The Columbus Affair by Steve Berry (MOBI)

Description

Tom Sagan is staring down the barrel of a gun. He has lost everything he ever loved: his job, his wife, his daughter, his reputation. What hurts most is that he knows his Pulitzer Prize-winning career as a journalist was sabotaged. He was set up, but he can’t prove it. They – whoever they are – have beaten him. So he decides to end his life. But before he can pull the trigger, an enigmatic stranger appears. ZachariahSimon has Tom’s estranged daughter at his mercy. What he wants is something only Tom can supply. It’s the key to a five hundred-year-old mystery, one with explosive consequences in the modern world. On a perilous quest that takes them from Vienna, to Prague and finally to the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, the two men square off in a dangerous game. Along the way, both of their lives will forever be altered – and everything we know about Christopher Columbus will change.

User’s Reviews

Review “An engrossing stand-alone thriller from bestseller Berry.”—Publishers Weekly “This being a Berry production, every alliance is of course fragile, and the bonds among even the heartiest teammates are up for grabs. So is the ultimate goal, for the author gradually reveals that Columbus’ lost gold mine is only chicken feed compared to the real bonanza at stake. Less The Da Vinci Code than American Treasure. Think of Nicolas Cage, tearing up the scenery as Tom Sagan, to the background beat of popping corn and you’re halfway there.”—Kirkus Reviews Praise for Steve Berry “Berry raises this genre’s stakes.”—The New York Times “As always with Steve Berry, you’re educated about significant things while your knuckles are turning white and the pages are flying by.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci “For those in need of a comparison, think Jack Bauer and the hit television series 24, with twists, turns, schemes and counter-schemes manifesting themselves by the second. . . . Berry’s on a roll.”—Los Angeles Times “I love this guy.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child “Forget Clancy and Cussler. When it comes to this genre, there is simply no one better.”—The Providence Journal “Steve Berry writes with the self-assured style of a veteran.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Dan BrownFrom the Hardcover edition. –This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. CHAPTER ONETom Sagan gripped the gun. He’d thought about this moment for the past year, debating the pros and cons, finally deciding that one pro outweighed all cons.He simply did not want to live any longer.He’d once been an investigative reporter for the Los Angeles Times, knocking down a solid six-figure salary, his marquee byline generating one front-page, above-the-fold story after another. He’d worked all over the world—Sarajevo, Beijing, Johannesburg, Belgrade, and Moscow. But the Middle East became his specialty, a place he came to know intimately, where his reputation had been forged. His confidential files were once filled with hundreds of willing sources, people who knew he’d protect them at all costs. He’d proved that when he spent eleven days in a DC jail for failing to reveal his source on a story about a corrupt Pennsylvania congressman.That man had gone to prison.Tom had received his third Pulitzer nomination.There were twenty-one awarded categories. One was for “distinguished investigative reporting by an individual or team, reported as a single newspaper article or a series.” Winners received a certificate, $10,000, and the ability to add three precious words—Pulitzer Prize winner—to their names.He won his.But they took it back.Which seemed the story of his life.Everything had been taken back.His career, his reputation, his credibility, even his self-respect. In the end he became a failure as a son, a father, a husband, a reporter, and a friend. A few weeks ago he’d charted that spiral on a pad, identifying that it all started when he was twenty-five, fresh out of the University of Florida, top third of his class, a journalism degree in hand.Then his father disowned him.Abiram Sagan had been unrelenting.“We all make choices. Good. Bad. Indifferent. You’re a grown man, Tom, and have made yours. Now I have to make mine.”And that he had.On that same pad he’d jotted down the highs and lows. Some from before, as editor of his high school paper and campus reporter at college. Most after. His rise from news assistant, to staff reporter, to senior international correspondent. The awards. Accolades. Respect from his peers. How had one observer described his style? “Wide-ranging and prescient reporting conducted at great personal risk.”Then his divorce.The estrangement from his only child. Poor investment decisions. Even poorer life decisions.Finally, his firing.Eight years ago.And the seemingly nothing life since.Most of his friends were gone. But that was as much his fault as theirs. As his personal depression had deepened he’d withdrawn into himself. Amazing he hadn’t turned to alcohol or drugs, but neither had ever appealed to him.Self-pity was his intoxicant.He stared around at the house’s