The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry (2009)

I’ve got to hand it to Steve Berry. Just when I had his formula for his books down pat, he comes up with something totally unexpected in The Paris Vendetta.

Granted, the usual elements are there: (1) a search for a lost treasure (Napoleon Bonaparte’s cache of wealth which he purportedly hid for his son); (2) a group of greedy wealthy financiers with little qualms as to the consequences of their actions (The Paris Club); (3) a highly skilled agent who executes a series of dastardly acts for said group of financiers (Peter Lyon, an international terrorist); (4) the US Government not far behind (once again, Stephanie Nelle of the US Justice Department is assigned to monitor the conspiracy; (5) Cotton Malone, retired agent of the US Justice Department turned Copenhagen bookseller, finds himself in the middle of the search for a lost treasure and battling wits with the wealthy financiers and their hired gun; and (6) friends who come to Malone’s aid (Sam Collins, a dismissed American Secret Service Agent and Meagan Morrison, publisher of a website known for financial conspiracies). Berry however, manages in this book to show that he is capable of springing a surprise.

There’s one thing I appreciate with Steve Berry’s books which I’ve failed to mention in my previous reviews. At the end of each of his books, Berry explains the research he’s done on his opus and separates fact from fiction. If there’s one thing which annoys me no end, it is people who swallow hook, line, and sinker, the (tall) tale that’s been sprung on them and go around telling whomsoever cares to listen that such and such thing has indeed happened.

The Paris Vendetta also showed a good point of Berry: He knows where to tread lightly. Berry, in this book where he tackled financial conspiracies, chose to discuss the same through Sam Collins and Meagan Morrison, who he painted as earnest young guns but may be a bit addled in the head. So if any economist or financial analyst points out the absurdity of some of the points raised in The Paris Vendetta, Berry can easily say, “Hey, don’t point that finger at me; that was Collin/Morrison speaking.”

I have a feeling The Paris Vendetta won’t be the last Steve Berry book I’ll be reading. Not because of superb writing or extraordinary plots but because of the guy’s ability to give his readers a pleasant enough diversion from the everyday vagaries of living.