Steve Berry's ending of The Warsaw Protocol left me wanting to dive into the next adventure. After a nerve-wracking adventure, Cotton Malone and Cassiopeia Vitt sat down to enjoy each other's company - for a minute. They were interrupted by ex PresidentDanny Daniels who needed their help immediately. In the Kaiser's Web, Cotton and Cassiopeia take off to investigate an issue requested by the Chancellor of Germany who is in the middle of difficult re-election with an immoral candidate. Our heroes venture to Poland, Germany, Brazil, Switzerland, Austria, and Africa to answer questions around the ending of the lives of Eva Braun and Hitler.

I loved The Kaiser's Web. It is a quintessential Steve Berry brimming with historical facts on the German political system, the reparation and inclusivity expectations following both world wars, and the rumours that surround deaths of Braun and Hitler (and other Nazi collaborators). I found myself gasping at the historical information shared, and then holding my breath as Cotton and Cassiopeia worked together to aid, stop, and save those in their company.

As you can no doubt tell, I am a huge fan of Steve Berry and the Cotton Malone series and the way he merges history, intrigue, and adventure. His characters, not just Cotton and Cassiopeia, are multi-faceted and I find my self hoping or hating.

If you love history, intrigue and an adventure with dynamic characters through cultures, countries, and centuries, then The Kaiser's Web is the book for you. And if you adove Steve Berry as much as I do, you'll leave even more about our beloved heroes.

History tells us that at the end of the Second World War, Hitler and his companion Eva Braun commited suicide. It also tells us that many Nazi's fled to South America to live the rest of their lives in hiding from the crimes they committed. But what if history got it wrong, and a pregnant Eva Braun escaped ? Cotton Malone must unweave the web of that mystery as Germany is poised for a contentious election - one that could put a Nazi sympathizer as it's Chancellor!

This was a really interesting concept for a book. I love history and this was so interesting so consider a different path of history. I enjoy Steve Berry's writing style and it is easy to read and get pulled into. I look forward to his next book.

The current book is Steve Berry's 16th featuring Cotton Malone and involved with Malone's venture into problems arising from a part of history that is normally not focused on in most historical records. In this novel a secret dossier by a world war II Soviet spy contains information that if true and confirmed could quite easily change the entire prospective of the world to date and alter Europe's political landscape.
Cotton and his friend Cassiopeia Vitt have been asked by the ex-president of the U.S. to come to the aide of one of the candidates vying for the position of Chancellor of Germany with a record of 16 years holding that position. She is running against a man that is stoking the flames of Nationalistic turning away from the world as his stated platform for office. The two candidates are both holding secrets about themselves which if exposed can remove that individual from consideration for the office of Chancellor. The crux of the matter stems from the date of April 30th 1945 when both Adolf Hitler and his long time mistress and last minute wife: Eva Braun committed suicide in order not to face capture by invading Russian troops.
Mr. Berry's story raises the unanswerable question of whether or not Hitler and his wife, among others escaped the bunker they were hiding in or not. The story plays out under the author's s indicating that at least Eva did escape under Hitler's order and was smuggled into Chile in South America where she lived out her life. Steve Berry also includes the possibility of Martin Bormann who was close to Hitler and the moneyman for the third Reich successfully escaping and possibly having a relationship with Braun.
There are still many stories of Nazis escaping allied justice and settling in welcoming countries such as Chile, Argentina and South Africa. Impossible to answer but the author does present certain factors that could be interpreted as proof that they did. He also indicates in an afterward that tests, especially examination of dental records do indicate that at least Hitler and Eva died in the bunker. The problem is that the Russians never produced the bodies leaving doubts about them actually being dead. The reading of the novel is as mesmerizing as any book I have read and is one that causes a thinking process that continues after the book is finished. Mr. Berry holds the personal opinion that the world, especially in Europe is turning irrevocably towards nationalism. His indication is that the semi stagnation of countries imbued with the Nationalistic bent and turning away from international connection are affecting the world's economy and will cause near term problems.
I trust that I am interpreting the author's intent incorrectly but I also finished the novel with the thought that Cotton Malone would no longer appear in Steve Berry's books. Malone is a colorful character, and someone like him would certainly need to appear to live the stories told by the author.