interior.He’d decided to die, here, in his parents’ home. Fitting, in some morbid way. Thick layers of dust and a musty smell reminded him that for three years the rooms had sat empty. He’d kept the utilities on, paid the meager taxes, and had the lawn cut just enough so the neighbors wouldn’t complain. Earlier, he’d noticed that the sprawling mulberry tree out front needed trimming, the picket fence painting.He hated it here. Too many ghosts.He walked the rooms, remembering happier days. In the kitchen he could still see the jars of his mother’s jam that once lined the windowsill. The thought of her brought a wave of an unusual joy that quickly faded.He should write a note and explain himself, blame somebody or something. But to who? Or what? Nobody would believe him if he told them the truth. Unfortunately, just like eight years ago, there was no one to blame but himself.Would anyone even care he was gone?Certainly not his daughter. He hadn’t spoken to her in two years.His literary agent? Maybe. She’d made a lot of money off his ghostwriting. He’d been shocked to learn how many so-called bestselling fiction writers could not write a word. What had one critic said at the time of his downfall? “Journalist Sagan seems to have a promising career ahead of him writing fiction.”Asshole.But he’d actually taken that advice.He wondered—how do you explain taking your own life? It is, by definition, an irrational act. Which, by definition, defies explanation. Hopefully, somebody would bury him. He had plenty of money in the bank, more than enough for a respectable funeral.What would it be like to be dead?Were you aware? Could you hear? See? Smell? Or was it simply an eternal blackness. No thoughts. No feeling.Nothing at all.He walked back toward the front of the house.Outside was a glorious March day, the noontime sun bright. Florida was truly blessed with some terrific weather. Like California, without the earthquakes, where he lived before his firing. He’d miss the feel of a warm sun on a pleasant summer’s day.He stopped in the open archway and stared at the parlor. That was what his mother had always called the room. This was where his parents had gathered on Shabbat. Where Abiram read from the Torah. The place where Yom Kippur and Holy Days had been recognized. He recalled the sight of the pewter menorah on the far table burning. His parents had been devout Jews. After his bar mitzvah he, too, had first studied the Torah, standing before the twelve-paned windows, framed out by damask curtains his mother had taken months to sew. She’d been talented with her hands, a lovely woman, universally adored. He missed her. She died six years before Abiram, who’d now been gone three.Time to end this.He studied the gun, a pistol bought a few months before at an Orlando gun show, and sat on the sofa. Clouds of dust rose, then settled. He recalled Abiram’s lecture about the birds and the bees as he’d sat in the same spot. He’d been, what, twelve?Thirty-eight years ago.But it seemed like last week.As usual, the explanations had been rough and concise.“Do you understand?” Abiram asked him. “It’s important that you do.”“I don’t like girls.”“You will. So don’t forget what I said.”Women. Another failure. He’d had precious few relationships as a young man, marrying Michele, the first girl who’d shown serious interest in him. But the marriage ended after his firing, and there’d been no more women since the downfall. Michele had taken a toll on him.“Maybe I’ll get to see her soon, too,” he muttered.His ex-wife had died two years ago in a car crash.That was the last time he and his daughter spoke, her words loud and clear. “Get out. She would not want you here.”And he’d left the funeral.He stared again at the gun, his finger on the trigger. He steeled himself, grabbed a breath, and nestled the barrel to his temple. He was left-handed, like nearly every Sagan. His uncle, a former professional baseball player, had told him as a child that if he could learn to throw a curveball he’d make a fortune in the major leagues. Talented left-handers were rare.But he’d failed at sports, too.He brought the barrel to his temple.The metal touched his skin.He closed his eyes and tightened his finger on the trigger, imagining how his obituary would start. Tuesday, March 5, former investigative journalist Tom Sagan took his own life at his parents’ home in Mount Dora, Florida.A little more pressure and—Rap. Rap. Rap.He opened his eyes.A man stood outside the front window, close enough to the panes for Tom to see the face—older than himself, clean-cut, distinguished—and the man’s right hand.Which held a photograph, pressed to the glass.He focused on the image of a young woman lying down, arms and feet extended.As if bound.He knew the face.His daughter.Alle. –This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ Steve Berry has written another page turning story that exposes history. He takes you on a journey to Jamaica, Prague and Cuba to experience what may have occurred. He bases the book on enough facts to make it real. Another excellent book and though it is fiction, it still educates us on the history and controversy surrounding Columbus.

