Three Tales from the World of Cotton Malone: The Balkan Escape, The Devil's Gold, and The Admiral's Mark

Cotton Malone #0.5, 5.5, 6.5

by Steve Berry

Steve Berry’s bestselling thrillers have mesmerized suspense fans around the world, but his novels alone can’t contain all the exciting exploits of death-defying agent Cotton Malone and his smart, sexy sidekick, Cassiopeia Vitt. Catch all the action between the blockbusters in this trio of suspenseful short stories that capture Cotton and Cassiopeia at their history-hunting, heart-stopping best. Read them as prequels to Cotton’s full-length epics or stunning stand-alone adventures. Either way, this eBook bundle packs all the punch adrenaline junkies have come to expect from the bold imagination of Steve Berry.   “In Malone, Berry has created a classic, complex hero.”—USA Today   THE BALKAN ESCAPE Prequel to The Emperor’s Tomb   As a favor to enigmatic billionaire Henrik Thorvaldsen, Cassiopeia Vitt treks into Bulgaria’s Rila mountains in search of a buried stash of exceedingly rare artifacts from a bygone the ancient tomb of a Thracian king. But when her presence is discovered by a shadowy group of Russians secretly mining the area, she needs a way out. Whom can I trust? becomes the question, and her life depends on making the right decision.   THE DEVIL’S GOLD Prequel to The Jefferson Key   For eight years he’s been plotting, waiting, scheming to kill Federal agents Christopher Combs and Cotton Malone, whom he blames for the loss of his career. But as rogue agent Jonathan Wyatt prepares for a final confrontation in a remote South American village, he makes a discovery that stretches back to the horrors of World War II, to the astounding secret of a child’s birth, to Martin Bormann and Eva Braun—and to a fortune in lost gold.   THE ADMIRAL’S MARK Prequel to The Columbus Affair   Cotton Malone never cared for the shady dealings of his brother-in-law, Scott Brown. But after Scott dies while scuba diving, Malone heads to Haiti where he learns that, beneath the crystal clear waters, his brother-in-law had found the sunken wreckage of the Santa Maria, the fabled flagship of Christopher Columbus. Setting out to piece together what happened, Malone quickly realizes that he’s not the only man there with questions—and that he’ll have to fight just to get out of Haiti alive.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Adventure, Mystery, Historical Fiction, Action

143 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

 

Steve Berry is the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of twenty-two novels, which include: The Last Kingdom , The Omega Factor , The Kaiser's Web, The Warsaw Protocol, The Malta Exchange, The Bishop’s Pawn, The Lost Order, The 14th Colony, The Patriot Threat, The Lincoln Myth, The King's Deception, The Columbus Affair, The Jefferson Key, The Emperor's Tomb, The Paris Vendetta, The Charlemagne Pursuit, The Venetian Betrayal, The Alexandria Link, The Templar Legacy, The Third Secret, The Romanov Prophecy, and The Amber Room. Steve has also co-written a novel with Grant Blackwood,  The 9th Man  (a Luke Daniels Adventure), and four novellas with M. J. Rose:  The End of Forever,   The House of Long Ago,   The Lake of Learning,  and  The Museum of Mysteries,  all Cassiopeia Vitt tales. His books have been translated into 41 languages with over 25,000,000 copies in 52 countries. They consistently appear in the top echelon of The New York Times, USA Today, and Indie bestseller lists. Somewhere in the world, every thirty seconds, one of his novels is sold.

Reviews

[Jeff Jacobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three great stories. Kept me glued to the book. Each story very different love short stories.

[Nostalgia Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Admiral's Mark (#0.5): 3 stars.
The Balkan Escape (#5.5/Cassiopeia #1): 2 stars.
The Devil's Gold (#6.5): 3 stars.

[Chalice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection has three short stories that lead into books in the Cotton Malone series.

In The Balkan Escape, Cassiopeia is searching for Thracian gold when she meets Lev Sokolov, a Russian who doesn't want to be in Russia anymore. He helps her escape a tough situation and this will be important in The Emperor's Tomb.

In The Devil's Gold, a disgraced agent is seeking revenge and instead finds Nazi gold, as a prologue to The Jefferson Key.

In The Admiral's Mark, Cotton is searching for answers about his brother-in-law's death and instead finds a New World mystery (lead-in to the Columbus Affair).

Quick, fun read!

[Eric Dansart · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cassiopeia adventure was the weakest of the bunch. Was expecting way more from that with the set up of Solokov in the Emperor's Tomb. Really a nothing story. They escape from a cave and know each other for what feels like 20 minutes?

The Devil's Gold story started slow but ramped up. Felt like more of a classic Berry story just in short form. Felt like a great intro to character that I look forward to Malone taking on in the future.

The Admirals Mark was a great snappy Malone story wrapped in with a fun history lesson. Didn't know much about Haiti and it was interesting learning some more history about Columbus.

[Chuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short story

Not a big fan of these type of stories. I know they are written as quick money makers but it would be better if they were at the beginning of the book that has to deal with the new character instead of these short stories. This is a quick little story of the death of Cottons brother in law and Cotton finding out how and why he died.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short takes on the typical pseudo-historical stuff that Berry spins into "thriller" material. Looks like Berry has given up on the Vitt Mormon backstory and has stuck with her being Muslim, for whatever influence that has in the stories. This book would be a good starting point to determine if one wanted to launch into the entire 16 book (so far) series.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining reading

Three will written mystery novellas. The characters are interesting and will developed. The story lines are full of misdirection leading to the unexpected conclusion. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for entertaining mysteries. Enjoy reading 2019😈

This novella e-book was from my local library

[Sandy Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Usual Steve Berry...

