By: Steve Berry
Genres: Thriller Arcane
Posted: April 3, 2012
Enigmatic and scholarly Zachariah Simon is many things to different people, but dangerous best describes him in this circumstance, since Simon has Tom's estranged daughter under his control. Simon is seeking the key to a 500-year- old mystery concerning Christopher Columbus, and Simon has learned that Tom is the one who can provide it. Even though Tom has no idea what Simon is referring to, he has no choice but to go along with him. The perilous pursuit takes them around the world, with each new clue leading to yet another clue and involving even more dangerous people along the way.
Skipping between the present-day quest to the past adventures of Columbus makes for enlightening historical reading, as well as speculative insights and conclusions. The opening quote in this book sets a perfect stage for this thrilling historical adventure. "For 500 years historians have pondered the question: Who was Christopher Columbus? The answer is simply another question: Who do you want him to be?" NYT bestselling author Steve Berry's historical research is extensive and his ability to then write an absorbing and compelling story is exemplary. One of the best thrillers I've read this year!
Book Summary
He was called by many names—Columb, Colom, Colón—but we know him as Christopher Columbus. Many questions about him exist: Where was he born, raised, and educated? Where did he die? How did he discover the New World?
None have ever been properly answered.
And then there is the greatest secret of all.
From Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author, comes an exciting new adventure—one that challenges everything we thought we knew about the discovery of America.
Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative journalist Tom Sagan has written hard-hitting articles from hot spots around the world. But when a controversial report from a war-torn region is exposed as a fraud, his professional reputation crashes and burns. Now he lives in virtual exile—haunted by bad decisions and the 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 with a request that cannot be ignored.
Zachariah Simon has the look of a scholar, the soul of a scoundrel, and the zeal of a fanatic. He also has Tom Sagan’s estranged daughter at his mercy. Simon desperately wants something only Sagan can supply: the key to a 500- year-old mystery, a treasure with explosive political significance in the modern world. For both Simon and Sagan the stakes are high, the goal intensely personal, the consequences of opposing either man potentially catastrophic. On a perilous quest from Florida to Vienna to Prague and finally to the mountains of Jamaica, the two men square off in a dangerous game. Along the way, both of their lives will be altered—and everything we know about Christopher Columbus will change.
by: Steve Berry
Ballantine
May 1, 2012
On Sale: May 15, 2012
Featuring: Zachariah Simon; Tom Sagan
432 pages
ISBN: 0345526511
EAN: 9780345526519
Kindle: B005OCYQJU
Hardcover / e-Book