The Sanctuary by Raymond Khoury Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Sanctuary
Book Review: Pretty Good, But Not Great
Summary: 4 Stars
This was an entertaining read. Not as good as The Last Templar though. Khoury's historic narratives and dialog were much better than his present time storytelling. It was somewhat confusing at points. A little bit of a sophmore jinx maybe??Book Review: Quasi-immortality does not bring happiness!
Summary: 4 Stars
Good read. Mr. Khoury tackles an interesting subject: What if you could live 3 times longer than the average person? Would this bring you happiness? Or, would it bring problems that the average person does not have to deal with? In this interesting "time" thriller Mr. Khoury endeavors to answer this. Using flashbacks to prior centuries and a race between ancient antagonists and their offspring, The Sanctuary alternates between the old and modern day to analyze a quest for an age altering elixir of life. It's real, it works, but does it bring happiness? That seems to be the premise that Mr. Khoury tries to answer.
The problem with books of this type is they usually become bloated with several plot lines running simultaneously. Not so with The Sanctuary. Mr. Khoury keeps the past in perspective and keeps the reader engaged with the present. Hard to do but The Sanctuary pulls it off. Also, when dealing with elixirs and immortality the tendency is to pontificate but in The Sanctuary Mr. Khoury allows the story to carry the action. The ending is reasonable and not too far fetched. Mr. Khoury does a good job with a difficult subject and keeps the reader involved.
No gratuitous sex or language. Some violence but necessary for plot development. The wolves scene toward the end is well done.
Recommended. Not quite as good as The Last Templar but a good solid read that tackles a difficult subject. Will make the reader think.
Book Review: Quit mid stream
Summary: 1 Stars
For those who pressed on, I hope the book gets better. Never before have I quit a book in the middle. The Sanctuary forced me to do it.
Ladies, please don't take this next section the wrong way. Tess, the heroine of Khoury's The Last Templar, I could handle. As an encore, Khoury drums up a grandmotherly archaeologist and her daughter. The characters didn't have much substance, whether on the side of good or evil, they were character props more than well drawn characters. They simply couldn't hold my attention.
A struggling author friend of mine read one time that, "the road to hell is paved with adverbs". Now, I may be exaggerating here because I no longer have the text in front of me, but - in the first section, taking place in Naples of the past, Khoury uses "menacingly" four times in as many paragraphs. Amateurish.
Skip over this one.
Book Review: Refreshing topic
Summary: 4 Stars
Having read The Last Templar, I had imagined that I would be dealing with yet another Da Vinci code clone. I was surprised to find that this book dealt with a refreshingly new topic: the quest for the elixir of life, longevity and immortality. Unlike many others, I like the side sojourns taken by Khoury from the main plot (I observed the same trait in another historical thriller The Rozabal Line). This particular style becomes "tedious" and "wordy" for some, but for many like me, I do not see myself reading non-fiction treatises and hence such fiction books that liberally mix historical/religious/research narrative are probably the only "enlightenment" that we are ever going to get. I like this author's style.Book Review: Sanctum Sanctorum
Summary: 5 Stars
"They're screaming Sanctuary!
They're screaming at YOU!
LOCK UP THE WOLVES!"
-- Ronnie James Dio