2005;
523 pages. New Author? : Yes. Genre : Action Adventure. Overall Rating : 7½*/10.
But there was something odd about Knight #4. He only took one item, and it didn’t seem to
be anything particularly valuable. Some
sort of curiosity the Vatican inventory listed simply as a “multi-geared rotor
encoder”.
What’s To Like...
The Last Templar starts with a bang. Well, actually a swoosh and then a bunch of
bangs. The action continues throughout
the book. The two protagonists – a
female archaeologist and a male FBI agent, are predictable but engaging. There is a nice blending of two storylines –
one medieval, the other modern day. The
bulk of the book takes place in Turkey, and that gets a personal thumbs-up.
There are some YFKM’s (“You’re Freaking Kidding Me!”). Would the Museum really have only a single
security guard when priceless Vatican treasures are on display? Would a leather pouch holding a ancient
parchment survive decades underwater to the point where you could still read its
message?
There is some preachiness, but not a lot. I didn’t like the style of ending (details are in
the comments to avoid spoilers).
But overall, this is a well-structured, fast-paced tale.
Kewlest New Word...
Parlous : perilous.
Excerpts...
His rough-hewn appearance, and the matching manner he had
cultivated over the years, first disarmed others into thinking he was just a
simple man of God. That he was but,
because of his standing in the Church, many proceeded to another assumption:
that he was a manipulator and a schemer.
He was not, but he’d never bothered to disabuse them. It sometimes paid to keep people guessing,
even though in a way, that was in itself a form of manipulation. (pg.
38 )“So how religious are you? If you don’t mind my asking.”
“No, that’s fine.”
She grinned. “Just tell me you don’t hike out to some cowfield in the middle of nowhere because someone there thinks he saw the Virgin appear up in the clouds or something?”
“No, not recently anyway. I’m guessing you’re not a particularly religious person.” (pg. 243)
Veritas vos liberabit.
(The truth will set you free) (pg. 49)
I
remember The Last Templar being
heavily promoted by Borders Books (RIP, Borders) when it came out in 2005. It was obvious that the target audience were
those legions of readers who ate up Dan Brown’s 2003 opus, The Da Vinci Code.
I’m okay with that, but what is inexcusable
is reusing the
exact same “secret” here.
C’mon, Raymond Khoury, come up with some different angle.
Personally, I think the Gnostic question about the origins of
Christianity is an important subject.
But TDVC covered it more than
adequately and TLT doesn’t add anything new. To boot, the wishy-washy treatment of it here
will satisfy neither thin-skinned, skittish-faithed Christians, nor
metaphysically-inclined Gnostics.
So
maybe make Jesus an extraterrestrial. Or the disciples a
cadre of drug-partaking, gays.
Yeah, those could work. It’s
fiction, after all. Just give us
something new. 7½ Stars.
Add another star if you are a Da
Vinci Code devotee.
1 comment:
The book ends where nothing has changed even though the Ultimate Artifact was something that could shake the world (or civilization, or society) to its core.
The Da Vinci Code does this too. I find it to be a cop-out. You read 500 pages, only to find nothing changed. Chicken-sh*t.
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