Title: The
Columbus Affair
Author: Steve Berry
Review: This
is a very good book, fast moving and the action never stops. Although, putting my prejudice of loving
everything Steve writes aside, he weaves a story that could be entirely
plausible. The book also draws upon the
interplay between a daughter and her estranged father, that won’t resolve itself
until near the end of the book.
The 1st chapter
introduces us to Tom Sagan, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, now disgraced
and accused of fabricating a story. We
learn in the 1st chapter, that he tried to clear his name, but there was a
cover up, protecting the people who brought him down, so he comforts himself
with ghost writing, which pays well and keeps his name out of the news. But,
then he decides life is not worth living, if he can’t be a reporter.
As the story opens,
Tom is putting the gun to his head to end his life. Simon shows up at the door
of Tom’s parent’s old house, where, he has gone to end his life. Simon shows Tom a video that so horrifies
him, it causes him to give up his idea of suicide and go on a quest that will
change his life and the life of his daughter forever.
In the next chapter we
are introduced to Béne, who is a great man, at least in his own eyes. Life is cheap where he lives and cheap to him
also. If someone crosses him, he simply
turns them loose to get off his island as best they can, but a few minutes
later he also turns loose his hunting dogs “and they never eat what they don’t
kill themselves.” Through a series of circumstances, he also becomes involved in the hunt for the
truth about Columbus, but the part he
plays, given his character, is a surprise to us all.
“Zachariah Simon has
the look of a scholar, the soul of a scoundrel and the zeal of a fanatic.” I don’t know that I agree with this
description of him, it seems a bit too easy on him. I would describe him as a cruel user, a
terrorist and one who thinks human life is not worth his “quest.”
Zachariah Simon is the
impetus that causes Tom Sagan to go on a quest that his father wanted him on,
many years ago. It is a dangerous game they play, especially Tom’s daughter, Allie.
While each of the
characters are on the quest for a different reason, in the end, they all come
together to discover the truth about who Christopher Columbus really was and
what has been hidden for centuries, in the caves of Jamaica .
Excellent read! Eileen
Publisher: Published May 15th 2012 by BallantineBooks
ISBN: 9780345526519
Copyright: 2012
Pages: 448
Quick Review: 5 out of 5
Why I Read It:
Purchased at a local bookstore.
Synopsis: A mysterious and ruthless billionaire,
eminent international politicians, and a covert arm of the American
government—all are linked by a single puzzling possibility:
What if everything
we’ve been told about the discovery of America is a lie? What if that lie was
designed to hide the secret of why Columbus sailed in 1492? And what if that
500-year-old secret could violently reshape the modern political world?
Pulitzer Prize–winning
investigative journalist Tom Sagan has written hard-hitting articles from hot
spots around the world. But when one of his stories from the Middle East is
exposed as a fraud, his professional reputation crashes and burns. Now he lives
in virtual exile—haunted by bad decisions and a shocking truth he can never
prove: that his downfall was a deliberate act of sabotage by an unknown enemy.
But before Sagan can end his torment with the squeeze of a trigger, fate
intervenes in the form of an enigmatic stranger who forces Sagan to act—and his
actions attract the attention of the Magellan Billet, an elite and top-secret
corps of the United States Justice Department that deals with America’s most
sensitive investigations. Sagan finds himself stuck in the center of an
international incident, the repercussions of which will send shudders through
not only Washington, D.C., but also Jerusalem. Coaxed into a deadly
cat-and-mouse game, unable to distinguish friend from foe, Sagan is forced to
Vienna, Prague, then finally into the Blue Mountains of Jamaica—where his
survival depends on him rewriting everything we thought we knew about
Christopher Columbus.
Author Biography: Steve Berry is the New York Times bestselling
author of the Cotton Malone series featuring The Jefferson Key, The Emperor's
Tomb, The Paris Vendetta, The Charlemagne Pursuit, The Venetian Betrayal, The
Alexandria Link, and The Templar Legacy. He also has three stand-alone
thrillers: The Third Secret, The Romanov Prophecy, and The Amber Room ---- and
two e-book original short stories, The Balkan Escape and The Devil's Gold. He
has 12 million books in print, which have been translated into 40 languages and
sold in 51 countries. Steve's road to publishing was long and arduous, spanning
12 years and 85 rejections over 5 separate manuscripts. He's also an
accomplished instructor, having taught writing to audiences across the globe.
When Steve's not writing, you can find him either on a beach, a golf course, or
traveling --- discovering more things lost --- thinking of the next novel. He
lives in the historic city of St. Augustine, Florida. Steve and his wife
Elizabeth have also started a foundation, History Matters, dedicated to aiding
the preservation of our heritage.
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