Part of Series
"It has served us well, this myth of Christ." Pope Leo X, 16th Century 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 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. In the aftermath, an FBI investigation is led by anti-terrorist specialist Sean Reilly. Soon, he and Tess are drawn into the dark, hidden history of the crusading Knights, plunging them into a deadly game of cat and mouse with ruthless killers as they race across three continents to recover the lost secret of the Templars.
Author
Raymond Khoury is the author of five consecutive New York Times and #1 international bestsellers, starting with his debut novel, THE LAST TEMPLAR. His books have been translated into 38 languages, with over 10 million copies in print. Raymond came to writing thrillers from a career in screenwriting, which including the BAFTA award winning BBC series SPOOKS (aka MI:5 in the US) and Waking The Dead. It partly explains why his novels are often described as cinematic and very visual. As fellow bestselling author Steve Berry puts it: "his expertly chosen verbs cause the scenes to leap from the page. You can literally feel the blows as they're landed; wince as the bullets find their marks. He has an intense brand of storytelling all his own." THE LAST TEMPLAR began its journey to print as Raymond's third original screenplay, written for film in 1996. At the time, a book agent suggested turning it into a novel, and a major NY publisher, the first to read it, offered Raymond a huge advance for the as-yet-unwritten novel, with one condition: "Lose the religion. It's boring. Change the Templars' secret to gold, diamonds, a physical treasure." After much tortured consideration, Raymond turned the offer down, his first potential check from writing. Almost exactly ten years later, his novel, based on that screenplay—religion included—became a global bestseller, hitting #1 in multiple countries and getting adapted into an NBC miniseries. Raymond's thrillers are based on big themes that interest him such as international politics and conspiracies, fact vs faith, why we age and die, what do we really know about reincarnation, about mind control. He explores these themes in depth, with heavy emphasis on research, and often combines a historical angle to his stories. As such, some of his novels (THE LAST TEMPLAR, THE SANCTUARY, THE TEMPLAR SALVATION, RASPUTIN'S SHADOW) feature dual timelines: the bulk of the stories are set in the present day, interspersed with chapters that take place in the distant past. As Booklist puts it, "Khoury's thrillers engage the reader's mind, even as they move at a breakneck pace. Readers who like their thrillers to have a solid intellectual component will enjoy Khoury's books very much. Given the high quality of each of his novels, it seems fair to say that he may be around for a while." Raymond's 8th novel is an epic alternate history and time travel story that Publishers Weekly called "ingeniously inventive" and "a classic of the genre": It is already out in the UK as THE OTTOMAN SECRET, and is out on Oct 1 in the US under a different title, EMPIRE OF LIES. To find out more about him and his work, visit his website at raymondkhoury.com or connect with him on his Facebook page or on Instagram (@author.raymond.khoury).
