Terry D. (tmdaviss) - , reviewed on 3/23/2020 + 72 more book reviews

In 2003 Dan Brown wrote the thriller The Da Vinci Code, whose main purpose seemed to be to place doubt in the validity of Jesus Christ and Christianity. In 2006 this became a blockbuster movie. Also in 2006 The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry was released. This book has no other purpose than to jump on the bandwagon and use the Templar Knights to promote more doubt of Jesus and the Christian Church/Catholic Church.

Steve Berry has woven together an exciting then and now thriller that appears to take historical facts from the middle ages and a fictional story about an American ex-pat who has to outwit the 'present day' Templars. Cotton Malone is the main character in The Templar Legacy, the 1st of, so far, 15 books where the ex-Justice Department lawyer gets into trouble overseas.

This book shows that Steve Berry is good at planning a novel with thriller style surprises and at describing places and situations to keep a reader interested in a story line. But at this point he is still learning how to develop realistic dialog between his characters. It also takes considerable time to follow and get through the historical sections early in the manuscript. Overall is would be a good start to a series -- except that its' focus is to tear down Christian beliefs.

Overall, I was frustrated by the direction of the story. The Templars focus was to "pay back" the Catholic Church for things that happened to them 1000 years ago. The focus of Cotton Malone was to 'help' a friend who didn't want his help. And of course they all stepped into traps that most high schoolers would have spotted. Due to the focus of this material I am unlikely to ever see if Steve Berry has grown into a top author. Fortunately there are many others to read instead.

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