Product Description

1291 AD, Acre. As the city burns under the onslaught of the Sultan's men, the Falcon Temple sets sail, carrying a small band of knights and a mysterious chest entrusted to them by the Order's Grand Master. But the ship vanishes without a trace... Present day New York. At the Metropolitan Museum, four horsemen dressed as Knights Templar storm the gala opening of an exhibition of Vatican treasures and, in a brutal and bloody attack, steal an arcane medieval decoder. For FBI agent Sean Reilly and archaeologist Tess Chaykin this is just the start of a deadly game of cat and mouse as they race across three continents in search of the ruthless killers - and a centuries-old mystery...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28716 in Books
• Published on: 2006-03-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

REVIEWING THE EVIDENCE
'fascinating... vivid and poignant'

Review
'All the makings of a blockbuster here, in the book charts and on the screen.' (SUNDAY SPORT )

'fascinating... vivid and poignant' (REVIEWING THE EVIDENCE )

'brilliant plotting... fast-paced fascinating... thought provoking, and the journey, both physical and emotional, undertaken by the main protagonists in discovering it is truly page-turning stuff. (CRIMESQUAD )

'a good fast read that will make an afternoon in front of the fire fly by' (DEADLY PLEASURES )

About the Author
Raymond Khoury is a screenwriter of international renown, whose current credits include the BBC's highly successful spy drama, SPOOKS and WAKING THE DEAD.

Customer Reviews

Entertaining
In Raymond Khoury's 'The Last Templar' we begin with an exciting armed robbery of a Vatican exhibition at the Met in New York, by four horseman dressed as knights. An unusual start, but sets the tone for an entertaining book.

In the story we follow historian Tess Chayki and FBI agent Reilly as they are on a quest to find the thieves. But they become involved in something that is much more important than a mere robbery, but something that will shake the Vatican's foundations.

The story is a novel one, but nothing too surprising with conspiracy stories that are around these days. I did enjoy the mixture of the crime story set with a historical backdrop. And the flashbacks to olden times with the Knights Templar themselves in action was enjoyable. The story does lose pace a little towards the end and becomes more of a love story than an adventure chase.

But I enjoyed this, and would recommend it as a fun read.

A present day threat from medieval times
This book starts off with a robbery of a museum show as a cover to smoething else. At first the robbery is viewed as just that until a witness who is an archaeologist mentions her obersavtions in passing to the FBI agent in charge. The search for help uncovers the villain of the piece and sets in train a race to Turkey for something which threatens all religion via targetting of the Vatican and the catholic faith. There are fill-ins from notes of a Templar to help understand the race.
The end is quite good but a bit hollywood sweet and is in ways a neat tidying up. Saying anymore could ruin the plot.

There is a lot here a reader might recognise from the Da Vinci Code and similar books. It is a solid read which runs well. Pay attention and you won't be let down. A worthy read.

Better than the Da Vinci Code
How I wish I hadn't read The Da Vinci Code... Every story in this genre is now always going to suffer by comparison, and in many ways this is a better book. Raymond Khoury is an experienced scriptwriter and it really shows in the brilliant plotting of this book. It's fast-paced, and you can really imagine the story making a great movie! The characters are drawn with gusto, though sometimes the distinction between the "good guys" and the "bad guys" is just a little clichéd. The ultimate secret contained in the Templar manuscripts (yes, it is revealed...!) is both fascinating and thought provoking, and the journey, both physical and emotional, undertaken by the main protagonists in discovering it is truly page-turning stuff. My only real problem is with the ending of the book. It's literally a cliffhanger (no, I won't spoil it...), and personally I'd rather have seen things getting a bit less "wet". I do seriously urge you to read the book though - and you'll know what I mean!