The Last Templar

By: Raymond Khoury

Narrated by: Richard Ferrone

Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

"It has served us well, this myth of Christ."
Pope Leo X, 16th Century

The Last Templar opens with a hail of fire and flashing sword, as the burning city of Acre falls from the hands of the West in 1291. A young Templar knight, his mentor, and a handful of others escape to the sea carrying a mysterious chest entrusted to them by the Order's dying Grand Master. The ship vanishes without a trace.

In present day Manhattan, four masked horsemen dressed as Templar Knights emerge from Central Park and ride up the Fifth Avenue steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art during the black-tie opening of a "Treasures of the Vatican" exhibit. Storming through the crowds, the horsemen brutally attack anyone standing between them and their prize. Attending the gala, archaeologist Tess Chaykin watches in silent terror as the leader of the horsemen hones in on one piece in particular, a strange geared device. He utters a few cryptic Latin words as he takes hold of it with reverence before leading the horsemen out and disappearing into the night.

In the aftermath, an FBI investigation is led by anti-terrorist specialist Sean Reilly. Soon, he and Tess are drawn into the dark, hidden history of the crusading knights, plunging them into a deadly game of cat and mouse with ruthless killers as they race across three continents to recover the lost secret of the Templars.

©2006 Raymond Khoury (P)2006 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., and Books on Tape. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Like The Da Vinci Code, Khoury’s novel features age-old mysteries that play out in a modern setting.” (The New York Times)

“Absorbingly brisk.” (The San Francisco Chronicle)

“One of the most gripping opening scenes among recent thrillers.... [The] story is nothing if not cinematic, as it skips across three continents and climaxes with a storm at sea of biblical proportions.” (Booklist)

Be secure in your faith before listening!

This is an interesting story with a definite ending. Of course there are always a couple of parts that you should not dwell on for believability. There is a lot of action and good flow. Surely, you have heard of the Knights Templar and their protection of some secrets. This story is one possible line of those secrets coming to light. The story takes place in current times and flashbacks to the past. The narrator is very good.

Great Listen

I really enjoyed this one. Stories with ancient mysteries or treasures, will still be one of the most popular genres for a great adventure.

ok

not a bad story. reminded me too much of Dan Brown though. also, it was a little long-winded when it didn't have to be.

A bit predictable

Any additional comments?

Although I didn't mind listening to this book, I did think straightaway this is a similar format to the Davinci Code. There were some good action bits in it, but it was very predictable. You can tell that it was awkward for the author to write in the romance.

Sporadically intersting

Richard Ferrone did an excellent job in this narration. This is perhaps the only reason why I finished the book. Otherwise, I found the plot hardly believable, and to me it was the book equivalent of a bad Hollywood action flick.

Great story

The history of the Templars has always intrigued me this story kept me thoroughly entertained. The narrator's performance was solid.

Great story

It's just a story and my faith remains unchanged. I was a little put off by the theme.

Historically predictable?

Pretty good. It kept me interested all the way through. To be honest, the ending was a bit of a letdown, but realistically how else could it have ended?

It had so much potential

Overall I liked this book. It had much more potential than I think it offered. I love the subject of the Templars and was looking forward to the play out. I wish it had focused solely on the main plot and veered into the ridiculous, forced and contrived romance between Tess and Riley. It was unnecessary and took a good book into a teen level romantic thriller. The flashbacks to the Templar journey and what happened to the codex was very interesting and loved that part. It just lost steam every time the relationship was forced in.

thrilling

the book has a good story although it has been done before. It never gets boring however the ending could have been much better