Throwback Thursday is an upcycled weekly feature hosted by Sabrina at I Heart YA Fiction.
To participate, all you have to do is read an older release book or one that has
been on your shelf for a while. Then just post your review and link back to I
Heart YA Fiction using the little linky! (Or repost an old review - there's
no reason those books from a couple years ago shouldn't get some love!)
Summary
The ancient order of the
Knights Templar possessed untold wealth and absolute power over kings
and popes . . . until the Inquisition, when they were wiped from the
face of the earth, their hidden riches lost. But now two forces vying
for the treasure have learned that it is not at all what they thought it
was–and its true nature could change the modern world.
Cotton Malone, one-time top operative for the U.S. Justice Department, is enjoying his quiet new life as an antiquarian book dealer in Copenhagen when an unexpected call to action reawakens his hair-trigger instincts–and plunges him back into the cloak-and-dagger world he thought he’d left behind.
It begins with a violent robbery attempt on Cotton’s former supervisor, Stephanie Nelle, who’s far from home on a mission that has nothing to do with national security. Armed with vital clues to a series of centuries-old puzzles scattered across Europe, she means to crack a mystery that has tantalized scholars and fortune-hunters through the ages by finding the legendary cache of wealth and forbidden knowledge thought to have been lost forever when the order of the Knights Templar was exterminated in the fourteenth century. But she’s not alone. Competing for the historic prize–and desperate for the crucial information Stephanie possesses–is Raymond de Roquefort, a shadowy zealot with an army of assassins at his command.
Welcome or not, Cotton seeks to even the odds in the perilous race. But the more he learns about the ancient conspiracy surrounding the Knights Templar, the more he realizes that even more than lives are at stake. At the end of a lethal game of conquest, rife with intrigue, treachery, and craven lust for power, lies a shattering discovery that could rock the civilized world–and, in the wrong hands, bring it to its knees.
Cotton Malone, one-time top operative for the U.S. Justice Department, is enjoying his quiet new life as an antiquarian book dealer in Copenhagen when an unexpected call to action reawakens his hair-trigger instincts–and plunges him back into the cloak-and-dagger world he thought he’d left behind.
It begins with a violent robbery attempt on Cotton’s former supervisor, Stephanie Nelle, who’s far from home on a mission that has nothing to do with national security. Armed with vital clues to a series of centuries-old puzzles scattered across Europe, she means to crack a mystery that has tantalized scholars and fortune-hunters through the ages by finding the legendary cache of wealth and forbidden knowledge thought to have been lost forever when the order of the Knights Templar was exterminated in the fourteenth century. But she’s not alone. Competing for the historic prize–and desperate for the crucial information Stephanie possesses–is Raymond de Roquefort, a shadowy zealot with an army of assassins at his command.
Welcome or not, Cotton seeks to even the odds in the perilous race. But the more he learns about the ancient conspiracy surrounding the Knights Templar, the more he realizes that even more than lives are at stake. At the end of a lethal game of conquest, rife with intrigue, treachery, and craven lust for power, lies a shattering discovery that could rock the civilized world–and, in the wrong hands, bring it to its knees.
Rating & Review
Ahhh, Throwback Thursdays!! I love the idea of this because so many books fantastic books were written a while ago and they need just as much lovin' as these new young adult dystopians!! Although ... I do love the young adult dystopian stuff that is going around. That being said ... this book is amazing. I read it some years ago and I wish that there was a bit more buzz going around about this author and his amazing creation ... Mr. Cotton Malone.
This is the first book in the Cotton Malone series and in my opinion, it was a home run! Once again, Steve Berry has not disappointed me. The Templar Legacy is about the Knights Templar and the speculation (and facts) surrounding their history. It also includes the reason they were so powerful and a lot of info about their treasures and the hunt that others go through to find them.
This is the first book in the Cotton Malone series and in my opinion, it was a home run! Once again, Steve Berry has not disappointed me. The Templar Legacy is about the Knights Templar and the speculation (and facts) surrounding their history. It also includes the reason they were so powerful and a lot of info about their treasures and the hunt that others go through to find them.
Now, there is another author out there who writes stories similar to these and I've read all of his books as well but in my mind, Berry is better. Steve Berry really digs deep to deliver this story and since so much of the book is actual fact, it's so hard to tell where the facts end and the fiction begins. You become immersed in this story. It sucks you in right from the beginning with the lovably fallible and damaged Cotton Malone. Geez, I love that guy! I wish that I knew a Cotton Malone type dude in real life ... oooh, would my husband would be in trouble! Watch out! Anyhow ... the "cloak and dagger" world (as Berry put it) seems very realistic and made me wonder if maybe the author was once in the CIA ... but it just goes to show how much research really goes into a book like this.
Anyway, I adore the way that Berry intertwines history and fiction and then at the end of the book he actually tells you what is fact, where he found it and what he thinks of it. Absolutely amazing. I can't wait to dig my teeth into the next Cotton book. If you are a Dan Brown fan, you positively have to read Steve Berry - same premise, but differing styles of writing and both are amazing! (But this is a little better.)
Find The Templar Legacy here:
