La missione dei quattro cavalieri

Templar #1

by Raymond Khoury, Annalisa Garavaglia (Translator)

1291. La Terrasanta è perduta. Mentre i musulmani irrompono nella fortezza di Acri, seminando morte e distruzione, a quattro cavalieri Templari viene affidata una missione importantissima e segreta: portare lontano, oltre il mare, uno scrigno dal contenuto misterioso. Settecento anni dopo, all'inaugurazione di una mostra al Metropolitan Museum di New York, quattro imponenti cavalieri con le insegne dei Templari irrompono sulla scena e trafugano un oggetto descritto come "codificatore polifunzionale a rotori". Ma cos'è esattamente? Mentre l'FBI segue le piste più disparate, un cardinale rintraccia lo schema del marchingegno nell'Archivio Segreto del Vaticano... e capisce che non sarebbe mai dovuto uscire di lì.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Adventure, Historical, Suspense

471 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Raymond Khoury is the author of five consecutive New York Times and #1 international bestsellers, starting with his debut novel, THE LAST TEMPLAR. His books have been translated into 38 languages, with over 10 million copies in print.

Raymond came to writing thrillers from a career in screenwriting, which including the BAFTA award winning BBC series SPOOKS (aka MI:5 in the US) and Waking The Dead. It partly explains why his novels are often described as cinematic and very visual. As fellow bestselling author Steve Berry puts it: "his expertly chosen verbs cause the scenes to leap from the page. You can literally feel the blows as they're landed; wince as the bullets find their marks. He has an intense brand of storytelling all his own."

THE LAST TEMPLAR began its journey to print as Raymond's third original screenplay, written for film in 1996. At the time, a book agent suggested turning it into a novel, and a major NY publisher, the first to read it, offered Raymond a huge advance for the as-yet-unwritten novel, with one condition: "Lose the religion. It's boring. Change the Templars' secret to gold, diamonds, a physical treasure." After much tortured consideration, Raymond turned the offer down, his first potential check from writing. Almost exactly ten years later, his novel, based on that screenplay--religion included--became a global bestseller, hitting #1 in multiple countries and getting adapted into an NBC miniseries.

Raymond's thrillers are based on big themes that interest him such as international politics and conspiracies, fact vs faith, why we age and die, what do we really know about reincarnation, about mind control. He explores these themes in depth, with heavy emphasis on research, and often combines a historical angle to his stories. As such, some of his novels (THE LAST TEMPLAR, THE SANCTUARY, THE TEMPLAR SALVATION, RASPUTIN'S SHADOW) feature dual timelines: the bulk of the stories are set in the present day, interspersed with chapters that take place in the distant past. As Booklist puts it, "Khoury's thrillers engage the reader's mind, even as they move at a breakneck pace. Readers who like their thrillers to have a solid intellectual component will enjoy Khoury's books very much. Given the high quality of each of his novels, it seems fair to say that he may be around for a while."

Raymond's 8th novel is an epic alternate history and time travel story that Publishers Weekly called "ingeniously inventive" and "a classic of the genre": It is already out in the UK as THE OTTOMAN SECRET, and is out on Oct 1 in the US under a different title, EMPIRE OF LIES.

To find out more about him and his work, visit his website at raymondkhoury.com or connect with him on his Facebook page or on Instagram (@author.raymond.khoury).

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been reading for decades and love thrillers / archaeological / religious history books... how did I skip this one? Who knows... I'm a fickle nut to crack. March '21 was all about catching up in this sub-genre. I had high hopes in the beginning... the language was simple yet meaningful, it explained everything with the proper amount of detail, and it offered a good balance or drama and history. Somewhere in the middle it faltered and I struggled a bit. The ending pulled the book back together, and I will read the next in series.

Overall, I found the characters a bit dull. FBI Agent Sean was smart but had little personal story to attach myself to his success. Archaeologist Tess seemed like just a mom visiting the museum to suddenly becoming an expert who had to solve the puzzle for the sake of her kid. Truthfully, unless the author plans to use her child and ex-husband as a major plot for the next book, that part of the story was weak. It was supposed to endear us to her, but she sent her kid away with her mother and then basically forgot about them for weeks. The diving scenes while imaginative and somewhat interesting were too long and had minimal impact from the storm until the end. I felt it needed more drama and a real sense of -- how had no one else ever discovered this before?

Those were the negatives. On the positive side... wow, I learned a lot more about religion's intersections with the Crusades and New Testament. The book's inspired me to do some research on how Islam, Judaism, and Christianity come together in the past centuries. I found myself questioning things I believed in, and I also said, we need religion in order to keep people behaving properly. But is that always true? It worked in the past, but it doesn't now. Today, religious is used to spew hatred, not love (as the political aspect, I mean). I saw both sides in this book, so for that alone, it's a good read. I end up around 3.5 stars. It balanced itself out and I enjoyed it but not rushing to read because of the the suspenseful nature. I plan to read more because I feel like the book taught me something, and it also was a fun read. That's always positive!

