Book Log 2012 #18: The Columbus Affair by Steve Berry

While this takes place in the same universe as the Cotton Malone series, this stand-alone book follows a disgraced newspaper reporter who is recruited by a shadowy billionaire to help solve a mystery involving Columbus and some of the most sacred artifacts in all of Judaism. Along the way the reporter has to come to terms with the two most painful broken relationships in his life (his father and his daughter) and the potential to restore his good name. There's also the involvement of a Jamaican crime lord, whose ambitions and cultural pride cause their own issues.

The background needed for the main character would not have allowed this book to be another Malone adventure, and I think that's a good thing. The Malone series could use a break; this year is the first year since 2006 that we won't have a new book in the series, and I hope writing a stand-alone work will help refresh the series.

This is a better outing than the last two or three Malone books, which I think comes from having new dynamics to explore between characters and, more importantly, having a good historical mystery to work with. For someone as well-known as Columbus there is a great deal of uncertainty about his background, and when you throw in some of the quirky facts about his first voyage there's ample room to create an interesting story. I kind of hope we get more stand-alone novels in the future.