The book I most recently read is The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury and reading it I can completely understand how it made the New York Times Bestseller List.
Set in modern times with a glimpse back into the final days of the Knights Templar the book takes a strong look at the Templar Knights, Christianity as we know it and archaeology around the world. It's no secret that I love a book that has strong religious undercurrents, especially if the book involves relics of a long ago time and action packed scenes where everyone seems to be fighting to get the relic. In this case, the book talks about a lost Templar treasure, perhaps the most damning treasure the world has ever seen.
I read the book in rapt fascination. I was raised in a Christian household but by no means was my family religious. The bible and all the bible stories that were taught had always seemed to me as nice stories. They were trying to point us on a good moral path. I was never really comfortable with the opulence of the church and the more I learned and read, the more I never quite understood how the greed of so many in the church gave it so much more power over people.
My religious beliefs were always "We are all people under god." It has nothing do with our religion, our sexual orientation, the colour of our skin. We are all people. We all seem to worship one god, and I'm a strong believer that faith can heal wounds and bring us through times of sorrow. It's all about choices. It's all within us. This book brought that all back for me.
I was not shocked when reading the "About The Author" on the back of the book flap that Raymond Khoury was a screenwriter. The book was action packed, and I felt that I was right there with the characters, heart pumping, mind racing over all the possibilities and wondering how things were going to come around. I'm happy having done a little research to discover that they turned the book into a mini-series, something which I'd love to watch. I haven't felt this way about any of the books I've read recently, including 50 Shades which has rumors of a movie in the works. There is something about this book that I think will play very well on screen and I look forward to seeing if they can capture the intrigue and wonder that was brought to light on the pages of Mr. Khoury's novel.
Only one minor thing I noticed in the novel that I would've liked more of, but know that most male writers aren't so good at - description. The story was fast paced and quick moving, but there wasn't a lot of detailed description and knowing that Mr. Khoury is a screenwriter probably lends everything to that. In writing scripts you leave a lot of the description to your set design team.
It's a good book and I really do recommend it.
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