[Billy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book! Don't believe the naysayers...,

This book was excellent and enthralling. The plot twists and characters were laid out wonderfully and I finished the book in just under a week because I could not put it down. Would have read it quicker if I hadn't gone to work each day.

Khoury has offered a piece of historical fiction (acurate up to the destruction of the Knights by Phillip the Fair of France) revolving around the mystery of the last days of the Knights Templar and the final resting place of the Holy Grail.

Apparently suspense comes naturally to Khoury and he has the reader guessing until the final chapter. He uses the premise of an escaped Templar and a letter that he has left behind which points to the fate of the Templars and the decisions made during their final days. Present day finds the search renewed based on this letter. The result is a work of historical fiction which will thrill any Templar lover. Despite many claims that this is a "Da Vinci Code" knock-off, Khoury had this concept long before Dan Brown and his story is more historically based and plausible than the far-fetched "Da Vinci Code".

The characters are believable, flawed but valiant, and the villains are underworld types who thrive on carnage, destruction and the accumulation of wealth. Very well done. Khoury should continue writing, and should he do so, his future works should be eagerly anticipated by thriller, mystery and historical fiction lovers.

Some people out there are claiming that this book is too much like the work of Dan Brown; I disagree. I enjoyed all 4 of Dan Brown's books, but they are not nearly as well written as this book. Dan Brown uses the story to carry the book where Khoury uses the book to lay out a rich, layered and complex story of historical, epic proportions.

Don't be misled by people who write this off too easily. Just consider what they have written, how they have written it and how intelligently they make their argument. I'm not sure why the book has generated such negative reviews, but they are largely undeserved. This book is well worth the read and is a surprisingly fluid novel for a first time novelist.

The story is of historical value, so people that claim that it is poorly written or cliche are not true historical fiction afficianados. This is a difficult genre and people are apparently misunderstanding what Khoury has done with this tale. I am a huge fan of historical fiction and of Templar history and this is by far the best Knights Templar fiction that I have read. Steve Berry's The Templar Legacy: A Novel is a good contribution, but this is the best.

So, if you want good historically based fiction, this is it. If you want outrageous, impossible or improbable stories based on one or two facts from history, you may want to look elsewhere. I thought this book was excellent and eagerly anticipate Khoury's next offering.

[Zeek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Initially, I found The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury to be surprisingly engaging, despite the less than stellar reviews on Amazon. By the time I turned the last page I understood why it doesn’t quite work for many people.

Doesn’t work for men- Because the writer attempted to throw in a romance between the FBI agent called in to solve the case of the mystery horseman dressed as Templar knights who raided NY Met committing gruesome murder along the way and the archeologist Tess, who just happened to be right where the one significant thing was stolen. Khoury should have avoided the romance. It wasn’t needed. An early Scully and Mulder relationship would have worked much better.

Doesn’t work for women- a man wrote the romance part. ‘Nuf said.

Doesn’t work for most- Too much rip off of Dan Brown. Too much info. Dumping. And too many clichéd and “oh, THAT’S convenient” moments.

Yet, for me anyway, the flaws didn’t bother me as much it should have. I happen to love The Gnostic vs The Church debate. It’s an old debate- since Christ ascended I would say- and it never fails to amuse me that people think they are being clever and “new” in their arguments. Still, I like to read about the history of it and the author threw in quite a bit of it. Now, the question is whether or not the author got it right from The Gnostic/Templar historical view. Personally I don’t care. It had enough in it to keep the pages turning- mostly because I wanted to figure out what the big secret was that the Catholic Church wanted to keep hidden. Thankfully, It wasn’t quite Dan Brown’s big “secret”, (*snort* secret), or I would have been done with it early on. But it’s unimaginative enough you might figure it out right away.

I’m giving it a 3 out of 5. It’s mildly entertaining- you just have to deal with his style of delivering it.

[Ana · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was absolutely horrendous. Everything from the characters, to the writing, to the plot is lacking in substance. The only good part about this book is the little history it gives you on the Templars and the Church, and even that is done in broad strokes and without passion. I simply cannot believe that people choose to think this is good writing and story-telling. Even as a thriller, the only thing that qualifies it for it is the pace. There's plot holes in this story as big as my head, the main character is one of the dumbest women I've ever read of and the dialogue is at about the level of a third-grader. And, after 500+ pages of something that can be as pleasurable as dyalisis at its best, the ending makes you want to throw the book at a wall. Seriously, wtf? It's compared with The Da Vinci Code - I didn't even like that, and it is still eons better. I'm sorry, it's just not worth the time. Not that it took me a lot of that.

[Liam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Perhaps the worst novel I have ever read. It makes Dan Brown look like an elegant stylist and a profound historian.

[Scot · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ultimately, I didn't like this book, but I hate failing any work with just one star, and parts of the plot were exciting, so I'll be magnaminous and give this two stars. I do enjoy historical studies, and have long been interested in the Knights Templar. When the opening few pages of this book were described to me by someone who had just started it, I mistakenly thought the book would involve time travel, and that intriguing overlay led me to eventually check it out for myself.