Action, mystery, etc. woven together with historical possibility - three short stories Berry fans will not want to overlook. Enjoyable and leaving the reader wanting more.

[dennis barron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three Cotton Malone novellas. Steve Berry

Three short stories which are precursors to novels. Enjoyable reads, full of action. All three novellas have fiction laced with historical findings which the author is well known for. Enjoyed immensely!

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories

Entertaining short stories (as Steve Berry’s work always is), but they feel disconnected because they are clearly from a bigger universe. The stories are good, but I feel like I need way more backstory or information to fully get them.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was ok. They are all prequels to much longer books that he’s written. His books are too long and way more historical information than I want to read for pleasure. I do like the end of his books where he tells what he has made up and what is actually factual.

[ShanDizzy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am sure that I will not read any more in this series. It's simply that the plotlines hold no interest for me.

[Karla Bates · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Steve Berry’s style. It was a good, quick read.

[shirley neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

Well written. Kept you wondering what was around the corner. I have found a new author to follow. Thank you

[Lynn Vaughan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lynnie

Very good , looking forward to reading more of his books. Good story lines. Interesting keeps you wanting more and more .

[Brian Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like these short stories

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories but still good read until The Kaiser’s Web arrives (which it just did).

[Megan Neumann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't think short stories are his strong suit. . .

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A series of short stories that help to better understand the main novels.

Definitely worth a read.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the Cotton Malone story, may show up in full books:
Zachariah Simon, Austrian billionaire, villain.
Matt Schwartz, Israeli intelligence agent.
TPL e-book.

[Marshall Sabol · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compilation of short stories that set the reader up for the larger novels in the series. Fun to read.

[Jennifer Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read the full length stories, up to the recent The Jefferson Key. The shorts are nice fillers, but I wish I had read the full amazon book description to know where in the storyline these shorts lined up to.

The Balkan Escape features Cassiopeia Vitt, who a mysterious support character in the novels that you only learn about in small amounts throughout the various novels. The story was enjoyable as I learned more about the strength of Cassiopeia.

The Devil's Gold features some secondary characters that I wasn't familiar with. Whereas it was a good story, I look forward to understanding it a bit better after reading The Jefferson Key.

The Admiral's Mark is the only story with Cotton as the main character so of course it was my favorite story of the three. It had many twists and turns throughout the story that kept it very fast paced and thoroughly enjoyable.

If you like Dan Brown, you'll love Steve Berry!

Check it out on Amazon ... Three Tales Cotton Malone

But for those who haven't crossed over to the digital book world (or straddling the line like I am) you'll have to read it from some who has ... these tales are only available in eBook format.

[RumBelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE ADMIRAL'S MARK: This has a tie in with The Columbus Affair as far as subject and characters. It sets up the mystique more fully explored in The Columbus Affair. It was very fast paced with some quirky, interesting characters. An enjoyable story.

THE DEVIL'S GOLD: This is a story about a disgraced Magellan Billet agent seeking vengeance, and along the way a treasure. It's plot revolves around Nazi secrets and gold. It was more psychological, and the main character was intriguing. Not quite a truly evil character but not good either.

THE BALKAN ESCAPE: Cassiopeia, one of my favorite characters from this series take center stage here. She is on the hunt for treasure from the Thracian empire. When she is discovered, she must use all her wits to escape the threat.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are short stories set in the world of Cotton Malone. Only one features Cotton. One features Cassiopeia Vitt, and one is a tale that fleshes out a bit of background behind the reason Cotton left the Magellan Billet.

All the stories are well-written and end in a tidy fashion. I'd really like to find out more about The Admiral's Mark and if it is tied to The Colombus Affair which is a stand-alone novel featuring one of the characters from The Admiral's Mark but doesn't seem to have Cotton as part of the tale (at least not according to the synopsis on Berry's website).

[matteo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The usual Steve Berry fare: entertaining, light reading, with some nifty historical fictionalizing and globe-jumping ridiculousness. I liked that the stories were from the points of view of three different characters, including two familiar ones--it was a nice change of pace from the Cotton Malone books. The stories were uneven in terms of quality--it seemed like they were almost too short to get where they were supposed to be going, and they didn't really have any connection to each other.

[Frank · Rating 2 out of 5]

An uneven collection of Cotton Malone stories. The best of the lot was Admiral's Mark - decent length, decent plot, and provided some nice back story about Cotton's brother.
Balkan Escape and Devil's Gold were very short and didn't provide anything interesting from the universe.
Recommended for those ob-com's who simply _must_ read everything Cotton Malone. :-)

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a lot of short stories for different series and i have to say this is one of the better sets. While i think short stories are hard because you have to set a tone quickly without much background, the intensity in these stories was good. Lots of action as well. While i wouldn't classify them as great, i was still entertained.

[Helle · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a general rule I am not the biggest fan of short(er) stories, as I often find that they lack the intensity of a full novel. The stories collected in Three Tales from the World of Cotton Malone (The Balkan Escape, The Devil's Gold, and The Admiral's Mark) are no exception. They are amusing and contribute nicely to the series, but overall they don’t really leave a very big impression.

[Lindasp · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are 3 prequel short stories for the longer books, "The Emperor's Tomb", "Jefferson's Key" and "The Columbus Affair" but only one of them involved Cotton Malone which was a bit disappointing. The stories were good but I'm glad I borrowed it from the library instead of buying it.

[Nat Medlen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good short story collection

If you like Steve Berry's works and characters, this is a good buy for you. I really enjoyed all three stories, and enjoyed the tie ins with other books I've read by Berry.