Entertaining bit of no-brain thriller action
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This is a great, exicting and fun thriller! I was drawn to it because of the crazy opening scene, where we see 4 men in full armour on horseback rob New York's Metropolitan Museum! They steal an arcane medeval artifact...but for what purpose? Why leave all the valuable art and jewels? Its up to the good old FBI to find out! Agent Sean and archaeologist Tess are on the case, chasing the artifact and its secret across the world! A thriller with the Knights templar, a hidden ship, codes and secret documents and yet another religious conspiracy! And of course, its obviously all true.....not really but i'm sure someone will take it as gospel. No pun intended, heh you will have to read it! Great! Don't expect anything highbrow, this does exactly what it says on the tin...
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the market place is now so crowded with this stuff
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Yes, it is well paced and interesting but this is what I describe as a 'beach book' one bought in the airport bookshop on the way to your vacation. I found it similar in 'feel' to The Da Vinci Code and for me it was better written although weak towards the end and the finale could have been better. That said I think that this would make a teriffic movie especially if the ending was re-written and the characters beefed up. As an aside I would mention that there is a lot of hype about the Knights Templar, Freemasons, Rosslyn Chapel etc. which feature in novels such as these (although not every subject is included in every novel) but a good corrective are the books by a Freemason - Anyway The Last Templar will probably never be made into a movie (pity) because the market place is now so crowded with this stuff. I would also recommend, if you missed reading TINO GEORGIOU'S masterpiece--THE FATES, go and read it.
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Good start but poor ending
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A fascinating start to the book, very fast paced whodunnit which was very enjoyable until probably the worst FBI Agent in history arrives! The very irritating Tess and Reilly seem to be the worst characters in the book. More on the Middle Ages characters would have made the book far better.
As for the ending......
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Risable
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No really, this was rubbish. It was like the author was writing the book simply to sell his idea to a Hollywood producer of crappy straight-to-DVD movies.
The characters were so thinly described as to be almost invisible, except when their motivations are suddenly laid on with a trowel to justify some upcoming decision -- one that would be laughable otherwise. The plot is very straightforward, and to say that you have to suspend your disbelief is a massive understatement. I will give him one thing though - the author knows his guns. Never is a pistol a pistol, it's always a 'Browning high-power' or somesuch.
Avoid.
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Forced Plot
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The book starts off at a fast pace and catches your attention. But the further you read the more you can tell this is the first time the author has written a book. And he does not have a natural talent for it.
The story takes us back and forth between the present and the past as he tries to use the mysterious Templar History in both subplots. We start in present day as Knights ride into a Vatican exhibit at the New York City Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Knights takes an object with them. Our subplot is the flash back to 1291 Acre where the Templar's Stronghold is being destroyed by the Muslim onslaught. And one Knight escapes with a chest on the only ship left intact in the harbor.
This was a good try and I look forward to the next book as the author learns to keep his writing at the same quality as the first third of this novel was written. And he needs to not force plots but let them develop naturally. He tries to add a twist. The book is worth reading for the beginning if nothing else.
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