Those opening few pages were exciting, indeed. However, I also quickly noticed that the writing style was sketchy, the chapters short and not so sweet, and rather than offering the reader well chosen details and telling facts as evidence to arrive at conclusions about what characters were feeling or thinking, the author simply summarized, and the exposition was worked into dialogues in a very amateur manner. I thought I was reading a screenplay rather than a novel, only I lacked the benefit of an actor's depth giving any nuance or ambiguity to cliche behaviors and descriptions.

The obvious target audience is Da Vinci Code fans. This is a major rip-off of that novel in overall plot construction and flow, and it lacks even the less than stellar level of sophistication and adventure in the Dan Brown bestseller. (It does, however, take into account how post 9/11 security measures would affect conspiracy investigations, and it also pays homage to the popularity of "Finding Nemo.") The romantic thread between the hero and the heroine is sometimes hard to believe, as they both seem willing to change their entire code of behavior/belief system/worldview from time to time, rather abruptly, and illogically, because of the power of their mutual attraction.

Most of "the Last Templar" turns on a debate over whether Christianity (as it is understood and practiced today) is a charade knowingly propagated by the Vatican. If you are interested in a literary work (beyond the Dan Brown books) that explores such a possibility in a more compelling, thoughtful, and aesthetically pleasing way, don't read this, look to the Golden Compass series by Pullman.

The book lectures about Gnosticism as if no one ever heard of the Dead Sea Scrolls before, and explains overlays in the three Abrahamic religions as if connections between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam were a breaking news alert. Sure some of the adventure/action sequences in exotic locations kept me reading, but I think this story would definitely work better on the screen (and at that, probably as a TV movie on the Lifetime network).

Do I plan to seek out more books by this author? No. But am I still open to the possibility of other novels addressing this topic area or these themes in a more engaging literary and philosophical fashion? Yes.

[Md. Al Fidah · Rating 4 out of 5]

বেশ দ্রুত গতির একটা থ্রিলার। খুব আকর্ষনীয় প্লট না। ভিঞ্চি কোড এর প্লট এর সাথে আমার কাছে অনেক্টাই মিল আছে বলে মনে হয়েছে। কিন্তু ভিঞ্চি কোডের থ্রিল টা নাই। তারপরেও ছোট পরিসরে বেশ ভালভাবেই কাহিনী এগিয়ে গেছে।
বইটাতে স্টোরি টেলিং টা শুরুর দিকে যত ভাল ছিল শেষের দিকে তত ভাল হয় নি। প্রায় সময় কাকতালীয় ঘটনার উপস্থাপনা প্লট কে মারাত্মক ক্ষতিগ্রস্ত করেছে। আর টিপিক্যাল থ্রিলার বই এর মত এত ছোট বইএও রোমান্স এর উপস্থিতি অপ্রয়োজনীয় মনে হইছে আমার। বই টাতে যে ফিলোসফি দেখান হইছে তাও আমার কাছে ভাল লাগে নাই। আমি রক্ষনশীল বলেই হয়ত। আসলে কেন শেষ পর্যন্ত মানুষ কেই বা মানুষের জ্ঞান কেই জয়ী দেখাতে হবে তা বুঝতে আমি অক্ষম। ভিলেন এর যুক্তির সামনে নায়কের সম্পুর্ণ রুপে পরাজিত হওয়াতে এবং এর পরের ঘটনাবলীর কারনে, ভিলেন শক্তিতে পরাস্ত হলেও, moral victory ভিলেনেরই।
সব মিলিয়ে আমার উপলব্ধি ভিঞ্চি কোড আর ডিসেপশন পয়েন্ট এর কম্বিনেশন পড়লাম।

[Gordana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Odlicna knjiga, tematika kojoj nema kraja vec stoljecima i nikad ni nece biti. Jedina zamjerka..... E pa nadam se da se neki nece uvrijediti, al zasto bas uvijek crkva mora biti ta koja pobjecuje!

[Víctor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro sobre temática templaria que reúne todo lo que se puede esperar de este tipo de obras: intrigas, robos, conflictos religiosos, descubrimientos arqueológicos y unas dosis de acción muy peliculeras.

Al final creo que es de esas lecturas que pasan sin pena ni gloria por nuestras manos, que cumplen su función de entretenernos y que su ‘gracia’ está en esa ambientación que nosotros mismos buscamos. A mi me ha dado justo lo que quería: una lectura sencilla con el trasfondo templario que es muy rápida de leer pero que creo alarga demasiado algunas fases en las que el autor podría haberse ahorrado bastantes páginas. Si me ha gustado que intercalara presente y pasado para ir dejando algunos breves detalles sobre lo que fue la Orden del Temple.

