Steve Berry The Templar Legacy

The Templar Legacy

Steve Berry

Ballantine, Feb 2006, $24.95, 496 pp.

ISBN 0345476158

In Copenhagen, Cotton Malone observes "Red Jacket" knock down and steal the purse of his former boss at the U.S. Justice Department Stephanie Nelle. Red Jacket races up the Kobmagergade, but to avoid capture he jumps off the tower slicing his throat on the way down. Stephanie is shook up because she realizes this was no ordinary thief; he somehow knew her business involving her work as head of the DOJ's Magellan Billet. Cotton goes back to talk with Stephanie, but she leaves.

A bit hurt, the former agent decides to sleuth, as he assumes Stephanie did not want him probing into her official work. He soon finds himself studying the religious order of the Knights Templar that allegedly died out soon after its last master died in 1308 France. Behind that he learns that several groups feverishly search for the Great Devise that disproves the Resurrection and tears apart much of the heart and soul of Christianity. As he and new teammates interpret the clues, the current Templar Master Raymond de Roquefort and his supporters want them dead before they uncover the "Rosetta Stone" that will destroy Christianity.

The action is non-stop from the moment Red Jacket commits suicide, until the final confrontation with killer monks. Cotton is a courageous soul who meets his Muslim female counterpart while on the investigation. Religious conspiracy buffs will appreciate the complex abstruse puzzles that are part of sub-genre cloning of the Da Vinci Code. Though some of the rationalizations defending lethal actions seem stretched, even for religious fanatics (another cloning device), Steve Berry keeps THE TEMPLAR LEGACY fresh by avoiding the usual dissing of Christianity, instead he provides an action-packed arcane thriller that will have the audience interpreting the enigmatic clues along side of Cotton and his pilgrims.