The Malta Exchange

Cotton Malone Series, Book 14

By: Steve Berry

Narrated by: Scott Brick, Steve Berry

"Brick is a masterful narrator, raising the tension in the action scenes while keeping the listener engaged in the slower historical segments." (AudioFile magazine)

In this audiobook, Steve Berry and Macmillan Audio team up again to bring listeners an expanded, annotated Writer's Cut edition of The Malta Exchange. This Writer's Cut edition features fascinating behind-the-scenes commentary read by the author. Critically-acclaimed and award-winning narrator Scott Brick returns to his role as Cotton Malone—eponymous hero of Berry's iconic New York Times best-selling series—as he enters a deadly race for the Vatican's oldest secrets.

The pope is dead. A conclave to select his replacement is about to begin. Cardinals are beginning to arrive at the Vatican, but one has fled Rome for Malta in search of a document that dates back to the 4th century and Constantine the Great.

Former Justice Department operative, Cotton Malone, is at Lake Como, Italy, on the trail of legendary letters between Winston Churchill and Benito Mussolini that disappeared in 1945 and could re-write history. But someone else seems to be after the same letters and, when Malone obtains then loses them, he’s plunged into a hunt that draws the attention of the legendary Knights of Malta.

The knights have existed for over 900 years, the only warrior-monks to survive into modern times. Now they are a global humanitarian organization, but within their ranks lurks trouble—the Secreti—an ancient sect intent on affecting the coming papal conclave. With the help of Magellan Billet agent Luke Daniels, Malone races the rogue cardinal, the knights, the Secreti, and the clock to find what has been lost for centuries. The final confrontation culminates behind the walls of the Vatican where the election of the next pope hangs in the balance.

Praise for Scott Brick as Cotton Malone in other audiobooks:

"Scott Brick continues to bolster his status as one of the best narrators of international thrillers with his excellent reading of Berry's latest...Brick easily negotiates his way through this complex plot, his confident delivery keeps the suspense high while bringing a solid reality to a story that often walks a fine line between the believable and the improbable." (Publishers Weekly on The Venetian Betrayal)

"Narrator Scott Brick's smooth voice flows with the twists and turns of Berry's political thriller...Secrets unravel, and tensions rise as Brick shifts vocal focus from the historical secret society to contemporary conspirators who include corrupt politicians and judges." (AudioFile magazine on The Lost Order)

©2019 Steve Berry (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"[Scott] Brick is a masterful narrator." (AudioFile magazine)

"The intrigue is intense.... Thriller fans will have their violence fix, but the real fun is in learning about the inner workings of the church, its history dating all the way back to Constantine, and the troubled past of Malta.... This one will appeal to Dan Brown fans and anyone else in the mood for a page-turning yarn.” (Kirkus Reviews)

Too much extra stuff

I was really looking forward to listening to this book, but it was too drawn out.

Courageous Historical Fiction

The author combines entertaining, even riveting fiction with a treasure trove of important information that can be verified. His descriptions of iconic - yet for some little known - landscapes, cityscapes, and buidings in Italy and Malta leave this reader wanting to revisit and more widely explore these locations. Mystery is woven throughout and includes forays into the hidden histories of secretive organizations, human fascination with power, and the formation of Christianity. Especially helpful was the author's willingness to verbally parse fact from fiction in between the early and final chapters.

Well done!

As usual, a great story rapping many history facts around fictional characters. Well worth it!

Church History

I gave been a fan of Steve Berry for a long time as a practicing Catholic found the premise interesting.
I learned some things from it, especially Pope Francis's statement about hell...I found very different from most Christian religious belief. The narration was excellent & was faithful word for word with the book, which I followed.

Another excellent Steve Berry page turner

I love all of Mr. Berry’s books and this one is no exception. I love the way his sets his stories within actual history. It is hard to tell fact from fiction.

Great story. Interesting delivery

Another great cotton Malone tale. A think ADD Is an issue with some “presumed” “My-Lim-ables! (Correct pronouncement for Them Young-ins. A little more intricate than previous tales. Well done Mr Berry!

Too many moving parts

Story was difficult to follow,, but held my interest in most cases. I wanted to quit more than once, but was rewarded in the end. I am not Catholic,nor wish to be, but the highly detailed story showed the true face of the Church. overall, a good read, lots of effort by Steve. in detailing the history of the order. My thanks to him and to Scott Brick.

Good plot but serious failings

A very interesting plot with lots of twists and suspense. Some people might, however, react allergically:
1) Christians of any denomination. The story brandmarks all Christian organisations and their members as moral-free criminals bent on ruling over humankind as their flock to fleeze and dictators without a conscience.
2) History buffs. Any author has the right to tweak history to make the story work. This story has massive historical errors. Mussolini was not dragged into WWII by Germany, he forced Germany to bail him out in theaters Germany was not interested to open up such as the Balkans or Northern Africa. Constantine's Gift is a well-known document bestowing on the Catholic Church what is today the Vatican State. The Gift is known to be a fake from the 8./9. century
3) Anyone who has any idea how the Vatican works. It is inconceavable that American agents just burst into conclave, roam the shut-off Vatican or high-ranking clergy just destroy century-old evidence on a whim and without referring to their authorities.
4) Anybody who thinks that there are professionals that are NOT American. As an example, the Swiss Guards are all ex army and as a protection detail on par with any protection detail in the world.
5) Anybody who wants to follow the story without constantly being interrupted by the author's touristy note on locations.
6) Anybody who doubts that Americans can just show up somewhere, shoot up a lot of people and then just leave again

The reading is very good, the plot us colourful and interesting, and that saves the production from being a total bummer.

Trying to stay in love with Steve Berry's style

This book was a hard listen. Within two hours, we were thrown backwards and forwards with Mussolini, Napoleon, Malta Knights, Luke, Cotton, Laura (who he can't stop describing), and a host of new characters. I think Steve tried to hard to loop in ALL historical references he could because it's a winning formula with his readers. However, it just became overkill. You can't go 20 minutes without a LONG DRAWN out history lesson on some benign and inconsequential topic in the story. To me the story got lost and/or never developed beyond the already expected. So in essence, this was just a history book with a bit of fiction mixed in to wake you up when you start to doze off. Hope he can adjust for next book because this one was underwhelming. If not, I just pickup a regular history book next time.

Storyline has issues, but narration is worrisome

Many people have commented on the storyline, so I won't go into that.

I'm concerned about the narration. I've listened to a lot of Scott Brick narrated books. I've gotten so used to his voice that I've specifically chosen books because he was narrating. However, with this book, and the last I listened to, Clive Cussler's "The Gray Ghost", I've heard a change. The tone, inflection, cadence, accents, etc are all off, so much so I can't believe this is Scott. Unless my hearing has completely changed in the last couple of weeks, it is hard to believe this is Scott Brick. Nothing sounds right about this book.