⭐ This is not a Cotton Malone story. It was good story with a jaded protagonist. But Steve Berry went into too much detail about the alleged treasure they were searching for. It was a tough read.Give me Cotton Malone any day.

⭐ I have read all of Steve Berry’s books and this is the most boring book I’ve read to-date, athough The Jefferson key was also boring. He’s not developing his characters and plot as well as his previous books. It lacks the charisma I’m so used to in Berry’s books. Also parts were like a horror story. The main characters mostly seem to be bad guys and they are not very likable – poorly developed; no sense of real adventure. At the last quarter of the book I skipped to the ending as it was so tedious. It was his typical endings “alls well that ends well” but the history line inbetween was not all that interesting and didn’t seem real but fabricated, although I did look things up along the way and they are based on facts. It made me feel at the ending – so what – about Christopher Columbus although giving credit due where credit is due – it was interesting about the Columbus family line and Jamaica. And I found the Maroon people fascinating.Do a story on Americus Vespucius (Amerigo Vespucci) 😀 or Better yet – secret societies worldwide since the beginning of time involving the Magellan Billet. Amen. 😉

⭐ Steve Berry is on the list of authors who deliver a reliably entertaining read. They’re formulaic but he always puts in enough historical twists that you then spend time looking elsewhere to see what’s fact and what’s fiction. Unlike some of the other thriller hacks (Brad Thor for example) he doesn’t fill the pages with his political views. Deep down if my English Lit teacher asked me to rate it, I’d give it a 3 but she didn’t so I gave it a four. The short story at the end that laid the ground work for the main novel was a nice extra.

⭐ A great story teller, Steve Berry wove historical mystery into a very real life family drama. Tom Sagan makes for an unexpected hero. His daughter gives him every reason to walk away, but like most fathers he can’t just give up. Fast read that keeps you gripped in the action and great characters.

⭐ Like the history and cultural issues presented as part of the mystery story… the long inscriptions of the surroundings and topology are too repetitious… seem like page fillers to get a count up…

⭐ Steve Berry hits another one out of the park. Multiple POVs and plot turns ratchet up the tension with some good surprise twists. This one might be his best one. I love the historical research section, and how Berry wove historical fact and mystery into the story — making it easy to believe.

⭐ An eye opening amount of true historical detail combined with Mission Impossible type story lines and believable characters. A great read by Steve Berry.

⭐ I’m a total fan of Berry’s “Cotton Malone” character and tales; I’ve read them all. This “non-Malone” book didn’t capture my attention as those did. I never connected to any of the characters and struggled at times to follow the story, despite what seemed like some repetition. As always, however, I throughly enjoyed and appreciated how, at the end of the novels, the author separates historical fact and his fiction; after each novel I feel like I’ve learned something and will remain a Steve Berry fan.

⭐ Besides being a great adventure story similar to sit on the edge of your seat Indiana Jones, the theory that Columbus was born a Jew and then felt compelled to become a ‘converso’ to save himself and find opportunity in new places was an interesting theory. The story jumps around to different countries in the present and in Columbus’ day and gives the reader new insights into the history of Judaism from his era. Discovering the different tribal background in Jamaica was also interesting historical facts. Who to trust with different nefarious characters emerging from the woodwork from Prague, Florida, Cuba to Jamaica, which made for a strange mix of people and cities and an interesting story of adventure and history.

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