Steve Berry’s Next Cotton Malone Novel Set for Early 2025 Release

On February 11th, 2025, Cotton Malone returns to solve a five-hundred-year-old mystery in The Medici Return, the latest thriller in Steve Berry’s New York Times bestselling series.

Berry—who burst onto the thriller scene a few years after the success of Dan Brown’s The Davinci Code (2003)—has written (or co-authored) nearly thirty novels. He is best known for his Cotton Malone series, which, though they are set in the present day, mixes action with historical fiction, similar in vein to certain works by Brad Meltzer. Berry first introduced readers to his hero, Cotton Malone, in his acclaimed debut, The Templar Legacy, which was released in 2006.

Most recently, Malone starred in The Atlas Maneuver, which came out earlier this year. That book follows Cotton as he attempts to unravel a mystery from World War II involving a legendary lost treasure and touches on cryptocurrency in a way that will forever change the way you think of Bitcoin.

Now, Cotton is primed to return, and judging by the plot details below, he’ll have his work cut out for him.

Release Date: February 11th, 2025

Grand Central Publishing

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From celebrated New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry comes the latest installment in his wildly popular Cotton Malone series — an adventure that takes Cotton to Italy and Tuscany to solve a five hundred year old mystery.

Cotton Malone is on the hunt for a forgotten 16th-century Pledge of Christ — a sworn promise made by Pope Julius II that evidences a monetary debt owed by the Vatican, still valid after five centuries, now worth in the trillions of dollars. But collecting that debt centers around what happened to the famed Medici of Florence — a family that history says died out, without heirs, centuries ago. Two more things also hang in the balance. Who will become the next prime minister of Italy, and who will be the next pope. Finding answers to all three proves difficult until Cotton realizes that everything hinges on when, and if, the Medici return.

Steve Berry is the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of eighteen Cotton Malone novels, five stand-alone thrillers, two Luke Daniels adventures, and several works of short fiction. He has over twenty-six million books in print, translated into forty-one languages. With his wife, Elizabeth, he is the founder of History Matters, an organization dedicated to historical preservation. He serves as an emeritus member of the Smithsonian Libraries Advisory Board and was a founding member of International Thriller Writers, formerly serving as its co-president.

Fans excited to pre-order Steve Berry’s next book can now pre-order The Medici Return here or anywhere else books are sold.

Praised as “One of the hardest working, most thoughtful, and fairest reviewers out there” by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). Steck also works full-time as a freelance editor in addition to running TRBS. He is the author of FIELDS OF FIRE, which #1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr says “will leave you speechless and begging for more,” LETHAL RANGE, OUT FOR BLOOD, and TED BELL’S MONARCH. For more information, follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and BookBub. To interact with other readers and talk about your favorite books and authors, join The Real Book Spy’s Discord server.