The Patriot Threat: A Novel (Cotton Malone Book 10) by Steve Berry (MOBI)

Description

The 16th Amendment to the Constitution is why Americans pay income taxes. But what if there were problems associated with that amendment? Secrets that call into question decades of tax collecting? In fact, there is a surprising truth to this hidden possibility.

The 16th Amendment to the Constitution is why Americans pay income taxes. But what if there were problems associated with that amendment? Secrets that call into question decades of tax collecting? In fact, there is a surprising truth to this hidden possibility.

Cotton Malone, once a member of an elite intelligence division within the Justice Department known as the Magellan Billet, is now retired and owns an old bookshop in Denmark. But when his former-boss, Stephanie Nelle, asks him to track a rogue North Korean who may have acquired some top secret Treasury Department files—the kind that could bring the United States to its knees—Malone is vaulted into a harrowing twenty-four hour chase that begins on the canals in Venice and ends in the remote highlands of Croatia.

With appearances by Franklin Roosevelt, Andrew Mellon, a curious painting that still hangs in the National Gallery of Art, and some eye-opening revelations from the $1 bill, this riveting, non-stop adventure is trademark Steve Berry—90% historical fact, 10% exciting speculation—a provocative thriller posing a dangerous question: What if the Federal income tax is illegal?

User’s Reviews

Review “One of Berry’s best books to date.” ―The New York Times“Steve Berry is a master at weaving together historical details with fiction to create a spellbinding thriller…Suspenseful, entertaining and thought provoking. As usual, Berry’s writing is smooth, the plot well thought out, and the characters realistic. Another winner from Steve Berry.” ―The Providence Journal“Cotton Malone is once again thrown into the midst of fast-paced international threats. The history in this novel is intriguing, even to non-history buffs.” ―RT Book Reviews (4 stars)“A fast-paced and entertaining traditional thriller along the lines of The Da Vinci Code. [The Patriot Threat is] loaded with action, character sketches, fascinating history and Mr. Berry’s liberal use of poetic license.” ―The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette –This text refers to the mass_market 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:

⭐ I have liked other books by Steve Berry, but definitely not this one. The plot line is sparse and the action is few and far between. Most of the book is what I call “filler;” extraneous material to fill the pages. There are repeated lengthy explanations, where one character is explaining some history to a new character. The problem is that we’ve heard this history over and over again. There are many pages where a character is reading from another document or book, and this material is also repetitive. I found this book quite boring.

⭐ The premise of this book is really fun, as are all of the Cotton Malone series, because the author writes with enough factual information through his research to make it all plausible. That’s the fun of it and the scariness of it, especially with this novel. What if the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, yep, the one that enacted the dreaded income tax, were somehow determined to be ineffectually ratified? Some people in the nation would be thrilled, for a while, if this book’s premise were true. That is, until it unraveled the fabric of the nation and then we’d see how objectionable the whole thing is from that point. I almost wish something like this, to a slightly milder extent would happen so the US would finally grow up like the rest of the developed world and stop objecting to doing things that are just the thing to do as human beings. I really enjoy this series and these characters. If you’ve enjoyed the previous books in this series as much as I have, I say you should certainly give this one a shot. However if you want to learn more about the real driving force behind the 16th Amendment I highly recommend Brad Thor`s novel Hidden Order.

⭐ This book was just OK. On the plus side, it had a really despicable, love-to-hate villain. Also a plus is the introduction of a potential new character for the series, Isabella. On the other hand, there simply was too much historical detail. It seemed like ever other chapter had a multi-page historical epistle. This is after all a work of fiction, not a non-fiction history book. Mr. Berry is usually very skillful about weaving historical context into his stories. With this book, I feel the history tie-in was a bit heavy-handed. Also, the whole thing with the unsolved code (which Cotton quickly and miraculously solved) put me in mind of a low energy DaVinci Code. Overall, a big “meh.”

⭐ What if the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, yep, the one that enacted the dreaded income tax, were somehow determined to be ineffectually ratified? Worse yet, what if the North Koreans were hot on the trail of documents that could prove this, hoping to destabilize the United States economy, and the world economy as well?Are Cotton Malone and the Magellan Billet up to the task of stopping this plot from completion? Follow the non-stop action as it takes place between Washington, D.C., North Korea, and other locations in Asia, Europe, and other American sites. Along the way, Cotton is aided by others, including one from the previous book, Luke Daniels (the President’s nephew), now a full-fledged member of the Magellan Billet, a mysterious Treasury agent, with assistance from several really unexpected sources. Go along with them for the roller coaster ride; you won’t be disappointed.

⭐ Kind of fun, as are most Cotton Malone books, but the analysis of the 16th Amendment is broken. If removed, taxation would be based on apportionment, which means by portion of the populace (as per most recent census). Wyoming would be paying less taxes than other states because it has fewer people. But each person would hypothetically owe the same amount, if the States passed it on directly. If not, the States could make the Federal taxes owed as progressive as they wanted.The action was fun, the characters known, but how many times would one man have his hand in a “world-changing” revelation?

