Product Description

Acre, 1291: as the burning city falls to the Sultan's men, a lone galley escapes out to sea, carrying the young Templar Knight Martin of Carmaux, his mentor Aimard of Villiers, and a mysterious chest entrusted to them by the Order's dying Grand Master. Present day, Manhattan: Four masked horsemen, dressed as Templar Knights, emerge from Central Park and ride up to the Metropolitan Museum. They don't stop at the steps, but steer the horses through the crowds gathered for the gala opening of a major exhibition of Vatican treasures and storm into the museum, scattering the great and the good of Manhattan society. Caught in the brutal mayhem, archaeologist Tess Chaykin watches in silent terror as the leader of the horsemen homes in on one piece in particular, a strange geared device. He utters a few cryptic Latin words as he takes hold of it with reverence before leading the horsemen out and disappearing into the urban nightscape of Manhattan. The FBI's investigation team is led by Sean Reilly, an anti-terrorist specialist as well as a practising Catholic, aided by his longtime partner Nick Aparo and a Vatican envoy, the monsignor De Angelis. As the horsemen's dead bodies start turning up, and the importance of the stolen device becomes ever more apparent, Tess becomes more than a witness to the event. She and Reilly are drawn into the dark, hidden history of the crusading Knights, and of the last surviving Templars' fateful journey from Acre to the pyres of Paris. They're soon facing the deadly forces battling to recover the lost secret of the Templars, and find themselves propelled into a dangerous adventure which takes them through the cemeteries and sewers of Manhattan, across continents to desolate Turkish mountains and remote Greek islands, through a Mediterranean storm of biblical proportions and into the very heart of the Vatican. With Tess fuelled by an unswerving commitment to scientific truth, the archaeologist and the FBI agent's nascent relationship comes under intense pressure, as with each disturbing revelation relating to the Templars' long lost legacy, Reilly is plunged deeper into a spiritual and professional conflict which ultimately leaves them with the troubling burden of their shocking discovery.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #236358 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 388 pages

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

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

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!