The Lake of Learning

A Cassiopeia Vitt Adventure, Book 2

By: Steve Berry, M. J. Rose

Narrated by: Natalie Ross

For over a decade, Cassiopeia Vitt has been building an authentic French castle, using only materials and techniques from the 13th century. But when a treasure is unearthed at the construction site - an ancient book of hours - a multitude of questions are raised, all pointing to an ancient and forgotten religious sect.

Once the Cathars existed all across southern France, challenging Rome and attracting the faithful by the tens of thousands. Eventually, in 1208, the pope declared them heretics and ordered a crusade - the first in which Christians killed Christians - and thousands were slaughtered, with the Cathars all but exterminated. Now a piece of that past has re-emerged, one that holds the key to the hiding place of the most precious object the Cathars possessed. And when more than one person becomes interested in that secret, in particular a thief and a billionaire, the race is on.

From the medieval walled city of Carcassonne to the crest of mysterious Montségur to a forgotten cavern beneath the Pyrenees, Cassiopeia is drawn deeper and deeper into a civil war between two people obsessed with revenge and murder.

©2019 Steve Berry and M. J. Rose (P)2019 Blackstone Publishing

Where’s the recap at end

Usually we get a recap of what is true and so Forth but it was very good

Cassiopeia is caught between Catholics & Cathars

The storyline took me on an exciting trip into Southern France where I learned about the conflict between the Catholic church and the Cathars.

Incredible!!!

these books are awesome! I feel like I know cotton Malone Katarina Vit. What a great story! You're really enjoyed this book.

Cassiopeia Vitt is stuck in the middle

Cassiopeia Vitt, by pure happenstance, discovers a small box buried at her castle building project. Inside she finds a hundreds of years old book. An overanxious publicist puts photos of the mystery book in the newspapers. This triggers two factions, to stop at nothing to possess the book, each for very personal reasons. Cassiopeia is caught in the middle. Add to this, a "lost" religious sect and their fascinating beliefs.

This is a novella. That, to me, seems about the right length for this story. The action is smaller and more personal than anything in the Cotton Malone books. The stakes here are much more personal, at their greatest, impacting the employees of Cassiopeia's company. I enjoyed the story and can see a potential for a follow up, perhaps with bigger consequences, expanding on the discoveries made here. If you enjoy the previous Cassiopeia Vitt novellas, or the Cotton Malone books, I think you would enjoy this as well.

Bad narrator

Good story - lots of history. However, it’s the second time I’ve felt that the narrator ruined the story.

Dragged along

I’ve read everything available from this author and would 5 star them all -but this book was an effort. It dragged along with far too much history and very little action. The story was thin and the characters not very convincing. I’m annoyed that I wasted a credit on it. Since when did Cassiopeia have an English accent?

intriguing from start to finish

Never disappointed in the stories. Well written and thought out. Can't wait till the next one.

Boring and difficult to follow

I love Steve Berry novels but I found this one boring, predictable and difficult to follow. Use of the language in the prayers and other documents (real or made up) was very difficult to follow or understand for me. I also found the unwinding of the story quite predictable. Overall not the best Steve Berry novel.

Katerina Vit

Although the narrator gave Katerina a great voice/ she was made to be a fragile, careless bubblehead. This is an insult to the strong character in all other books. Please don't use this narrator again for series. She sounds either bored or defeated

Don’t waste your time

I’ve always enjoyed Steve Berry and MJ Rose, both together and separately. Unfortunately, the narration of this story just wasn’t for me. I couldn’t make it through. I started and stopped several times but it just kept bugging me more and more.