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)

Great Listen

Great listen! Enjoyed the mystery,twist, and turns with history involved. Looking forward to the next

Wow. Characters and story hard to believe.

Is it too late to get a refund?

No character is believable. I've got to do a better job of selecting titles.

Every character is horrible at their job; FBI agent, archeologist/mother, all of them.

Great Book

Great story that kept me interested. Can’t wait for his next book. Hopefully it will be good like this one.

Fun listening

Though some of the things in this book were a bit unrealistic, it was a fun read kept my mind busy while I was stuck at work and traveling. If you're looking for something similar to DaVinci Code, this might be a good choice for you.

Not That Great

The further I got into the book the more the storyline started to unravel. Details and procedures held up well to a point. Then the story would fracture on itself. This is not one of my favorite books and one I doubt if I will ever read again. Not worth the time.

templer or templar

I liked the premise of the story but would have liked more developed charaters. It was a very exciting book however. I read some other reviews and would have to disagree with the term "Catholic Bashing". Important issues and debates regarding religious origins I think is required in this book and is absolutely relevant to the story as a whole. In the end I think that regardless of what you believe, you will come out satisfied with the results of the book. My main gripe is with the reader. If he won't pronounce "templar" with an "er" not "ar". Afterall it's in the title. He also said khaki pronouncing it like "cocky" and quasi like "qua-zee" and not quaz-eye. For crying out loud speak the english language! Overall great story."Catholic Bashing". Important issues and debates regarding religious origins I think is required in this book and is absolutely relevant to the story as a whole. In the end I think that regardless of what you believe, you will come out satisfied with the results of the book. My main gripe is with the reader. If he won't pronounce "templar" with an "er" not "ar". Afterall it's in the title. He also said khaki pronouncing it like "cocky" and quasi like "qua-zee" and not quaz-eye. For crying out loud speak the english language! Overall great story.

Not a bad book

The story is decent. I had a hard time keeping interested. The characters are predictable, but there is a decent plot twist.

Enjoyed this book

What made the experience of listening to The Last Templar the most enjoyable?

This book sucked me in, the conflict internal of the main characters makes you want to know how it turns out.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I loved Tess she is a great strong female character

Which character – as performed by Richard Ferrone – was your favorite?

He was able to individualize each character so I was not confused who's head I was in.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I loved Tess' motive change in the end.

chapters little funky

I loved this book but something went wrong in production where each chapter has like 3 or 4 chapters each like nothings missing they finished the chapter but instead of the thing on screen going to next chapter number it only says out loud the next chapter number and the screen shows there's still 10 minutes or more left in previous chapter. so it ends with it saying chapter in the 30s or 40s but it's actually like chapter 85 or something. I could deal with it cuz like I said theres nothing missing they finish the chapters just screwed up in production

Oh

Maybe it’s just me, but some book take forever to get where they were trying to go to. I get that some of it was an important content to show growth of the main character. Yet it seems to take forever. But I’ll give that this is a story with a different slant and outcome. Found that the antagonist suddenly showing up at the end a bit B-Movie ish. I see it’s necessary but still weak.