⭐ Cotton Malone, I don’t like recurring characters. I had enough of Malone already, my first Berry book. Malone was ok but the 2 stories, one a flash back to the 1700s and the other taking place today were confusing and boring. There were too many people and too much history. Realistically the big secret was an unimportant fact. Errors in passing the bill and creating income tax is flawed, therefore nobody has to pay tax. It would take the US government about 5 minutes to correct that little mistake. We have all sorts of people searching for the original papers about the amendment.Even China and Korea are in the action—-I don’t think so. The story constantly goes back in history, first to the 1700s and then the 1930. The action takes place all over the world. I quit reading and made a list of the characters, and outlined the plot as the story unfolds. This was the only way I could keep up. I book should NOT be such a chore to read.

⭐ The premise of this book is really fun, as are all of the Cotton Malone series, because the author writes with enough factual information through his research to make it all plausible. That’s the fun of it and the scariness of it, especially with this novel. Some people in the nation would be thrilled, for a while, if this book’s premise were true. That is, until it unraveled the fabric of the nation and then we’d see how objectionable the whole thing is from that point. I almost wish something like this, to a slightly milder extent would happen so the US would finally grow up like the rest of the developed world and stop objecting to doing things that are just the thing to do as human beings. I really enjoy this series and these characters. My only real problem, aside from one plot element between 2 of the main characters, with this book is its lack of chapter demarcations. Chapter demarcations make it so much easier to see how close you are to the end of the book and to find a stopping place when you need to do so. If you’ve enjoyed the previous books in this series as much as I have, I say you should certainly give this one a shot. Have at it because I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I can’t wait for the next one!

⭐ First I have to confess I am a big Steve Berry/Cotton Malone fan. In this novel Berry intertwines actual historical events and characters (FDR, Andrew Mellon, George Mason, etc.) with his fictional plot. He does so in a very convincing manner which makes the plot comes alive on the page. A very interesting, and fun book to read – that is why it got 5 stars.Now for the nits that I did not like. Stephanie’s five dollar tip at the DC Mandarin Oriental to the bellman for bringing up a crate of books – heck at the Oriental five bucks is the tip to bring up a small bag. Either the author has never stayed at the Oriental, or he is writing that Stephanie is cheap – which I do not think fits the character he has built for her. The second is where the author has Malone, who is a lawyer and book person, say to Luke and Isabella “You both did good.” No way would the Malone character say that – he would say “You both did well.” I am not sure why this use of incorrect grammar was not picked up in proofing.

⭐ Steve Berry’s novels, to me, run from good to mediocre. This book, The Patriot Threat and The Columbus Affair are, for this reader, his better efforts. They have a good foundation in fact and are very enjoyable. Berry selected a neat topic on which to base his story: death and taxes. And, bravo to him for avoiding another Biblical or otherwise lost historical artifact as a subject, which has already been beaten to oblivion by authors. I’ve always marveled at stories about robber barons and a novel wrapped around the experiences of Andrew Mellon was intriguing. And, exposing “Hard Headed Herb” (FDR) for being an individual far less becoming than his public persona was nice to read. He was a man almost worshipped by the unwitting electorate during his lifetime. Getting rid of the IRS and income taxes is a pleasant thought especially after following the Lois Lerner/IRS controversy and knowing misuse of the IRS has been s.o.p. since imposition of the 16th amendment. One could almost find himself rooting for the North Koreans in this novel to crush the federal law on income taxes. Berry did an excellent job!

⭐ Story line was a bit contrived – not very realistic scenario where a North Korean who is related to the ruling family but ostracized from the family becomes ensnared in an international activity that purports to bring down the United States. All the while a rogue American who is wanted because he has avoided paying his taxes (and has written a book explaining why) links up with this North Korean to assist in the latter’s attempts to bring down the US. The North Korean hopes to become more popular than his brother who is the top Korean leader by outsmarting the US and bringing its government down. A further contrivance is the involvement of the Chinese government in all this, although the reasons how or why they would be interested in this rogue North Korean’s activities are not compelling. The one interesting part of the book is the connection to the early years of the country and later years of the Roosevelt administration. And the connection to the 15th amendment is also interesting. But again, things get very contrived with hidden pieces of paper and codes hidden away in the national archives.

Keywords

Free Download The Patriot Threat: A Novel (Cotton Malone Book 10) in MOBI format
The Patriot Threat: A Novel (Cotton Malone Book 10) MOBI Free Download
Download The Patriot Threat: A Novel (Cotton Malone Book 10) 2015 MOBI Free
The Patriot Threat: A Novel (Cotton Malone Book 10) 2015 MOBI Free Download
Download The Patriot Threat: A Novel (Cotton Malone Book 10) MOBI
Free Download Ebook The Patriot Threat: A Novel (Cotton Malone Book 10)