Los personajes en general me han resultado bastante planos y el final ha sido un tanto decepcionante, pero tampoco me siento defraudado porque sabía qué iba a leer y tampoco tenía las expectativas muy altas. En definitiva, una lectura muy de domingo por la tarde.

[Vasilis Manias · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ένα βάσανο έχω πριν φύγω να πάω μία εκδρομή, ποιό θα είναι το βιβλίο που θα πάρω μαζί μου. Μπορεί να ετοιμάσω τα πράγματά μου σε 5 λεπτά κυριολεκτικά, χωρίς υπερβολή όμως έχω στήσει κόσμο για να στέκομαι σαν τον υπνωτισμένο μπροστά από τη βιβλιοθήκη μου διαλέγοντας το επόμενο διαμαντάκι. Και ο Τελευταίος Ναΐτης ήταν ένα βιβλίο που μήνες ολόκληρους μου είχε μπει στο μάτι. Το έπαιρνα, το άφηνα, μέχρις οτου ανακάλυψα πως το είχα δύο φορές αγορασμένο (Ναίτες στον τίτλο ένεκα) οπότε την τελευταία φορά που συναντηθήκαμε, το τσίμπησα.
Και (σχεδόν...) το λάτρεψα!
Χωρίς να θέλω να μπω σε λεπτομέρειες για την υπόθεση του, αν κάποιος μου έλεγε να περιγράψω την πλοκή του με 10 λέξεις θα έλεγα, «χάσαμε τον Ιντιάνα Τζόουνς, και τη Χαμένη Κιβωτό την κυνηγάει η Λάρα Κροφτ». Νεαρή αρχαιολόγος προσπαθεί να ανακαλύψει τί κρύβεται πίσω από έναν μηχανισμό που μοιάζει να είναι φτιαγμένος να καταστρέψει συθέμελα το σύνολο των θρησκειών αμφισβητόντας στη ρίζα του τον όρο Πίστη και κατά συνέπεια όλες τις με ασφάλεια χτισμένες δομές του σύγχρονου κόσμου.
Και αν δεν τελείωνε με τόσο πρόχειρο για μένα τρόπο, εύκολα θα το χαρακτήριζα ένα από τα διασκεδαστικότερα καλοκαιρινά βιβλία που διάβασα ποτέ στην παραλία, αλλά το χω πάρει προσωπικά, δε δέχομαι το κλείσιμό του, πραγματικά μέσα σε 50 σελίδες μου χάλασε όλη την εικόνα που είχα φτιάξει για αυτο.
Διαβάστε το, και λίγο πριν το τέλος ξαναβάλτε το στη θέση του και τελειώστε το στο μυαλό σας όπως εσείς κρίνετε, ΟΧΙ ΕΤΣΙ ΠΟΥ ΤΕΛΕΙΩΝΕΙ ΟΜΩΣ, ΣΟΒΑΡΟΙ ΝΑΜΑΣΤΕ!

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book started off really strong and fast. I was really interested in the concept that Jesus wrote a book in the Bible stating that he was human not Son of God and the Vatican wanted to destroy it. However, the book in the middle somehow got lost. It got bogged down in some very farfetched plot devices that won't even make sense in a movie. This book was written first as a screenplay then turned into a book when the author decided it would be better to market the book that way. I didn't like the use of flashbacks to tell us the story of the Templars' letters. I would have rather just read them and been done with that. I was just let down with the whole last part of the book. You can seriously tell that this author wanted a movie out of it. It could have been an excellent book.

[Matt · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hardly ever buy a book and not finish it. But put this book in that category.

It never got rolling. The characters were hard for me to keep straight... not a good sign. The idea is good but I don't think I got deep enough into it (only about 65 pages) to appreciate it.

I can't recommend this book... okay I can... to someone on a long plane or train ride. It will get you from sitting there mindlessly reading and turn it into a peaceful slumber.

Sorry--- but does anyone want to buy it from me? paperback.

[Vicky Ziliaskopoulou · Rating 2 out of 5]

Πόσο στεναχωριέμαι όταν επιτέλους βρίσκω ένα βιβλίο που έψαχνα πολύ καιρό, το διαβάζω και δεν μου αρέσει...

Είχα ακούσει ότι "Ο τελευταίος Ναΐτης" είναι ένα βιβλίο που έχει μέσα πολλές πληροφορίες για τους Ναΐτες, και πράγματι έτσι είναι, δεν θα πω κάτι διαφορετικό. Όμως, πολύ μικρό μέρος της πλοκής διαδραματίζεται στο παρελθόν, δεν πρέπει να είναι πάνω από 30 σελίδες, ενώ όλη η υπόλοιπη ιστορία βρίσκεται στο παρόν. Υπάρχουν αναφορές στο τάγμα των Ναϊτών και στην ιστορία τους, σίγουρα συγκεντρώθηκαν τα περισσότερα στοιχεία που τους αφορούν, απλά όλα αυτά δίνονται σαν πληροφορίες μεταξύ των (σημερινών) πρωταγωνιστών του βιβλίου. Δεν ακολουθούμε δηλαδή τη ζωή του "τελευταίου Ναΐτη".

