Kaiser’s Web: A Novel (Cotton Malone, 16)

Steve Berry’s The Kaiser’s Web is the latest entry in his series featuring Cotton Malone. The book opens with former US President Danny Daniels interrogating a woman named Hannah Cress, a Belarusian citizen who is in custody at the behest of the German chancellor. She tells him she was sent by Schub to deliver a message. As Daniels probes further, Cress takes a puff of smoke, only to die painfully. It is determined that the cigarettes contained cyanide. As Cress is dying, she mutters “Kaiser.”

Germany is in an election year. There are two candidates, one progressive and the other a die-hard nationalist who is the supposed descendant of one of Hitler’s closest confidantes. Daniels summons Cotton Malone to unravel a conspiracy that could very well change history. Malone jets from Eastern Europe to South America to Africa following various clues in order to prevent Germany falling into the wrong hands.

As in the previous Cotton Malone books, The Kaiser’s Web weaves history and adventure to build suspense. And build suspense it does. The plot is fast-paced and unpredictable, and it keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next. Cotton Malone is a well-developed character and The Kaiser’s Web an extremely worthwhile read.