malone, cotton (fictitious character)

"September 1861: all is not as it seems. With these cryptic words, a shocking secret passed down from president to president comes to rest in Abraham Lincoln's hands. And must make a fateful choice: save thousands of American lives or sacrifice the nation's future. The present: in Utah, the remains of a nineteenth century Mormon expedition that ended in murder have been uncovered. In Washington, D.C., the investigation of an international entrepreneur and Mormon elder has sparked a heated conflict between the White House and a powerful senator. In Denmark, a missing Magellan Billet agent is at the mercy of a zealot driven by divine visions. And Cotton Malone has suddenly gone from selling books to dodging bullets, plunged into a secret war set in motion more than two hundred years ago by America's Founding Fathers. From the streets of Copenhagen to the catacombs of Salzburg to the rugged mountains of Utah, a dangerous conspiracy is gathering power. And Cotton Malone must risk life, liberty, and his greatest love to uncover the stunning truth that could tear the United States apart."--from back cover.

Former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone decides to help after hearing his old friend Cassiopeia Vitt is in trouble and soon finds himself caught up in a mystery involving an emperor's tomb, a secret society, and a battle for control of China and the world.

Ex-Justice Department agent Cotton Malone searches for answers about his father's mysterious death, supposedly in a submarine in the North Atlantic, and follows clues linked to the Nazis, cryptic journals, and an ancient civilization in Antarctica while Admiral Ramsey plots to become the next leader of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Former Justice Department operative Cotton Mather foils an attempt to assassinate President Danny Daniels in Manhattan, and finds himself at odds with the Commonwealth, a secret society of pirates dating back to the American Revolution that wields unstoppable power thanks to a clause written into the U.S. Constitution.