It's been years since I've read a Steve Berry novel and as exciting as this was, I don't really know why I stopped. Well stopped reading them but certainly not buying them as I own six that I haven't read yet. I remember really liking the combination of mystery and history. This one focuses on Napoleon who I don't know much about except that he was a short greedy man and he was exiled so this gave me a little bit of learning as well as great entertainment. The main focus of the book is politics (which I admit, got a little boring and mostly over my head) and revenge (on two fronts). The first vendetta (hence the title) was Eliza Laroque's families continued hated of Napoleon and the second is Henrik Thorvaldsen's heartbreak over his son, Cai's death and his determination to end the life of the man who killed him. Of course, that's not it. We also get a major treasure hunt (well two actually). One based on a German cache and one left behind by Napoleon.
The amount of research that went into this novel is absolutely amazing. It was also interesting to read the Author's Notes and learn what was true and what was creative license. This is a fast-paced novel that draws you in quickly even with the confusing nature of too many characters and too many plot points.
