve Berry.I have to say I enjoyed this book as much as the first. It was lovely returning to read all about charcters I'd read about in the first book. This is why I like series of books. I love to get to know the characters. Cotton Malone is again one of my favourite in the book and I really liked the involvement of his son Gary more. I wasn't so gone on the character of Pam Malone, Cotton's ex-wife, but the dis-like of her was set for me in the first book but by the end of this second book I did like her. I think though books should have you liking or disliking characters, I think indifference towards a character is one of the worst feelings to evoke in the reader I loved the fast pace of this story, there were no stopping and thinking moments and from opening to shuting the book it was all go go go. It kept me reading up late, not enough for an all night reading marathon but a little beyond bed time. I enjoyed how it hopped from the US to Britain, mainland Europe to Sinai and always at just the right moment that your appetite was wetted ready for you to return to the previous place and set of characters. The three different storylines were all easy to follow and did offer a twist or two that I hadn't expected, nothing worse than having it all figured out before the end.I thought the twist of the mistranslation of the Old Testament and the effects it could cause Christians, Muslims and Jews interesting. Yes you could compare this series so far to Dan Browns Da Vinci code and there are some similarities but I'm finding the Cotton Malone a better character than Robert Langford. I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series.But what I enjoyed most about the book was it was a piece of fiction set in real places and based on controversial and well argued material. Material that has no clear right or wrong, truth or fiction and this book just like the last leaves you with that question as you close the book....what if ?
What do You think about The Alexandria Link (2007)?
Reading this book I felt a ton of conflicting thoughts and emotions. There were many things I really enjoyed about it, but there was also one large issue that really roiled my blood and is preventing me from giving this book anything higher than 2 stars. Let me first discuss what I liked. This story has three storylines moving parallel to each other. All,though, are connected and are many times propelling each of the three threads along. The big idea of this book is the search for the lost Library of Alexandria, which is a wonderful story idea. This is a huge collection of lost documents that would provide so much new knowledge to what the world already knows. The idea that it survived thousands of years after it was thought to have been destroyed is fantastic. I also liked how off-balance the story kept you. There is so much deception and government plotting and backstabbing, the reader never really knows who is being honest, trustworthy, or whose motives are understandable. Things are constantly shifting fast and furiously. The reader is never truly sure who the enemy is. A third thing I liked was the idea of this big, mysterious entity trying to affect world politics through manipulation, murders, and strife, especially in the Middle East, already a hotbed of issues. This brings me to what I detested about this novel. Hopefully, not giving anything away, Steve Berry posits that the Library of Alexandria will reveal that the present day location of Israel is wrong. That it in fact lies in an entirely different region all together. Wholly implausible, but Berry uses it to thrust his novel along. His pulls in the Saudis, Israelis, and Americans into this story. He says the Bible was mis-translated either intentionally or by a lack of understanding of languages. All fine for a fictional story. What really upset me is that the book is filled with page after page of anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli feelings. At first, I thought it was just me being overly sensitive, but I soon came across a number of other reviews elsewhere that started noting the same thing. After awhile, reading the story became quite distasteful. I guess Berry could hide behind his characters and say that he was only writing what his characters would feel, but the amount of it and the level of animosity shown is clearly coming from somewhere else. It was unnecessary and it doesn't really add anything to the book. If anything, it has seriously questioned if I want to continue to support this author by reading any of his future works. Normally a book like this would have received more than 2 stars, but I couldn't do that here. Not after what I felt were personal attacks against both Israel and Jewish people. I will be taking a break from Steve Berry for awhile and will make a decision in the future if I want to read anything more by him.
—Josh
The following were what was wonderful about this book:1. Kept the action going2. Fast-paced3. You never knew who could be trusted which kept the reader on their toes.The things I didn’t like:1. Too much historical and scenery decoration/information for me. I don’t really care when a building was built and by whom. And everyting is beautiful. But people have made international thrillers a huge market just for that reason. They get to visit lands they might never travel to. I’m a home body, so I don’t really care. That being said, I didn’t take away from my rating because of it. It’s just a preference.(I like the dirty part of cities, it makes them seem more real - that's why I'm a Leighton Gage fan. Brazil doesn't look pretty in his books.)2. At times I felt too much was going on with all the subplots, and it seemed that one bit of action would end for Cotton, then seconds later, another would begin. It got to be a bit unbelievable. I know it’s fiction, but I don’t want to roll my eyes when I’m reading it. Makes me lose my place on the page. Overall I thought this book was good, and I do look forward to reading another Barry book (I'll just skip the scene descriptions). I found Mr. Barry’s style of writing to be on the mark, and he knows how to draw you into the scene and the action. That’s what keeps him being a NY Times Bestselling author.
—Kathryn Bain
A escrita de Steve Berry é dinâmica, com muita acção e suspense logo no início.A acção decorre em diversos países, Dinamarca, Áustria, Estados Unidos da América, Inglaterra, Alemanha, Portugal, Península do Sinai. Em cada capítulo mudamos de local e é assim o livro todo, o que se torna um pouco cansativo. Há demasiadas personagens, enredos, teorias da conspiração e a certa altura deixei de me interessar sobre algumas dessas histórias.Fiquei bastante surpresa por parte da acção se passar em Lisboa nomeadamente no Mosteiro dos Jerónimos mas acho que as referências ao Mosteiro dos Jerónimos poderiam ser um pouco mais aprofundadas principalmente por se tratar de Património Mundial. Mais uma vez é um livro que nos faz pesquisar sobre o assunto, mesmo que seja só para complementar os conhecimentos já adquiridos noutras alturas.Gostei de no final ficarmos a saber quais os factos verídicos e os pura ficção.
—Rita
