Cotton Malone is the protagonist of Steve Berry’s international thriller series. A former operative for the U.S. Justice Department’s Magellan Billet, Malone retired to Copenhagen where he runs a rare bookshop. His retirement never lasts long — each novel pulls him back into a conspiracy where historical secrets have present-day consequences.
Malone’s appeal as a character comes from the combination of scholar and soldier. He reads ancient manuscripts and shoots his way out of ambushes with equal competence, and the series builds each plot around real historical mysteries — the Knights Templar, the Library of Alexandria, the secrets of the Vatican — that Malone must decode before his enemies do. The Cotton Malone series collects all the books in reading order.
Reading Order#
See the complete Cotton Malone reading order for all books in the series.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Cotton Malone?
Cotton Malone is a former operative for the Magellan Billet, a division of the U.S. Justice Department. After retiring, he opened a rare bookshop in Copenhagen, Denmark. His expertise in history and his intelligence training make him uniquely suited to unravel conspiracies that connect historical mysteries to modern-day threats.
How many books feature Cotton Malone?
Cotton Malone is the protagonist of 25 novels by Steve Berry, published between 2006 (The Templar Legacy) and 2026 (The Devil’s Bible), along with several shorter works.
Why does Cotton Malone live in Copenhagen?
After leaving the Justice Department, Malone chose Copenhagen as his home and opened a rare bookshop. The European base allows Berry to set his thrillers across the continent and beyond, and Malone’s life as a bookseller reflects his scholarly side — he is as comfortable in an archive as he is in a firefight.