The Emperor’s Tomb by Steve Berry
When I grow up I want to be Cotton Malone!
There I’ve said it – I feel better now – now that I’ve been true to myself – I am Spartacus – I am Cotton Malone! If only life was that easy and exciting! The world would be a better place and I’d go to work satisfied that I’d made a difference!
Long before I opened Steve Berry’s “The Emperor’s Tomb” I knew I wanted to read it! Not only did it sport an incredibly seductive and colourful book jacket (UK version infinitely better than the US version) but the subject matter was just up my street – adventure, danger, spies, double crossing, an infinite amount of travel and a second hand bookshop owner – not necessarily in that order – what more could a guy want?!
My interview with Steve Berry Here
“Hearing that his old friend Cassiopeia Vitt is in trouble, Malone follows the few clues he has and realises that they are in the middle of something huge, involving Russian and US oil interests and a centuries-old secret. After stumbling across two dead bodies and into the crosshairs of his former boss, Malone finds himself in a race to unravel the mystery of an emperor’s tomb, a sinister society, and a deadly battle between two ruthless men for supremacy in China – and the world.”
My first introduction to the master of suspense – Steve Berry – I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but by the time I’d finished the enticing Prologue I knew I was in for the ride of my life – I was well and truly hooked. Crossing a rickety bridge in the middle of nowhere, our protagonists meet danger head on when disaster strikes. The bridge disintegrates and Cotton Malone is left clinging for dear life – reminding me of a predicament Indiana Jones also found himself in in “The Temple of Doom” – it certainly made me smile.
The world has been fascinated by the terra-cotta army ever since its discovery by three farmers, out digging holes to find water, in 1974. Berry utilises this fascination to great effect in “The Emperor’s Tomb” with a wonderful descriptive narrative that places the reader deep within the terra-cotta chambers in Xi’an, Shaanxi province in China – close your eyes and you can almost feel Qin Shi, China’s first Emperor’s, presence in the afterlife. It’s hard to believe that Berry, in the writer’s notes at the end of the book, confesses he’s never been to China due to time constraints.
The narrative is sharp and evocative, part one setting the scene with a thorough and detailed examination of China’s history and although Berry appears to leave no stone unturned, he somehow manages to avoid the trap of text book overindulgence where statistics rule the roost. With a well-balanced blend of fact, fiction and adventure – not to mention scrupulous research – “The Emperor’s Tomb” is both educational and captivating.
“The Emperor’s Tomb” is available from Amazon (UK) & Amazon (US) (Kindle also available)
With a debate that has raged for over 3,000 years Berry tangles with Confucianism and Legalism – a question of benevolence versus oppression where we discover Mao Zedong was a legalist and most certainly not a Confucian – very much like Karl Tang, one of the leading characters in the book. Until I read this book I’d never considered the difference between the two but the more I read, the more I wanted to learn – great how some books can hook you in like that – I widely referenced Google throughout the read to separate fact and fiction.
“Governing China seemed like flying a kite on a windless day. You could adjust the tail, change the design, run faster, but without a breeze to sweep the thing skyward nothing would happen. For decades Chinese leaders ignored that there was simply no breeze. Instead they tinkered and tinkered, trying to force the kite upwards, always failing.”
I must say that I found Berry’s characterisation flawless. In a book of this depth it was inevitable that we would be introduced to an eclectic bunch of players – ministers, premiers, Emperor’s, adventurers, spies and eunuchs – yes eunuchs – all with a role and destiny to play. I never once felt short changed – good and evil well represented – Indiana Jones is to snakes what Berry is to rats!
The relationships are well thought out as is the interaction between the main characters and supporting roles. In fact labelling certain characters as “supporting” is a little unfair. Berry does such a great job of overlapping, no one character steals the show – not even Cotton.
“The Emperor’s Tomb” is Steve Berry’s sixth book to feature Cotton Malone, a bookshop owner in Copenhagen – having not read the previous five novels one wonders if Cotton has actually served a customer in his shop! The only problem with finishing a book of this quality is the agonising wait for the next novel – but then I do have the other five to discover!
Cotton Malone is the thinking man’s Indiana Jones – highly recommended “The Emperor’s Tomb” is one of the books of 2011.
Published by Hodder & Stoughton “The Emperor’s Tomb” is available from Amazon (UK) & Amazon (US)