Εκτός από αυτό, είχε αρκετές κουραστικές για εμένα "σκηνές δράσης", από αυτές που πυροβολούν ή κυνηγούν ο ένας τον άλλο και στο τέλος σκοτώνονται οι μισοί, τις οποίες από κάποιο σημείο και μετά τις περνούσα διαβάζοντας λίγο γρήγορα, χωρίς να δίνω μεγάλη προσοχή. Και μου φάνηκε και λίγο εξωφρενικό ως προς τις οικονομικές δυνατότητες κάποιων από τους πρωταγωνιστές που ξόδευαν ασύστολα χωρίς να αιτιολογείται αυτό από κάπου μέσα στο κείμενο.

Ο Ρέιλι, ο ένας από τους πρωταγωνιστές. μου φάνηκε εντελώς άβουλο ον, καμία σχέση με όσα θα έπρεπε να κάνει ένας σοβαρός επαγγελματίας, πόσο μάλλον επικεφαλής ομάδας πρακτόρων του FBI όπως υποτίθεται ότι είναι. Παρασύρεται συνέχεια και κάνει ό,τι θέλει η Τες, η άλλη πρωταγωνίστρια. η οποία ό,τι και να κάνει μένει στο απυρόβλητο, χωρίς συνέπειες. Ούτε αυτή τη συμπάθησα, τίποτα από τη συμπεριφορά της δεν μου άρεσε. Μια και ανέφερα το FBI, είτε αδιαφορεί για τον πράκτορά του (εν μέσω μάλιστα πολύ σοβαρής έρευνας) είτε του έχει τυφλή εμπιστοσύνη και ανέχεται χωρίς ερωτήσεις οποιαδήποτε συμπεριφορά του.

Τέλος πάντων, δεν είναι τόσο τραγικό, αν το βρείτε αξίζει να του δώσετε μια ευκαιρία, είναι εξάλλου από τα λίγα βιβλία που ασχολούνται με το θέμα των Ναϊτών και έχει και κάποιες απόψεις μέσα που αφορούν τη θρησκεία και τον Χριστιανισμό τις οποίες αν δεν είστε και πολύ θρήσκος αξίζει τον κόπο να τις διαβάσετε...

https://kiallovivlio.blogspot.com/

[Terry (Ter05 TwiMoms/ MundieMoms) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably a 4.5 but rounding it up to 5 because I read it almost without putting it down in a day and a half - because I literally had to find out just what was happening. It is historical, modern, a detective story, a romance, a mystery for sure...all wrapped up into one intriguing story. The Prologue begins in the year 1291 and this is where we meet Martin of Carmaux in a battle to save the Holy Land from the Muslim onslaught. Martin is one of the Knights Templar and preparing to fight to his death which appears to be close at hand. He is drawn to a meeting of sorts where the Grand Master is dying and told by his guardian and mentor that they are to leave, taking a small ornate chest. He is shocked at even the thought of desertion and is told that their mission is crucial to the survival of the Order. Thus he embarks on a journey beginning with their escape out to sea on the galley, the Falcon Temple.

From that escape we begin the first regular Chapter in present time as four horsemen dressed as Knights Templar emerge from Central Park in New York and proceed down the street to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A display of relics never seen before is advertised as "Treasures of the Vatican" and is having it's opening. At first people believe this is part of pageantry for the event even after the four ride up the front steps and straight into the building. We are at this point introduced to one of the main characters, Tess Chaykin, who has worked for some years as an archaeologist on digs around the world. Recently she has taken a job away from that with the Manoukian Institute. What happens next is total chaos as she is witness to the entrance of the four horsemen and watches as the guard approaches them...and then his beheading in front of a huge crowd there for the event. She also witnesses another significant action in the resulting wild actions of the four and the crowd. I won't give further details as I try not to do spoilers in my reviews.

There are many characters in this book that I am not going to mention here, but the next significant one is Sean Reilly. Sean had studied to be a lawyer, but his life changed direction after the first bombing of the World Trade Center when he decided to join the FBI. Sean is to become one of the two main characters of this story as he takes over the case. Tess is drawn into the case because she witnessed something unusual, and then her innate detective instincts won't allow her to leave it alone. This mystery takes many turns and the farther the characters and the reader get into it the more questions there are. There are obviously several outside entities interested in one particular article that was stolen and also in WHY it was stolen. One of those entities is someone very high up in the Roman Catholic Church. And no, this is not a Da Vinci Code Story. It seems that way for awhile, but it is different. It leads you into speculations and even belief that it is one thing when it is quite another.

One of the things I really liked about this story was the author's writing. He occasionally put in a chapter taking us back to the 13th century and Martin, who we met in the prologue. We follow the chest in it's journey and also two very important secret letters. And we experience the blind dedication of this man and those who share the secret they protect. We also see things from the viewpoint of those who are also hunting the answers at the same time Sean and the FBI.

There is action, suspense, romance and what an amazing story. A really good read. I will get the sequel!

[Monique · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked reading this (a few years back). Its historical background mixed with the mystery of the Templars - those bad assed warrior priests...my kind of read!
I won't re-cap the story here, as one can read the synopsis. I will say that it is just as good, if not better, than The Da Vinci Code.

[Rex Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are not steeped in the Templar lore -- as I was not -- this is a rollicking good way to entertain yourself as you catch up on it. And you might also get caught up in the whole tangle of theories about them that has apparently spawned a library of reading about them.

[Collin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury is a book that none other can match. Even though many would say that Khoury's writing is comparable to Dan Browns, I beg to differ. This book is not only a hunt for long last treasure, but people who are trying to make their mark on society.

Tess Chaykin is an archaelogist who lives in the outskirts of New York City. She experiences something many people do not ever see. She is present at a museum during a mass murder that begins her non stop adventure across the world. With the help of Agent Sean Reilly they try to discover the covered up history of the Knight Templars, while being chased by killers. William Vance is an old professor who loves treasure hunting even if he has to kill. Two different people trying to find one treasure to make their mark in the history books. It is a ride that will not stop until the last page.

This book was one of the best I have read because of the non-stop thrill Khoury puts into it. I could never put myself in the position of Chaykin or Reilly, trying to find a treasure but being hunted down at the same time. In my mind, Khoury has made his mark in the world of books by creating such a wonderful story. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Dan Brown's novels, but want a little more in depth reading. This is a fictional book that got my heart racing.

[Kevin Printz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stumbled upon Raymond Khoury while searching sites on authors similar to Dan Brown. And I must say that i'm very grateful that his name was on one of those sites. Mr. Khoury seems like an all-around down to earth, amazing guy, and his books reflect that. Especially in his characters. Once I started reading The Last Templar, I could not put it down. The fact that there is a direct sequel to this book, is making it hard to not skip his other books in between, and start reading that one instead (The Templar Salvation). I do appreciate though that he jumps around a bit between series and stand alone novels, instead of just shoveling series books one after another like so many other authors. This book played out like a movie and i understand that it was originally supposed to be a screenplay for a film back around 1995 I think. The Knights Templar and The Vatican have a shrouded history to them as many know, and Mr. Khoury has fun with them in this novel. So in closing I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves Dan Brown, Steve Berry, James Rollins, and maybe even Indiana Jones. Mr. Khoury, you have a fan in me, sir!

[Patrick Gibson · Rating 1 out of 5]

It seems like most reviewers here picked up this book out of desperation at an airport. Haven’t we all done that? In my case, the book was left behind at the house by a friend (who didn’t warn me). I was in the mood for a ‘DaVinci Code’ clone—so why not? I’ll tell you why not: it’s crap. I would give it to a thrift shop, but then I’d be afraid someone might pick it up for a quarter and read it. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone (well, maybe one person I have in mind), so I will use the pages for packaging material in the next box I have to mail.

[Montserrat Esteban · Rating 4 out of 5]

Libro con mucho misterio, que habla, una vez más, de los templarios y del secreto que guardaban, pero desde un punto de vista diferente. Contado mediante un thriller que te engancha a lo largo del libro

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Last Templar" was a pretty good book - standard adventure/suspense fare. It was pretty well written, although the second half of the book wasn't as enjoyable as the first. The crime drama part in the beginning was relatively exciting and enjoyable, but once the story leaves New York for Turkey, it loses some of its suspense, and doesn't have as many twists and turns as one would wish. It also has several chapters of boring historical/religious background (right in the middle of the second half) that does not help in sustaining excitement, even if it is necessary for the plot. Granted, as someone who has studied history and religion, I knew all this background already (and could pick out inaccuracies and fallacies therein), so to someone unfamiliar with it, it might be more interesting. I will say that the end of the book is satisfying and not insulting to a Christian (as Dan Brown's writing can be). All in all, the book keeps your attention throughout most of its length, and is worth picking up at a used bookstore, if not at Barnes & Noble.

[David Schwan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had this on my to-read list for awhile. Finally decided to read it and was quite happy with the book. The pace is fast, the initial part of the story that takes place at the Met in NYC is over the top, yet overall the story was fun. Lot's of conspiracy theory here related to the Templar's and the Cathar's. The ending was nice, usually I dread endings of novels like this but this one satisfying. The author is a screenwriter and the novel reads like a movie.

[Mike · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow, race over to your bookstore and go right past this clunker. Don't waste money or time on this one. Uninteresting characters and stupid plot twists--one of those books you actually say "no way" and "that's ridiculous" as you go through.

[itchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

brief synopsis:
An obscure artifact turns out to be the key to unlocking the Knights Templar's secret.

setting:
Acre
New York
Paris
Eastern Mediterranean
Fonsalis
Mameluke hinterland
Köycegiz
Karacasu
Rome
Athens
Beer el Sifsaaf
Tuscany
Marathounda
Yialos, Symi

named personalities:
Martin of Carmaux - a Knight of the Temple
Aimard of Villiers - ditto
William of Beaujeu - the grand master of the Knights of the Temple in 1291
Peter of Sevrey - a marshal
Hugh - the Falcon Temple's shipmaster
Kim - a nine-year-old girl
Tess Chaykin - Kim's mother
Eileen - Tess' mother
Lila Wallace - a florist
Andrea della Robbia - an Italian Renaissance sculptor associated with a Madonna and Child terra-cotta
Jesus Christ aka Jesus of Nazareth aka Jeshua of Nazareth - our Saviour, the Messiah, the Son of God
Mary aka Madonna - the Virgin
Martin - a saint
Clive Edmondson - Tess' former colleague
Sean Reilly - an FBI agent
Nick Aparo - Sean's partner; a round-faced, balding, 48-year-old of average height, average build, average looks
Tom Jansson - an FBI assistant director in charge
Steve Buchinski - a detective
Amelia 'Queen Bee' Gaines - another FBI agent; a striking, ambitious redhead
Mauro Brugnone - a cardinal
Pasquale Rienzi - another cardinal
Oliver Chaykin - Eileen's late archaeologist husband; Tess' father
Doug Merritt - Tess' ex-husband; news anchor at a network affiliate in Los Angeles
Gus Waldron - a professional boxer in the minor leagues; a wild man in and out of the ring
Lucien Boussard - a smarmy little shit; a French fag
Conan - presumably Conan the Barbarian
Roger Blackburn - head of the violent crimes/major offenders task force
De Angelis - a monsignor
Khomeini - an Iranian revolutionary who coined the terminology the great Satan for the United States
Tom Clancy - an American novelist best known for technically detailed espionage and military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War
Clement V - the 1305 pope
Philip IV - a French king
Gregory XI - another pope
Catherine of Siena - a mystic
Marty Falkner - an 80-something Templar geek
William 'Bill' Vance - a tall, handsome Templar geek who's 15 years Tess' senior; a Phoenician history specialist
Jeb Simmons - a historian at Brown University
Umberto Eco - an Italian novelist who said that a sure sign of a lunatic is that sonner or later, he brings up the Templars
Leo Guiragossian - the head of the Manoukian Institute; a balding creep
Lizzie Harding - a demure and motherly secretary Tess shares with three other researchers
Baldwin II - the king of Jerusalem in 1118
Hughes de Payens - one of the nine pious knights who became the the Order of the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, or the Knights Templar
Solomon - a 950 BC king
David - Solomon's father
Moses - a Jewish prophet
Herod - presumably Herod the Great
Vespasian - a 66 AD Roman emperor
Titus - Vespasian's son
Josephus - a historian
Hadrian - a Roman god-emperor
Mohammed - a prophet; God's true messenger
Abd El-Malik - a 691 AD caliph who built the Dome of the Rock
Jacques de Molay - the grand master of the Knights of the Temple in 1314
Philip IV aka Philip the Fair (Philippe le Bel) - a 1314 king; light-skinned and blond
Clement - the 1314 pope; a buffoon
Gaspard Chaix - a torturer
Geoffroi de Charnay - a Knights Templar's grand master's deputy
Mary Magdalene - a disciple and a leader of a Christian group; mother of Jesus' child
Da Vinci - Leonardo da Vinci; an illustrious name supposedly part of the secret cabal of the holy bloodline's protectors
Isaac Newton - another illustrious name supposedly part of the secret cabal of the holy bloodline's protectors
Victor Hugo - still another illustrious name supposedly part of the secret cabal of the holy bloodline's protectors
Branko Petrovic - an ex-NYPD mounted division
Vernon C Bain - a well-liked warden who died in a car accident
Josh Schlattmann - a known associate of Gus' who died last year
Reza Fardousi - a 300-pound sack of shit
Lonnie Morris - a small-time dealer currently on parole and living with and working for his grandmother's flower shop in Queens
Mitch Adeson - Branko's smart friend who has a deaf and barely continent father
Milligan - a police sergeant
Martha Vance - Bill's wife who died in childbirth
Annie Vance - Bill's daughter who died during her delivery; she would have been named Matthew had she been a boy
McKay - the Vances' parish priest
Joe Plunkett - Monsignor De Angelis' lackey; a CIA operative
Hazel - Eileen's sister who lives on a small ranch just outside Prescott, Arizona
Tutankhamen - an ancient Egyptian pharaoh
Baphomet - a strange demon
Boniface VIII - a pope
Aristotle - a Greek philosopher and polymath
Willie and Lobo - Willie Royal and Wolfgang 'Lobo' Fink; a musical duo who released an album called Caliente
Pat Metheny - an American Jazz musician
Donald Fagen - an American musician that co-founded Steely Dan
Clark Kent aka Superman - a fictional superhero who's the focus of the tv show Smallville
Terry Kendricks - an NSA agent whose team built a replica of the multigeared rotor encoder
David - an Israelite king
Bathsheba - David's wife
Al-Idrissi - a famous Arab traveler; one of the great cartographers of the period
Vedat Ertugrul - an FBI legal liaison officer in Turkey; a paunchy man
Okan - an engineer; a young, small and slender man with dense black hair and an overgrown mustache
Rüstem - Okan's uncle; a toothless recycler
Henry the Navigator - a Portuguese prince who was nicknamed so for using the a mariner's astrolabe; the governor of the Order of Christ from 1420 to 1460
John - Henry's father; a Portuguese king
Christopher Columbus - an Italian explorer and colonizer
Abraham - the common patriarch of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and some other religions
Mark - one of the Four Evangelists
Matthew - ditto; one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus
Luke - one of the Four Evangelists
John - ditto; a saint
Judas Thomas - one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus
Philip - ditto
Peter - a saint; the Church's first pope
Irenaeus - the 180 bishop of Lyons
Sarah - Abraham's wife
Hagar - Abraham's Arab maidservant
Ishmael - Abraham and Hagar's son
Isaac - Abraham and Sarah's son
Thomas Jefferson - an American statesman
Gandhi - an Indian political ethicist
Socrates - a classical Greek philospher
Confucius - a Chinese philosopher
Reagan - the American president who introduced the Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars)
Bin Laden - presumably Osama bin Laden
Constantine - a Roman emperor
George Rassoulis - the deeply tanned captain of the Savarona
Pierre Attal - a Corsican engineer; the ROV Dori's protective guardian
Costa Mavromaras - Marathounda's doctor
Eleni - Costa's wife
Michael - the archangel; the patron saint of seafarers
Gabriel - a saint
Michael - another saint
Filibert de Niallac - the French grand master of the Knights of the Temple
Geoffroi de Charnay - the preceptor of Normandy for the Knights of the Temple

