This book delved into the murder of an iconic modern hero, Martin Luther King, Jr. from so many angles: his work in the Civil Rights Movement of the 60's, the beginning of the fracturing of that movement, his surveillance by and antagonistic relationship with J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, and the unanswered questions around his death.

While not the first in the series of books about Cotton Mather, this book is the first in Mather's journey into his role as an agent of the Justice Department from being a JAG wondering about his future. He witnesses a friend's murder, draws his weapon on the friend's wife, and finds himself in jail. In comes Stephanie Nelle to take him away from all that and into a fifty-year old mystery.

His initial assignment is to recoup an extremely rare (and illegal) Double Eagle US coin from the deck of a ship. All goes according to plan until unexpected visitors show up underwater, out to either gain the Double Eagle themselves or shoot Mather (or both), and then the boat he rode in on blows up. From there, events begin at a rapid pace.

Realizing that somehow, the rare coin and a set of documents about the FBI's investigation into Martin Luther King, Jr. are connected, Mather meets Coleen Perry, a young cop who is the daughter of one of King's inner circle. The documents shed light onto the FBI's plot to assassinate King and how James Earl Ray comes to be the shooter. While some of the action seems more in the James Bond vein, the desire of retired FBI officials to keep the documents from coming to light are as much a mind-game as they are a thrill ride. Events happen in and around St. Augustine and Disney World, and Berry has done excellent research into the Civil Rights movement and what could maybe have happened all those decades ago. ( )

I love a good conspiracy theory and Steve Berry is among the best at telling a great conspiracy story. The Bishop’s Pawn is an origin story for Berry’s famed Cotton Malone and centers around the fictionalized final days of Martin Luther King and his murder in 1968. At the time of this story, some thirty years after the assassination of King, Malone, based on his maverick reputation, specific skill set and at the suggestion of friends in high places, is recruited by Stephanie Nelle to recover a very valuable, highly illegal coin from a sunken boat off the coast of Florida. The situation is at once not what it seems and soon Malone is being hunted by several factions at once. His reluctant partner is a Florida Orange County police officer who is using the coin and what it is intended to buy to get information that her father, who had been a low-level confidant of MLK, has been hiding from her and the world for the last three decades.

This is classic Cotton Malone; wonderfully written, quick paced and full of intriguing plot twists. Various theories about the murderer and what connections he may have to the FBI and other organizations have been floating around for decades. The author has done a masterful job of weaving organic proven facts into his fictional world. While I was actually quite shocked at the final twist of the story, given what I know of that historical time frame, I find it, sadly, quite plausible. This is another must-read for Berry and Cotton Malone fans

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Very interesting to know the backstory of how Cotton came to be the first agent of Magellan Billet. We see a much more optimistic and cocky version of him in this book, not the little jaded and cynical one we are used to.
I really enjoyed the amalgamation of the truth about the history between Hoover and MLK with the fictional possibilities of conspiracy to assassinate.
Steve Berry once again proves why I love his books so much...!!! ( )

A prequel to the Cotton Malone series, harking back to when Stephanie Nelle recruited him to work for the government, plucking him out of jail for a righteous killing. Cotton is asked to retrieve a case, and finds himself in over his head, without a proper understanding of his mission. Steve Berry's initial foray into a first person POV, Cotton's voice seemed authentic. A Cuban gangster and U.S. government source is trading valuable documents about the assassination of Martin Luther King for a Double Eagle gold coin. I have to say that Disneyworld and the Florida Everglades are not the exotic locales we readers have come to expect, and like another GR friend, it is hard to believe that Cotton would destroy documents of major historical importance, rather than simply protect them. ( )

I normally devour Cotton Malone mysteries. This, however, was a very different read for me. The whole story is told in a first person flashback. I find first person narratives more difficult. Cotton Malone is requested at the home of a Civil Rights activist, Rev. Foster. Foster was a close associate of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Cotton is reminiscing his first case dealing with the aftermath of King's assassination and Foster's connection with it. The author weaves fact and fiction to tell a tale of the possible reason for King's death. The story was relatively slow moving as Cotton relates his very first mission as an agent for the Magellan Billet. At the time he was still a JAG lawyer, recruited for this single mission to recover documents and a gold Double Eagle which are associated with the late FBI's J. Edgar Hoover's coverup of the King assassination. It's a twisted tale of racism, power struggles, and government coverups. I'm glad I read it, but it's not something I'd read again. ( )