In his little bookshop in New Orleans, Occult expert Jean-Luc Gerard is used to people coming to him with questions about the supernatural, the paranormal, and the unexplained.
When a chance to explore the Winchester Mystery House, one of the world's most haunted houses in the world, falls into his lap, he can't resist the chance to explore it. Across the world, a new inductee into the Knights Templar also finds himself drawn to the den of the undead, to carry on the knights' modern crusade.
The inevitable collision between Jean and the Knights Templar may come with dire consequences for them all as they dare to enter a place where unseen eyes watch, mouthless voices laugh, and danger lurks in every hall ...
The Lost Library of the Knights Templar leads the reader on a roller-coaster ride in search of a legend. Packed with breathtaking suspense and nerve-shredding action, The Lost Library of the Knights Templar is a thrilling read for all fans of action, suspense, and intrigue.
If you like the Dresden Files, Indiana Jones or Clive Cussler novels, you will love this brandnew series.
Join a cast of characters that will keep you entertained long into the night... Adventure awaits just one click away.
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The story had a lot of potential, but lost its way about half way through the story. It could have ended earlier and been fine, but it kept chugging along and finally ends with a half hearted attempt at a cliff hanger. And for the nitpickers among us, there are a number of inaccuracies and flat out mistakes that should have been caught and fixed in editing. It casts the book as amateur and the editor as lazy. Unfortunate as the story could have been really entertaining.
New Orleans. Jean-Luc Gerard proudly owns a legitimate occult bookshop, the kind tourists stay away from. When a fake street magician, Thaddeus Rose enters his shop wanting information on haunted houses, Jean-Luc can barely contain his ire. But to his chagrin, he ends up accompanying Thaddeus in exploring the Winchester Mystery House.
This book almost lost me at the beginning when the Winchester Mystery House was brought in. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy reading about ghosts, etc., but either get the facts right or put in a disclaimer about the validity. There is no evidence she ever met with a medium! I decided to keep going to give the author a chance and see what he did with it. But ended up not liking where it was going with the Templars, etc., so bye bye.
Footnote: 1) The eBook version has the date they started building the Winchester House wrong. Book says 1984, instead it was 1904. I thought something was wrong when I read it as I lived near there and visited it several times in the 1960’s as a teenager and later in the 80’s. Misprint, need better editing. Also Sarah Winchester’s history is completely wrong. It’s just media hype and avarice that has grown through the years. She moved to California because she had rheumatoid arthritis and her doctor said she needed a drier climate. She bought the property with a farmhouse in 1886, but because of owning other property, she didn’t start building until 18 years later. She didn’t like the way the architects were remodeling it, so she decided to do it herself. She kept building it to keep her workers employed and the unusual features were due to her health needs and small stature. The spooky stuff wasn’t ‘invented’ until after Sarah’s death and the couple who bought it turned it into haunted tourist attraction for the money. Winchester's story has been embellished over the years by various rumors, hyperbole, and myths, and popular writers have misrepresented or invented details about the house and its owner in order to enhance the legend.
Leaving out critical information leads to a cliffhanger I would like to read. Cedric is a new Knight Templar and he has yet to prove himself. Given his first task he finds something interesting about himself. Jean the book vendor, who is dragged kicking into the fray, finds Cedric under odd circumstances. As the two of them interact with each other they fight against the supernatural. A good book and interesting characters. They, the characters, do need to be completed as people though. A better mental image of someone's life experiences, state of mind, et cetera.
When starting a new series I always wonder "what am I getting myself into?" I wonder if it will be worth my time. Well, this definitely was. The way Mr. Child crafted the story kept me interested and reading every chance I had. I quickly took a liking to the characters as they were also well written and believable. I look forward to the next book in the series.
Interesting with what seems like a new take on Knights Templar. Not up to the authors usual standards yet does have the potential of a good series. Characters need to be fleshed out a bit more, but again promising. Ultimately a story of good versus evil and its sometimes ambiguity. Still if you like spooky, occult novels, this one is worth giving it a try
A refreshing story. It held me in thrall from start to finish.
This first book in the Templar Legacy Held me from the first page. The characters were fleshed out and given their own stories. The battle between good and evil has new and old protagonists to carry on the work of he ages.
I thought that this overall was an okay read. A story centered around the supernatural and the occult, it was a shorter story with some potential. Note, the library of the Templars (lost or not) does not feature directly in this story although some modern day Templars do. The book cold use another round of editing but is largely readable.
The prologue for this book hit me all wrong, even though it documented very real, horrible circumstances.
The book then ran after several different characters. The relationship of these characters will eventually converge, but the book couldn’t hold my interest. I kept asking myself “Why am I reading this book “? I couldn’t find an answer I liked, so shelved the book.
What a disappointment. This book received so much hype, but in reality dragged.The plot could have been good, but the characters were not particularly well developed, relatable or realistic.This read like a teenage "I wannabe a witch" type book. Then the ending is a half snakes cliffhanger. Ugh! Frustrating!
It moved slowly, was unbelievable, predictable. Thengood guy battles one ofn2 bad guys for 5 or so pages and the bad guys partner is simply gone??? Then, after bad guy 1 dies, THEN he mysteriously shows up. It was simply poorly written
It took me forever to figure out why it was called the lost library then once I did it made more sense to me. The writing was good and I liked the characters especially Jean. In my opinion he made the whole book seem believable.
Characters have to find the artifact in the Winchester House in order to expel the spirits inhabiting the house. They also have to survive the Knights Templar who are trying to slay those who practice magic.
Having read most of Preston Child's books I was looking forward to this. Interesting take on knights mixed with the paranormal. I look forward to reading others
The history touches were the only interesting parts of this book. It was not scary and the characters were boring. Certainly a disappointment from Childs.