©2025 Fable Group Inc.
3.5 

The Lost Order

By Steve Berry
The Lost Order by Steve Berry digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

The Lost Order continues renowned New York Times bestseller Steve Berry’s Cotton Malone series with another riveting, history-based thriller.

The Knights of the Golden Circle was the largest and most dangerous clandestine organization in American history. It amassed billions in stolen gold and silver, all buried in hidden caches across the United States. Since 1865 treasure hunters have searched, but little of that immense wealth has ever been found.


Now, one hundred and sixty years later, two factions of what remains of the Knights of the Golden Circle want that lost treasure—one to spend it for their own ends, the other to preserve it.

Thrust into this battle is former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone, whose connection to the knights is far deeper than he ever imagined. At the center is the Smithsonian Institution—linked to the knights, its treasure, and Malone himself through an ancestor, a Confederate spy named Angus “Cotton” Adams, whose story holds the key to everything. Complicating matters are the political ambitions of a reckless Speaker of the House and the bitter widow of a United States Senator, who together are planning radical changes to the country. And while Malone and Cassiopeia Vitt face the past, ex-president Danny Daniels and Stephanie Nelle confront a new and unexpected challenge, a threat that may cost one of them their life.

From the backrooms of the Smithsonian to the deepest woods in rural Arkansas, and finally up into the rugged mountains of northern New Mexico, The Lost Order by Steve Berry is a perilous adventure into our country’s dark past, and a potentially even darker future.

Download the free Fable app

app book lists

Stay organized

Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.
app book recommendations

Build a better TBR

Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building tool
app book reviews

Rate and review

Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tags
app comments

Curate your feed

Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities
app book lists

Stay organized

Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.
app book recommendations

Build a better TBR

Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building tool
app book reviews

Rate and review

Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tags
app comments

Curate your feed

Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities

196 Reviews

3.5
“I always love the Cotton Malone books, and certainly, the action in this one was as good as always. Cotton and Cassiopeia are together, both personally and professionally, and Danny and Stephanie are headed there as well. There's lost treasure (in fact, the opening scene makes me want to buy a metal detector and hit the beach to search for lost gold!) and spy codes, all encoded in the Smithsonian. And we finally get to hear about Cotton's nickname! But there were a couple of things that hit me wrong in this one. First, a continuity issue. In the very first book of the series, we meet Cassiopeia and we hear that her dad was Spanish and her mom was Tanzanian. But in this book, she says that her father is Spanish and her mother is European. That isn't accurate and doesn't even make sense; that would be like me saying my dad was from Texas and my mom was from the United States. (Although to be fair, I should have mentioned a couple of books ago another bit of discongruity - in the first book we learn that Vitt is Muslim but in https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18310175.The_Lincoln_Myth__Cotton_Malone___9_ it seems that her family, and she by default, were Mormon). I could have misheard since I listened rather than read, but I don't think so. More than that, though, I was bothered by the fact that in this book, there was a proto-KKK organization and nobody seemed to be overly bothered by the fact that there were still people who subscribed to its tenets (except for the GOAT, Danny Daniels, who was pretty grossed out by it all). Everyone was more concerned with the treasure. Where was the Confederate gold? Who was going to find it? Who got to keep it? There seemed to be a case of idol worship going on regarding Angus Adams, and he was, unabashedly, a Confederate spy. Did he regret it later in life? Way later. Like on his deathbed later. But everyone thought he was a hero. So essentially, there's been a resurgence (or they never stopped existing?) of this organization that is all about the lost gold and restructuring the government because "the Confederate constitution had some good ideas." I just feel with all my heart that if the basis of your new country is "you can't tell us that we can't own other human beings," then I don't care what other ideas you have for a country. And, yeah, uh-huh, states' right (...to do what? Own slaves, so let's not have that fight already). It just felt slimy, every time someone was like "well they used to believe in slavery but they don't anymore." Bravo. Good job with the basic human decency. So I know the author wasn't promoting slavery but I also couldn't tell that he wasn't promoting the Confederacy. History is great. I love it. But I also don't want to read stories where the Nazis are idealized in the "but the Third Reich had some great ideas" sort of way, regardless of whether or not the hidden gold is still out there. That's the level of distaste I felt here. So this isn't my favorite. I didn't hate it, but it won't ever be a re-read for me.”

About Steve Berry

STEVE BERRY is the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of a dozen Cotton Malone novels and several standalones. He has 21 million books in print, translated into 40 languages. With his wife, Elizabeth, he is the founder of History Matters, which is dedicated to historical preservation. He serves on the Smithsonian Libraries Advisory Board and was a founding member of International Thriller Writers, formerly serving as its co-president.

Start a Book Club

Start a public or private book club with this book on the Fable app today!

FAQ

Do I have to buy the ebook to participate in a book club?

Why can’t I buy the ebook on the app?

How is Fable’s reader different from Kindle?

Do you sell physical books too?

Are book clubs free to join on Fable?

How do I start a book club with this book on Fable?

Error Icon
Save to a list
0
/
30
0
/
100
Private List
Private lists are not visible to other Fable users on your public profile.
Notification Icon
Fable uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB