The Last Templar - Raymond Khoury

~ ~ Ever since the runaway success of Dan Brown’s novel “The Da Vinci Code” other authors have been attempting to jump on the Brown bandwagon with their own novels about ancient conspiracy theories that would impact dramatically on the modern world. The number of these “copycat” novels increased dramatically after the release of the Da Vinci Code movie in May 2006, starring Tom Hanks in the lead role. What’s also interesting is the fact that Brown himself was accused of plagiarism by two other authors and dragged through the courts to prove his innocence, a case which did the “conspiracy ... more

In 1291 as the Knights Templar fled from the under siege city of Acre a storm began to gather over their only escape route. Setting sail with their treasure firmly onboard the ship vanishes and with it the treasure of the Templar Knights. Its now present day New York and a gang of Templar Knights storm the opening of a Templar exhibit at the Met Museum. In the middle of it all Tess Riley witnesses one of the Knights steal a medieval decoder, which leads her and Agent Sean Reilly on a mad chase around the world to catch the culprit. Ever since Dan Brown hit the shelves with the Da Vinci Code ... more

I picked up a copy of 'The Last Templar' in an airport in America before a long flight home. I thought this would be an attempt to jump on to the 'historical action' genre bandwagon that seems to being gathering force at the moment and to be honest I have really enjoyed novels set around this time period and content. The novel opens in 1291 as the city of Acre finally falls and the few remaining Knights Templar flee carrying a percious artifact. Sadly they sail straight into a storm and their mission seems over before it has truely begun. The action then flicks to present day New York and a ... more