The Last Kingdom

By: Steve Berry

Narrated by: Scott Brick

From celebrated New York Times bestselling author, Steve Berry, comes the latest Cotton Malone adventure, in which the discovery of a lost historical document challenges the global might of the United States.

King Ludwig II of Bavaria was an enigmatic figure who was deposed in 1886, mysteriously drowning three days later. Eccentric to the point of madness, history tells us that in the years before he died Ludwig engaged in a worldwide search for a new kingdom, one separate, apart, and in lieu of Bavaria. A place he could retreat into and rule as he wished. But a question remains: did he succeed?

Enter Cotton Malone. After many months, Malone’s protégé, Luke Daniels, has managed to infiltrate a renegade group intent on winning Bavarian independence from Germany. Daniels has also managed to gain the trust of the prince of Bavaria, a frustrated second son intent on eliminating his brother, the duke, and restoring the Wittelsbach monarchy, only now with him as king. Everything hinges on a 19th century deed which proves that Ludwig’s long-rumored search bore fruit--legal title to lands that Germany, China, and the United States all now want, only for vastly different reasons.

In a race across Bavaria for clues hidden in Ludwig’s three fairytale castles--Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee--Malone and Daniels battle an ever-growing list of deadly adversaries, all intent on finding the last kingdom.

Critic reviews

"A fascinating listen for fans of Bavarian history and the landscapes and castles of Germany."—AudioFile

Very enjoying and gripping story...

Having spent time in the area, it was like being there again. I could taste the beer and hear the cheer of everyone in the hall.

The narrator was articulate and unobtrusive in their delivery...made you very comfortable and was easy to play the “movie” in my head as I listen to Scott Brick voicing the narrative.

As for the story, it was intricate without banging you on the head with an overabundance of detail/history. I do wish the books would focus more on Cotton’s perspective the bouncing about from every man jack in the story.

Narration distracting, plot drags

Narration overly-dramatic (including character’s ordering of waffles) to the point of negating any drama. Storyline not as good as others I’ve read by this author - seems to drag on and on, and on.

Learned a lot

I liked the subject matter but too much information, had to stop and backup several times to keep all the characters straight.

Berry Good

I caught the History Matters reference before the end of this book- it made me smile! I savored this one with numerous Mai Tais!

Good, but not Great🤷🏾‍♀️

I'm glad that the history lesson at the end of each chapter stopped. The story was quite intricate and bounced around between different timelines too much, making it difficult to follow at times. Although I found it to be a good listen overall, I did find myself drifting off during certain parts of the book without missing any important plot points. Perhaps these were the parts that didn't contribute much to the story. Regardless, I think this marks the end of the Cotton series and that the author will now focus on the character of Luke.