The ancient order of the Knights Templar possessed untold wealth and absolute power over kings and popes . . . until the Inquisition, when they were wiped from the face of the earth, their hidden riches lost. But now two forces vying for the treasure have learned that it is not at all what they thought it was--and its true nature could change the modern world.Cotton Malone, one-time top operative for the U.S. Justice Department, is enjoying his quiet new life as an antiquarian book dealer in Copenhagen when an unexpected call to action reawakens his hair-trigger instincts--and plunges him back into the cloak-and-dagger world he thought he'd left behind.It begins with a violent robbery attempt on Cotton's former supervisor, Stephanie Nelle, who's far from home on a mission that has nothing to do with national security. Armed with vital clues to a series of centuries-old puzzles scattered across Europe, …
The ancient order of the Knights Templar possessed untold wealth and absolute power over kings and popes . . . until the Inquisition, when they were wiped from the face of the earth, their hidden riches lost. But now two forces vying for the treasure have learned that it is not at all what they thought it was--and its true nature could change the modern world.Cotton Malone, one-time top operative for the U.S. Justice Department, is enjoying his quiet new life as an antiquarian book dealer in Copenhagen when an unexpected call to action reawakens his hair-trigger instincts--and plunges him back into the cloak-and-dagger world he thought he'd left behind.It begins with a violent robbery attempt on Cotton's former supervisor, Stephanie Nelle, who's far from home on a mission that has nothing to do with national security. Armed with vital clues to a series of centuries-old puzzles scattered across Europe, she means to crack a mystery that has tantalized scholars and fortune-hunters through the ages by finding the legendary cache of wealth and forbidden knowledge thought to have been lost forever when the order of the Knights Templar was exterminated in the fourteenth century. But she's not alone. Competing for the historic prize--and desperate for the crucial information Stephanie possesses--is Raymond de Roquefort, a shadowy zealot with an army of assassins at his command. Welcome or not, Cotton seeks to even the odds in the perilous race. But the more he learns about the ancient conspiracy surrounding the Knights Templar, the more he realizes that even more than lives are at stake. At the end of a lethal game of conquest, rife with intrigue, treachery, and craven lust for power, lies a shattering discovery that could rock the civilized world--and, in the wrong hands, bring it to its knees.From the Hardcover edition.
Ich hatte am Anfang Schwierigkeiten mit dem Buch und wollte es schon zur Seite legen. Die Grundidee wollte mich einfach nicht packen. Ehemaliger US-Agent der jetzt in Dänemark ein Buch-Antiquariat führt und durch seine Ex-Chefin in die tödliche Suche nach dem geheimen Vermächtnis der Templer hineingezogen wird? Come on!
Aber die Menge an logischen Theorien und durchaus nachprüfbaren Informationen die über das ganze Buch verteilt sind hat mich dann doch gepackt. Wer also Dan Brown mag findet hier vielleicht auch eine neue Heimat. Mal sehen wie das nächste Buch wird :-)
I saw that someone called Steve Berry’s Cotton Malone series as a thinking man’s Dan Brown; then I think about Umberto Eco’s Foucault's Pendulum. While I did find The Templar Legacy far more enjoyable than expected, it was still very much in the style of Dan Brown. The pacing and characters were decently written and the story would be controversial for someone that would get offended by Religious themes in fiction.
I wouldn’t compare it to Dan Brown anymore more than the fact its set around a conspiracy, after that it is more in the feel of Indiana Jones. The modern day Templers make for great antagonists as Cotton goes treasure hunting. The scenery is the biggest stand out for me; the description of France and Rennes-le-Chateau, mixed with some creative licence makes for an enjoyable backdrop.
I enjoyed this book, but like most bestsellers, I didn’t love the book. …
I saw that someone called Steve Berry’s Cotton Malone series as a thinking man’s Dan Brown; then I think about Umberto Eco’s Foucault's Pendulum. While I did find The Templar Legacy far more enjoyable than expected, it was still very much in the style of Dan Brown. The pacing and characters were decently written and the story would be controversial for someone that would get offended by Religious themes in fiction.
I wouldn’t compare it to Dan Brown anymore more than the fact its set around a conspiracy, after that it is more in the feel of Indiana Jones. The modern day Templers make for great antagonists as Cotton goes treasure hunting. The scenery is the biggest stand out for me; the description of France and Rennes-le-Chateau, mixed with some creative licence makes for an enjoyable backdrop.
I enjoyed this book, but like most bestsellers, I didn’t love the book. It packs a punch and was thrilling to read but I don’t think I will ever read it again.
Last night we watched the original 1950's version of The Blob. I mention this on the grounds that the way the Blob oozed around the film rather does remind me of the pacing of Steve Berry's The Templar Legacy: turgid, shapeless, and prone to swallow hapless characters until they melt into indistinguishable piles of boneless goo.
And I mean, really. I don't expect much out of books I get on impulse at the supermarket--all I ask is an entertaining read. I ain't lookin' for high literature here. But if I'm going to get a book that calls itself a thriller, the least it can do is actually, y'know, thrill. I will say that this book had an interesting premise, but it lost it completely with characters that ranged from cardboard to actively annoying, and prose that made me think "oh for fuck's sake" at the exact wrong …
Last night we watched the original 1950's version of The Blob. I mention this on the grounds that the way the Blob oozed around the film rather does remind me of the pacing of Steve Berry's The Templar Legacy: turgid, shapeless, and prone to swallow hapless characters until they melt into indistinguishable piles of boneless goo.
And I mean, really. I don't expect much out of books I get on impulse at the supermarket--all I ask is an entertaining read. I ain't lookin' for high literature here. But if I'm going to get a book that calls itself a thriller, the least it can do is actually, y'know, thrill. I will say that this book had an interesting premise, but it lost it completely with characters that ranged from cardboard to actively annoying, and prose that made me think "oh for fuck's sake" at the exact wrong moment, i.e., on the way into the climax of the story.
The underlying idea of the plot would probably piss off many Christian readers, but even aside from that, the sheer stultifying bloat of the writing is enough for me to warn off readers of all religious stripes. Scarily enough, I actually liked The Da Vinci Code better. One star.
