Raymond Khoury

I actually really enjoyed this story, perhaps because it is very different from anything else I have read anytime in recent memory. In the same vein as stories like Man the High Castle, author Raymond Khoury gives us the thought provoking question, what if history were changed? What would the future be like? In this story, medieval Europe is conquered by the Ottoman Turks, and present day France is now part of an enormous Turkish empire. Islam has become the dominant religion, and the show more inhabitants now adhere the the strict rules of Shar’ia. No one is the wiser to history being written another way. When a mysterious man covered in strange tattoos shows up needing heart surgery at the main hospital, red flags start cropping up. While in a drug induced haze, the mysterious man spins an improbable tale of being a time traveler, who claims to have rewritten the past. Events quickly spin out of control when Nisreen, a human rights lawyer, and her brother in law Kamal Agha learn of the secret through Nisreen’s husband, who is serving as chief anesthesiologist to the mystery, tattooed man. Living under an oppressive regime, where government sponsored public executions are commonplace, Nisreen wonders if the alternative, unaltered future is better for everyone than the one they are living in. Armored with the secret incantation, Kamal and Nisreen embark on an epic journey into the past to rewrite the future. Filled with epic adventure, hope and tragedy, there is perhaps no journey more epic than changing the past to rewrite the future we know. A unique story that should have widespread appeal. Look forward to hearing more from this author in the future. Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy. show less

Four men on horseback dressed as Templars raid an exhibition of Vatican treasures. Former archaeologist Tess Chaykin overhears one of them murmur a reverent phrase in Latin as he takes an encoding device. Soon she and FBI agent Sean Reilly are on the trail of a priceless artifact that may change the concept of the Christian religion forever.

I like airplane reads. I really like puzzle thrillers. And I approached this one hoping for a mixture between the Da Vinci Code and the Dirk Pitt show more stories. Unfortunately Tess seemed mostly to do incredibly stupid things - not telling the FBI that a psycho may have her daughter, stranding her FBI escort in the wilds of nowhere while snipers take potshots so she can scamper off with the Bad Guy to further her career. That sort of thing. So I was less than impressed with her as a heroine.

I was even less impressed that the book seemed to degenerate into a lengthy debate about whether the discovery that Jesus may have been a 'mere mortal man' would destroy ALL FAITH AS WE KNOW IT. Including all the religions that think that Jesus was a mortal man apparently... It doesn't make a lot of sense and it seemed to be a central point of the book. All told I thought the way it ended was both rushed and lazy, and the epilogue served to remove any interest and any last snippet of controversy. A shame that it turned out so irritating. I quite liked the snippets about the Templars.

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I was surprised. I really, really liked his book "The Last Templar", and "The Sanctuary" was okay, nothing special. But this one, while long as hell, was also surprisingly good in most places.

I do have one objection, and it's the only reason this book didn't get five stars. When he wrote about Boston/Cambridge/Woburn, it just didn't seem like the places to me. Boston was the best, the Seaport area etc. But the Woburn chapter just didn't ring true at all to me.

But, other than that, awesome show more book, but be prepared, it is over 400 pages, and not the quickest of reads, but definitely worth it. show less

@ Templar Knights what their truth was — too late to tell world Jesus was a man

In a hail of fire and flashing sword, as the burning city of Acre falls from the hands of the West in 1291, The Last Templar opens with a young Templar knight, his mentor, and a handful of others escaping 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 show more from Central Park and ride up the Fifth Avenue steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art during the blacktie 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. show less