Mario Reading (1953–2017)

While this novel delivers a decent story, it doesn't quite live up to its title's promise. Despite being called "The Templar Prophecy," the book focuses heavily on Adolf Hitler rather than exploring Templar history and lore, which may disappoint readers drawn to the medieval mystery aspect.

The protagonist, supposedly a seasoned photojournalist with experience in conflict zones, comes across as surprisingly naive and easily manipulated. For someone with that background, his lack of street show more smarts and poor judgment feel unrealistic and undermine the character's credibility.

The romantic subplot involving Amira also falls flat. Her love/hate dynamic with the main character feels forced and unconvincing, lacking the emotional depth needed to make readers invested in their relationship.

On the positive side, the narration quality is solid and keeps the story moving at a good pace. However, the overall execution left me wanting more, and I won't be eagerly seeking out the next installment in this series.

Bottom line: A passable thriller that struggles with character development and doesn't deliver on its Templar premise. show less

My favourite genre includes artefacts from the past being brought into the modern world. In many cases this involves a search following the discovery of clues as to the whereabouts of the artefact, but in this book we actually know where the artefact is almost from the first page. The artefact in question is the lance supposedly thrust into the side of Jesus at his crucifixion, and which has been in the possession of the Van Hartelius family since the death of Frederick Barbarossa. John show more Hart, his name anglicised by an American GI who discovered Hart's father crawling from the wreckage of a Fiesler Storch in which his parents died whilst on a mission for Adolf Hitler, is now the rightful keeper of the lance, but does not have any idea that this is the case. The reason for this is that he did not know his father, even though he bore the same name, because his father had left his mother before the younger John had any chance to get to know him. The lance had then been kept by his father who is crucified so that other interested parties can gain control of it.
The younger Hart, a news photographer, sets out to try to find out why his father, and two others close to his father, were murdered. It is this story and his adventures in Germany that make up the bulk of this entertaining story. His long-time and long-suffering girlfriend, a well known journalist becomes involved as John meets up with a gorgeous sexy lady German industrialist who thinks that he is actually a Baron, a fact confirmed by the delightful old lady with whom John lodges.
The plot is quite simple, lust for power and revenge. It does involve some violent right wing thugs very much redolent of certain factions rearing their heads at the present time, and their desire to take control. The characters in the story are well developed and interesting, with their strengths and failings accounted for from their families and backgrounds. There is plenty of action, even though Hart is not your typical hero - he is capable and quite strong, but some of his decision making is questionable, and he really is quite gullible. Having said that, he is an appealing character whom you want to succeed despite his failings. The scenarios are all believable, and the part played by what you might describe as ordinary citizens is welcome and helps with the believability of the story. Good stuff - I look forward to seeing how the series develops. show less

An interesting book, but flawed and incomplete. The idea that the prophecy quatrain numbers are possibly related to the year of their occurrence is nothing new: Hogue calls them index dates or some such thing. (Thus, according to this theory, quatrain 4.40 will happen in 2040.) This makes for some neat ways to interpret things, but some old "proven" quatrains don't fall into Reading's theory. Even the ones he says have already happened, such as 9/11, have quatrain numbers like 1.87 and show more 10.49! What is this? How does this fit his little schema? He doesn't even explain the scheme all that well, devoting maybe a paragraph to it in the introduction. His only explanation for why some (the ones that have already occurred) have funny quatrain/dates is trite: Nostradamus was scared of the Inquisition and changed them. Eh. show less

Unfortunately, a Dan Brown-styled design cover and a promising title is not enough to make a best-selling thriller. The plot is less about Nostradamus and his lost prophecies (actually pretty much all on that subject is said in the blurb on the back cover) than it is about an endless mind-numbing chase across France between a serial killer and a group of people smarter than him. The serial killer has no psychological depth ( a bit of a paradox there) and the gypsy community is depicted as show more such a backward and superstitious people that you can barely believe what you are reading. One of the French cops is stuck-up to the point of silliness and the other one is so dumb, xenophobic and narrow-minded that one wonders how he became a police officer. Extremely disapointing. Don't judge the book by its cover! show less