The Lost Order: A Novel (Cotton Malone Book 12)

The Lost Order is the twelfth Cotton Malone novel by Steve Berry, continuing his history-based thriller series. The Knights of the Golden Circle was a large clandestine organization in American history that accumulated billions in stolen gold and silver, buried in hidden caches across the United States. Since 1865, treasure hunters have searched for this wealth with little success. One hundred sixty years later, two remaining factions of the Knights seek the lost treasure for different purposes: one to spend it, the other to preserve it. Former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone becomes caught in this conflict, discovering his connection to the knights runs deeper than he knew. The Smithsonian Institution plays a central role, linked to the treasure and to Malone through an ancestor—Confederate spy Angus "Cotton" Adams—whose story holds crucial answers. The situation is further complicated by the political ambitions of a reckless Speaker of the House and a bitter widow of a United States Senator, who plan radical changes to the country. As Malone and Cassiopeia Vitt investigate the past, ex-president Danny Daniels and Stephanie Nelle face an unexpected threat that may prove fatal to one of them. The story spans locations from the Smithsonian to rural Arkansas and the mountains of northern New Mexico.