The Alexandria Link

Don't ask suspense author Steve Berry why his secret-agent character is nicknamed "Cotton."

In his latest Da Vinci style thriller, Berry makes a point of saying it's "a long story." If the explanation is longer than "The Alexandria Link" it's no wonder readers are left guessing. At 500 pages, there should be plenty of time for character basics (like their nicknames) - but Berry relies on Action! Action! Action! in chasing down the lost library at Alexandria, a collection of scrolls that disappeared 1,500 years ago.

The premise that the library still exists could make for an interesting book, but in "The Alexandria Link" the hunt is reduced to a series of cryptic scavenger hunt clues.

Plenty of readers will love Cotton Malone, a former agent for the U.S. Justice Department, who tired of the chase and settled down in Copenhagen to run a bookstore. (Berry also doesn't explain his character's decision to leave the US and his young son behind.)

His ex-wife no sooner appears in the shop claiming their son has been kidnapped, when the store explodes and the two are left clinging to an upper-story window ledge, arguing over their failed marriage.

Cotton Malone speaks several languages, has special agent weapons training and a photographic memory, but he doesn't recall a handgun with an ammunition clip is not a "revolver." He forgets his training too, particularly in removing his bullets so the gun will go Click, Click, Click and the enemy will stand up in triumph - the way they always do, presumably.

There's also a European business cartel in league with al Qaeda, a biblical mystery involving the major religions, a double-crossing government employee, and a plot to kill the US president.
As to the origin of Cotton Malone's nickname, Berry may be saving that for another five-hundred-page-thriller.