The Alexandria Link (2007)

Steve Berry treads familiar territory in The Alexandria Link, his follow-up to last year's best-seller The Templar Legacy, placing ex-secret agent Cotton Malone at the heart of another worldwide conspiracy. In Link, Malone races to save his kidnapped son from a mysterious cabal trying to solve ancient riddles that pinpoint the location of the lost Library of Alexandria. And while Berry occasionally twists himself into implausible plot pretzels, the lapses are quickly forgotten due to the sheer number of cliff-hangers. Malone, a hero with a personal stake in the proceedings, is a welcome respite from the cold, calculating superspies who litter the genre.