The Lincoln Myth - Steve Berry
After three unsuccessful tries, struggling author Dan Brown cracked the NYT bestseller lists with The Da Vinci Code in 2003 – and by 2005 his previous novels had also gone viral, in the literary sense. Most critics of a literary bent considered tdVC to be little more than a potboiler, but there’s no denying that Brown managed to hit on the magical formula that sells books like hotcakes. And that’s why a bazillion other books have been written that attempt to follow the magic formula.
The elements of Brown’s formula are: a mystical religious relic, a centuries-old conspiracy, a larger-than-life hero, a madman (preferably filthy rich), a beautiful woman, and skein of puzzles.
 |
| Salt Lake Temple (credit: Entheta, wikimedia commons) |
So far, Steve Berry has written at least nine attempts to recapture Brown’s formula. He’s sold a lot of books in the process, but the sad truth is that while Brown’s efforts are at least pedestrian, Berry’s Cotton Malone series (The Alexandria Link, The Templar Legacy) can’t even reach that level. Neither can The Lincoln Myth, for that matter…
Cotton Malone may have retired, but his old boss still has the big guy on speed dial. That’s how he's gotten entangled in the web of intrigue involving a 160-year-old letter between Abraham Lincoln (that Lincoln, the 16th PoTUS) and Brigham Young (that Young, a prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints – the Mormons). Seems there’s a cabal of Mormon fundamentalists who want the letter, long hidden, and – more to the point – a secret addendum to the U. S. Constitution that will supposedly allow states to secede at will.
| Obviously, the current prexy (a Dem) doesn’t want any secessions, no matter how many Texans signed their petition, so he’s enlisted the Magellan Billet (Malone’s ex-employer) to stop the plot in its tracks. Malone should be done once he finishes his first little job, but once he discovers his girlfriend (the pneumatic Cassiopeia Vitt) has cozied up to the Spanish madman Josepe Salazar (filthy rich Mormon fundamentalist) who is bankrolling the cabal. Salazar, for what it’s worth, has regular conversations with an angel who is also Joseph Smith, founder of LDS. After flitting from Copenhagen to Austria, the President’s nephew (d’oh!) and Malone take the fight to the States: Des Moines (Iowa???), Virginia, and – of course – Utah. Malone learns his girlfriend ain’t happy with him and several people get dead. Everything comes out peachy, of course; except Malone’s love life; but what’s a potboiler without a little cliffhanger? |
Like most tdVC wannabes, The Lincoln Myth revolves around some historical truth and an author’s apparent desire to take long vacations and write them off on his taxes. Hell, I’d love an excuse to write off trips to Austria and Copenhagen, even northern Utah. The little trip to Des Moines, though, is a tad confusing – perhaps Berry has family there… Be that as it may, The Lincoln Myth suffers all the usual shortcomings of Berry’s fiction: the writing is clumsy (“the white façade of the Capitol was lit bright”) and the plot finds itself fumbling in the dark far too often to be considered believable - bizarre coincidences, strange leaps of fancy. And don’t get me started on the long travelogues…
Then there’s the whole Cassiopeia Vitt as Jack Mormon (Jill Mormon?) thread, a bizarre coinky-dink that, frankly, muddies the plot more than it propels it forward. Perhaps that’s the only way Berry could concoct to get his protagonist out of his cozy book store, but if that’s the case he’s not particularly imaginative.
Of course the main problem with the plot is that some Spanish Mormon billionaire (at least he’s not an Italian Catholic for once) is dying to see a bunch of states secede from the Union. Most of the Europeans I know (and they’re by and large well-educated and intelligent) don’t give a rat’s ass about the state of the Union… but, then, Josepe Salazar is certifiable, so all bets are off.
For this reader’s money, The Lincoln Myth is worth every penny I paid for it: none (thank you for the loan, Harris County Public Library). I see I haven’t missed much by skipping the last six Cotton Malone novels - and I will very likely skip the next six as well.
You should, too.
copyright © 2014-2020 scmrak
No comments:
Post a Comment