The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury
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What We're Reading:
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"The Last Templar" by Raymond Khoury (Penguin Group, ISBN 0451219953, $9.99)
The New York Times writes that Raymond Khoury’s "The Last Templar" is similar to "The Da Vinci Code" because it "features age-old mysteries that play out in a modern setting." While I agree that this book is similar in its premise —a fast-paced search for the Church’s secrets—I feel that it’s being pigeon-holed. On its own, "The Last Templar" stands nicely as an intriguing thriller and an adventurous read.When Tess Chaykin, a field archeologist turned paper-shuffling curator, witnesses a heist that has the potential to affect all of Christendom, she’s drawn away from her desk and the security of her family and into a quest of epic proportions. The Multigeared Rotor Encoder is a precious artifact the Vatican never meant to have displayed at the Met, and its theft (by four masked horsemen) causes them to pull out all the stops in an effort to recover it. It’s lucky for the bishops (and Christendom) that the lead FBI agent on the case is Agent Reilly, a devout Catholic and a handsome and clever fellow; he’s always one step behind the four horsemen, and, frustratingly for Reilly, he’s also always one step behind Chaykin. With leaps of logic and an uncanny know-how around the local customs and restrictions of the Mediterranean and Middle East, Chaykin takes Reilly, Vance (another Templar-savvy archeologist), and a murderous henchman on a trip through the past on her search for the Encoder, its meanings, and the treasure that is certain to await them at the end of their journey.
While I thought some of Chaykin’s breaks were a bit more than lucky, I still found this novel compelling for its short, intense chapters, and the witty banter between Reilly, Vance and Chaykin. The conspiracy theory was intriguing as well. It was only in the sections where Khoury embeds long, detailed descriptions of the Templars and their history or other tidbits from the past that I found my mind wandering. These passages, while necessary for understanding the struggle between the Templars and the Church, are too heavy and served to weigh down the otherwise quick-paced dialogue; they are, however, infrequent.
One nice thing about this novel, though, is its seamless transition between what Chaykin knows, what she’s in search of, and the past (as presented in short chapters from the perspective of various Templar Knights). The chapters jump easily between 1291 and the present—no easy task—because Khoury does a great job of giving the reader needed information at just the right time.
I recommend this book for anyone who’s interested in a fast-paced, intense read. While "The Da Vinci Code" protagonist, Robert Langdon, is concerned largely with codes and symbols, "The Last Templar" deals more with myths, legends and hidden histories shared by both the Templar Knights and the Church. This novel is a tightly constructed suspense story which kept me interested from the opening chapters.
Review by Shelly Walston, March 7, 2007 - |
