Steve Berry Books In Order

Publication Order of Cotton Malone Books

Publication Order of Cassiopeia Vitt Adventure Books

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of The MatchUp Collection Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

About Steve Berry:

Steve Berry is an American novelist who started out as an attorney while he was still struggling to find publishing companies that would accept his work. He has publicly acknowledged that he believes that the only reason he was able to gather the willpower and discipline to both write novels and repeatedly submit them, despite numerous rejections, is because of his background at a Catholic school.

When he was first trying to get his original manuscript he went through 85 rejections before finally gaining an acceptance. By the time his manuscript was accepted by a publishing company, Ballantine Press, it was already on his fifth edition. Having written quite an extensive number of books, some of which are part of a series while others are stand alone novels, he has been placed on prestigious lists such as The New York Times and USA Today.

While he struggled quite a lot to receive a publication for his first novel, he then went on to sell so many books that there are not 17 million copies of his novels in print. Steve Berry was born in Georgia, graduated from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University. He was also a trial lawyer for 30 years before and during his efforts as a novelist. On top of all of this, he is also the founder of International Thriller Writers, an organization designed to meet the needs of thriller writers everywhere.

History Enthusiast

One thing that has consistently been very important to Steve Berry is history. On his website’s bio he even goes so far as to claim that History is at the very heart of all of his novels, because it is something that he is extremely passionate about.

While this may be colloquially common amongst attorneys, even since resigning from law to focus on writing novels full time, Steve Berry’s enthusiasm over history has never been dissuaded. He claims that history is an important part of culture and that this is why writing novels that are steeped in historical fact and mystery is an important part of his writing technique.

His wife, Elizabeth, is perhaps equally interested in History and believes as much as he does that it is an integral part of a solid, robust education. It is because of their shared passion for the subject that they even went so far as to start a non profit called History Matter. As you can imagine, this non profit is focused on the importance of teaching history to children and maintaining history as a part of our overall educational process.

Steve Berry’s Books

Before migrating into the realm of writing serial fiction thrillers, Steve Berry focused on writing stand alone historical thriller novels. His first couple of books are all stand alone novels and can be read in any order, these include The Amber Room, The Romanov Prophecy, and The Third Secret.

The Columbus Affair, which he wrote later on, is also a stand alone novel that can be read without any need for context. After having written a couple of books that could stand alone with ease, he eventually graduated to the serial thriller series of Cotton Malone.

According to Steve Berry, although there is a stated order for reading the Cotton Malone books, that is not an absolute necessity. He clearly states that anyone can start anywhere in the series, even reading the books last to first and they will not be disappointed.

So, while there is a distinct order in which the books are written and in which the books take place, they do not build upon each other in a way that would exclude readers who are late to the party. He encourages readers to try them as a series, but has specifically written them so you can enjoy them however you please.

The Cotton Malone Series

Cotton Malone is a very interesting spy character, with a background that is very original. He is an agent with an organization that is called the Magellan Billet. The fictional organization is a division of the Justice Department that is as elite as it is highly qualified.

It consists of high profile lawyers that are not so much spies as they are the intellectual elite – professionals so widely versed in legal and arcane knowledge that they can crack high profile, international cases that other agents would not stand at a chance at even understanding.

This is where Cotton Malone works, and the kind of cases that he handles.

1. The Templar Legacy – the series begins with this book, where Cotton Malone happens across a purse snatcher who is so determined to resist arrest that he throws himself off of the roof of a building. Obviously, this remarkable feat piques Cotton Malone’s curiosity and is thus the beginning of both the book and the entire Cotton Malone serial thriller series.

2. The Alexandria Link – the second book in this exciting series centers around a wealthy mastermind, who is as eccentric as he is rich. Believing that Cotton Malone has something that belongs to the mastermind, he kidnaps Cotton Malone’s son. The problem with this whole debacle? Cotton Malone has no idea what it is he has that the wealthy mastermind believes was stolen.

3. The Venetian Betrayal – this time it is the Central Asian Federation’s supreme minister that is up to something very bad. He has a plan to further expand his operations by using a unique and extremely dangerous bioweapon that will destroy Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. The Central Asian Federation doesn’t care whether or not this bioweapon might plunge the entire world in a WWIII situation. Cotton Malone is tasked with the job of stopping this ruthless killer.

These are just the first three books in the series. It continues onward with Cotton Malone saving the world from various evil politicians, turned American Secret Service operatives, and a variety of other villains that have an interest in destroying the world as we know it.

Cotton Malone is a very unique type of spy story, mostly because of Steve Berry’s interest in History and the occult, and how these themes continually rise in his spy stories. The series never stops coming up with new and exciting ways that evil can rise, while Cotton Malone constantly struggles to keep them from conquering the world that we know and love.

9 Responses to “Steve Berry”

1. Ed Blomster: 2 years ago

   I’m trying to order “Plan Zero” from Amazon, but it keeps coming up German Edition. Is it available in English from Amazon?

   Reply
   • Graeme: 2 years ago

     That is the German edition. The 14th Colony is the English version.

     Reply
2. Tom Morgan: 2 years ago

   The Amber Room was the first book by Steve Berry I ever read, and I have been hooked ever since. But he should warn people not to start one of his books unless they have time to read it straight through, because they will not be able to put it down!

   Reply
3. Sandra: 2 years ago

   I just saw a post on Instagram. 95% of my reading is Inspirational, Inspirational Historical & Amish. The other 5% is Thriller…Clive Cussler & Wilbur Smith. I’d like to + you to the 5%. Please send a list as to where to begin. I prefer keeping within series. Thank you, Sir.

   Reply
   • Graeme: 2 years ago

     You can follow the lists above.

     Reply
4. Jacob: 2 years ago

   Been awhile since I’ve been here. Like the site and info, but it seems that the Steve Berry page has changed a great deal. Many of his books are no longer listed on your site.

   Reply
   • Graeme: 2 years ago

     What books are missing?

     Reply
5. Norma Burson: 2 years ago

   Thank you for listing books as you do. It helps readers to easily find the next book!

   Reply
   • Graeme: 2 years ago

     You’re welcome 🙂 Thanks for the kind words!

     Reply