The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Last Templar
Book Review: A vivid and imaginative debut novel
Summary: 4 Stars
Scratch deeply enough under the veneer of a conspiracy theory, and you inevitably will find the Knights Templar at or near the source. At one point answerable only to the Popes of the Roman Catholic Church, the Knights became answerable just to themselves and ultimately fell out of favor with the Papacy. Stories, accounts and legends, often conflicting, surround the Knights Templar and concern everything from lost treasures to knowledge --- and power --- secretly preserved and handed down from generation to generation.
THE LAST TEMPLAR, the debut novel of Raymond Khoury --- a respected television and film scriptwriter --- centers on a secret of the Knights Templar that (it is rumored) is of such weight and bearing that its revelation will rock the world.
The novel is full of water cooler moments. For example, after reading just a few pages you will never walk past New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art again without looking toward Central Park in expectation of seeing four foreboding mounted knights riding out, lances at the ready. The occasion that brings the knights out of the woods is the unveiling of an exhibit entitled "The Treasures of the Vatican," or, more specifically, one of those treasures: an artifact that is the key to unlocking a centuries-old secret that has the power to bring down Christianity. The knights invade the Metropolitan, make off with the artifact, and the chase is on.
An FBI investigation is led by anti-terrorist specialist Sean Reilly. Soon, he and archaeologist Tess Chaykin are drawn into the dark, hidden history of the crusading Knights, and become involved in a deadly game of cat and mouse with ruthless killers as they race across three continents to recover the lost secret of the Templars.
Everyone has an agenda: there are those who want to reveal the secret to the world, those who want to maintain the status quo, and those who...well, they're not sure. Khoury does an excellent job of presenting arguments for both positions, even as opposing sides line up with equal degrees of ruthlessness to ensure that what they want to see happen will indeed occur. At the same time Khoury intermittently but smoothly takes the reader back into time, relating historical events of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries through a fictional glass and ultimately uncovering the truth behind the revelation that some want to make known and others want to conceal.
Khoury's extensive screenwriting experience holds him in good stead here. His narrative vision is cinematic in scope, so the story unfolds like a seamless film reel across the imagination. Any reader encountering THE LAST TEMPLAR will want 1) a film version, and 2) more novels from Khoury, not necessarily in that order. Recommended.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Book Review: A weaker Da Vinci Code...
Summary: 2 Stars
This book is another in a series of novels which use a conspiring church as the backdrop for their plot. In a sense, another attmept at da Vinci Code, perhaps inspired by the Code's phenomenal success. The author also uses more or less the same formula: a ghastly event at a museum, an attractive female archaeologist, a straight male companion (this time an FBI detective), a wicked priest(?), and a deadly church secret in the background.
Some of the touches that the author uses are an improvment on Dan Brown. For instance, there is a philosophical duel between faith and ratinality that the FBI detective fights within himself. Similarly, the initial scene about the museum robbery is quite vivid and spectacular and you can easily visualise the drama that goes on. Instead of being a sample of what is to come, the author gets a little lost thereafter, stretching coincidences across two continents, so that they all start looking extremely contrived. Possibly the museum scene comes out so well because Khoury is primarily a screen-writer.
In terms of characterisation, the FBI detective comes out very well. Similarly, the older archaelogist comes through with some conviction. The lady archaelogist is done in a weaker manner. However, the weakest work is the priest (?). His motivation, the background to his skills, is never filled in. Therefore, it is more difficult to understand his character. In fact, it may not be easy to figure out whether he was really a priest or a secret agent.
Talking of secrets, the Templar secret, over which they are supposed to have blackmailed the Church, itself comes out as a bit of a disappointment. The ending is interesting, in the sense that it is not anti-faith, but is somewhat disappointing, because the build-up is weak.
The weakest part of the book is the plot, which is full of unbeliveable coincidences. In Angels and Demons, Dan Brown does some manipulation of laws of probability to accomodate the development of his plot. In this book, Raymond Khoury simply assumes that no such laws exist. He also ignores how the US Government works (brining a priest into FBI meetings, and allowing him to dominate the meetings), and how the Vatican works (the link between CIA, the priest and the Vatican is never cleared up).
The result is a book which you can enjoy if you treat it as children's fiction.
Book Review: Almost There
Summary: 3 Stars
I am about three-quarters of the way through the book. On the positive side, the book maintains a very strong and engaging pace. I fear that on the negative side, the writing is very cliche driven. Additionally, there are sections where the author is providing interesting history lessons, the problem is that the narrative sounds like a classroom lesson. Nobody speaks that way in "normal" day to day conversations with others. In any event, I would still say that the book is worth reading. It is certainly a cut above the other seeming DVC inspired books.
Book Review: Almost there
Summary: 3 Stars
I heard nothing about the book and picked it up mostly because it was sitting next to "Da Vinci Code". I liked the structure and the quick-read of the story. It, like 'Da Vinci Code' lost it somewhere towards the end and it felt as though the writer had to 'wrap it up'.
I wish it had stayed in the one of the timelines. Instead in jumped around as if we were loosing interest or needed it 'spelled out for us'. All-in-all it is a decent read and a decent story.
Book Review: Almost there...
Summary: 3 Stars
The book had good potential. Interesting plot, but it failed by the middle. The characters were a bit too cliche and the story started to drag on for quite a bit in the middle and by the end, I was just waiting to finish it off. I predicted the ending when I read through 3/4 of the book.