This is another book I read recently by Steve Barry, the other one being "The Third Secret" which I reviewed earlier last week. I must say I enjoyed "The Third Secret" more, but this is an exciting book too.

In a nutshell, this is a story about The Knight Templar’s treasures. The Knight Templars were Knights, basically, who patrols the roads for pilgrims and keep them save from bandits and bad people. The Knight Templars became very powerful in the end, and can rival any state, if I remember correctly. However in the 1300s, the French King imprisoned The Knight Templars and convicted them of many crimes which the Knight Templar’s confessed after torture. The master of the Knight Templars moved the treasures away and the location of the treasures were long gone. Hence the story is about the quest to find the treasure of the Knight Templars. (This doesn’t seem to be in a nutshell. Hmm)

Anyway, the story has the protagonist, and the antagonist. The antagonist is the Marshall of the Knight Templars who became the Master after the previous Master died. This new master wants to reclaim the glory of the Templars and make the Templars as powerful as the good old days, bearing in mind its 700 years ago. However this Master is evil because he sacrifices many of his brothers to achieve his aim.

On the other side, the protagonist side has Cotton and Stephanie. Stephanie’s husband is a fanatic in the sense that he followed the clues and actually found the location of the Knight Templar’s treasure, except that he told no one and he committed suicide. Stephanie, who got interested in the entire saga when her husband’s journal was sent to her, gets embroiled in all the action. The whole story is a cat and mouse game to see who finds the treasure first. However the Master’s way to find the treasure is to wait for Cotton and gang to find it first.

Things get complicated when Stephanie’s long lost son is actually not dead, but was formerly the second in command of the Knight Templars. With her help, Mark (the son) found the treasure, defeated the evil Master (actually he killed him in a "duel"), and became the next Master.

I don’t really enjoy this book as much because it’s pretty confusing to read as compared to "The Third Secret". And perhaps I enjoy reading Vatican stuff more than The Knight Templars. No matter what, I think The Knight Templar is a exciting subject to read more on. Read this book if you’re bored during the holidays.

I borrowed this from the library a week or two ago. I wasn’t looking at that particular section of the shelf, but when my eyes scanned past I thought I saw a “Da Vinci” or so, and I just picked the book up. The front page of this book has a quote from The Roanoke Times saying “Da Vinci Code fans will flock to this story…. An excellent, tightly plotted thriller.”

I was curious and in need of a nice read, so I borrowed it. All I can say is that I was then bound to the book and only able to stop reading to go for my daily online activities.

This book is primarily set in the Vatican, and the story include Popes, Papal Secretaries and people trying to be pope. It’s a fascinating read. It’s about the current pope being obsessed with this sheet of paper containing the third secret from a seer. Apparently, Virgin Mary came to her and two other people and spoke to them. Of which the first two secrets were revealed but the last was not.

It’s about how the Pope sent his Papal Secretary to investigate certain elements, and how the third secret will change the church forever. Also present in this book is the hidden scheme of an evil cardinal who plots to become Pope when the current one dies (he committed suicide).

The author also ended off with an author’s note, and he specificially mentioned which parts were fiction, and it is interesting to note that the “secrets” were real, as in people did see the mother of God and passed on the message etc. It is also interesting to know that older customs require the Carmenlengo needing to knock three times on the dead Pope’s head with a silver hammer and asking if the Pope has died.

I feel that this is an interesting read, particularly when the Da Vinci Code has spurred an interest in reading anything to do with the Vatican. Perhaps I should do more readings on the Vatican and understand the church better. I always wonder why the official church is a Catholic Church, but there are so many branches of teachings like Protestants (is that spelled correctly?) blabla. And why does it matter with the means of communicating through to God, via Jesus or Virgin Mary? I don’t know, I should read more. Or anyone can explain?

Overall it’s a pretty neat book to read. I will definitely go and borrow other Steve Barry’s books. I am looking forward to reading “The Templar Legacy”.