CBR4 # 47 The Jefferson Key by Steve Berry

Four presidents of the United States have been assassinated—in 1865, 1881, 1901, and 1963—each murder seemingly unrelated. But what if those presidents were all killed for the shocking same reason: a clause contained in the United States Constitution? This is the question faced by former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone. When President Danny Daniels is nearly killed in the heart of Manhattan, Malone risks his life to foil the murder—only to find himself at odds with the Commonwealth, a secret society of pirates first assembled during the American Revolution. Racing across the nation and taking to the high seas, Malone and Cassiopeia Vitt must break a secret cipher originally possessed by Thomas Jefferson, unravel a mystery concocted by Andrew Jackson, and unearth a document forged by the Founding Fathers themselves—one powerful enough to make the Commonwealth unstoppable. 

I got to hear Steve Berry talk earlier this year in Dallas and I have read some of his stand alone books in recent months as well.  This was the first Cotton Malone book I had read in a while.  Berry throws the reader and the main character right into the action from the first couple of chapters.

I enjoyed the local DC setting for part of the book.  Some of the plot twists seemed a little obvious and a little stretched and I felt the ending was a overdone. There was a lot of backstabbing and switching of "sides" as the book progresses. I can see how Dan Brown is still an influence on Berry's writing.