The Lost Order

by Steve Berry
493 pgs  (Cotton Malone series #12)

In Cotton Malone’s newest adventure, Steve Berry places him on the hunt to find billions of dollars in hidden gold coins. It’s rumored that an organization known as the Knights of the Golden Circle worked behind the scenes in the years prior to the Civil War to try to establish a separate country, amassing vast reserves of gold coins through bank and train robberies during the process. When the Civil War ended, with the country remaining intact, the vast reserves of gold disappeared.

As Cotton begins searching for the gold and learning of its history, he quickly learns that the Knights of the Golden Circle are still active. Sentinels have been watching over the gold and the clues to its whereabouts since the 19^th century, and they’re willing to go to great lengths to protect it.

But that’s not the only thing the organization has been involved in. There’s a faction of the group that is actively working to bring about a radical change in the way the federal government operates. A change, that if successfully brought about, will dramatically shift the balance of power at the highest levels. It’s Cotton Malone’s friend and former POTUS, Danny Daniels, who becomes aware of their plans and must try to stop them.

The Lost Order is one of the better books in the Cotton Malone series, as of late. Like the other books, Berry takes a fascinating and obscure part of history, places it at the core of his story, and then writes a compelling thriller around it. But this time around, he also takes a deeper dive into Cotton’s background. That, along with the resurgent role of Danny Daniels, made the book a little more interesting.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