The Templar Salvation-Raymond Khoury

The Templar Salvation
Raymond Khoury
Dutton, Oct 19 2010, $26.95
ISBN 9780525951841

In 1310, Templar knight Conrad of Tripoli accidentally finds a treasure of ancient writings from Christian early days. Following the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Church hid the material out of fear that what it contains could destroy the faith especially in the Church.

In the 1950s, a CIA hit team killed the family of Iranian Mansoor Zahed. The only survivor of the massacre he has patiently prayed for the day he can enact vengeance on the west. He knows the avenue would be to find the Conrad documents and release it to destroy one of the pillars of western religious thought. When his lover Tess Chaykin is kidnapped, FBI special agent Sean Reilly follows clues that take him to the Vatican where he believes a document exists that might prove the key to bringing home safely his beloved.

This is an exhilarating thriller with a strong historical core setting up the present day saga. The story line is action-packed from the opening fourteenth century find and never misses a beat as the centuries go by. Readers will fully appreciate the powerful fast-paced Templar Salvation as a worthy sequel to Reilly starring in the terrific Last Templar.

Harriet Klausner