p30: He let his eyes drift down lower, following the trail of blood splatters to where a basketball-sized mark noted the position of the head.

This is definitely thought provoking.

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book a few years ago. I suppose it was close on the heels of Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code. Everyone was jumping on the relics/mysterious ancient social orders bandwagon. And I'm sort of a sucker for thrillers that deal with the aforementioned. I know, I know...cliche. Whatever. I like escapist lit once in a while. So sue me.

I think I might have really enjoyed this one (i.e., given in three stars because let's be honest, most thrillers are guilty pleasures, not destined for canonical reading lists handed out by high school English teachers or the BBC). I digress. What killed me is that he gave away the farm half way through the book. Bad form. I mean, the whole point of suspense lit is that it is suspenseful. So when you give away the bad guy half way through the book, instead of at the end, when the climax is supposed occur (again, referring to said genre), well, you sort of lose your audience's interest.

And that isn't to say that the ending wasn't intense or climatic. It was...I suppose, in a rambling, messy sort of way. Our hero and heroine land on a Greek Island after a horrible storm at sea. And just when you think it is all over, the bad guy shows up and everything gets wrapped up with a neat little bow... world order is restored and crisis is averted. Schwew! Now we can go home and live happily ever after.

Just once, I'd like it if the crisis weren't averted, if the bad guy didn't die or at minimum get his/her due. I suppose that is why I liked The Winner Stands Alone. But then again, I don't know why I expected something different from a commercially formulaic plot.

Khoury may be a technically decent writer. Well, to be fair, he is a decent writer. But I must say, I think he should try out his own material instead of rewriting what so many have already done.

[Richard Gazala · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. The story is well-paced, the plot twists and turns engagingly, and the characters are sufficiently motivated to propel the action to its conclusion. I appreciated how Khoury allowed the two principal characters to examine their religious and spiritual beliefs during the course of the story, questioning and scrutinizing their respective belief structures. That the belief system in question in "The Last Templar" is Christianity generally, and Roman Catholicism specifically, I found irrelevant. The characters' scrutinization of their attitudes towards faith applies as well to any faith-based belief structure, whether religious, sociocultural, or political. The story urges reflection about any belief unquestioningly accepted or rejected.

Regardless of its philosophical underpinnings, it's a great story, brimming with action and suspense, set in a variety of exotic locales, and it's a lot of fun to read. I understand it's being developed as a miniseries. If the producers and directors do it justice, it will be a lot of fun to watch, too.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read from start to finish. Non-stop action with tons of history woven through. A must read!

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

Puts the Dan Brown book to complete shame!

The Templar story in a whole different angle.

Well worth the read if you enjoy historic-based novels!

[Lynne - The Book Squirrel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Predicable! But ok.

[Rakib Hasan · Rating 2 out of 5]

প্লট বেশ ভাল কিন্তু বইটা ভাল লাগেনি, বিশেষ করে ফিনিশিং টা একদম বাজে লেগেছে। মনে হয়েছে সম্পূর্ন বইটা গোজামিলে ভরপুর।