First, let me say that once you get to about page 300 or so, you're in til the end. You won't be able to set the book down. You'll carry it with you to the kitchen for a glass of water. It'll accompany you to the bathroom. You'll have your little headlamp on in bed til the very last page. The ending is quite a ride, and worth the price of admission.

You may also end up racing with adrenaline at 2 am after staying up too late reading this book, unable to sleep because you mind is spinning with pos More...

Thoroughly gripping, page-turning and fully satisfying (not to mention very well-written) follow up to Sanctus, my favourite thriller of 2011. Review to come shortly on http://forwinternights.wordpress.com/

Updated to add the review:

Without doubt, Sanctus was my favourite thriller of 2011 – clever, imaginative and unusual, with an original twist in its religious mystery, all played out by an intriguing set of characters, and well-written to boot. No wonder then that I was thrilled to bits to win More...

After the events portrayed in Sanctus (the first novel of the trilogy), American journalist Liv Adamsen finds herself in hospital with no explicit memory of what she saw inside the ancient Citadel of Ruin. She is determined to find out the secret of the Citadel, but the more she finds out the more she is pursued by opposite factions, some of whom will do anything to preserve the mystery. Liv and the world as a whole are in terrible danger.

This really isn't the kind of book I normally read and I' More...

This spectacular sequel is so intensely gripping, spinechilling and exciting that you will find it hard to put it down for even a moment!

The Sequel to bestselling debut thriller novel ‘Sanctus’ is a real page-turner, as you are drawn into the magnetic narrative by such meaningful description. Affecting, stimulating and full of electric tension Simon Toyne is a master of his craft, as I can honestly say that conspiracy thrillers do not get any better than The Key. The storyline is wonderfully im More...

The Key is a better read than Sanctus--and I loved that book. Now Simon Toyne has done it again, thrilling us with a fantastic story only an imaginative mind could create.

The Key begins just days after Sanctus ends. Liv Adamson awakes in a hospital bed with vague memories of her time in the Citadel. A whisper drifts through her consciousness, bringing with it an entity Liv will eventually grow to understand. In some mysterious way Liv is now the key--and that key must release the the well of lif More...

The Key is the second book in Simon Toyne's debut trilogy. I was hooked by the first book - Sanctus - and have been eagerly waiting to see what happens next.

If you have not read the first book and plan to, you may want to skip this review - I don't want to spoil it for you. And really, to fully appreciate The Key, you should read Sanctus first.

Liv Ademson has escaped from the Citadel - the enclave of an ancient sect of secretive monks known as the Sancti. She's in the hospital, unable to remembe More...

"The Key," the second entry in the "Sanctus" trilogy by Simon Toyne, continues the eerie, scary, and exciting story of a heroine bedeviled, as it were, by her mystical spiritual attachment to an extremely important female biblical character. More about that attachment shall not be revealed herein.

It must suffice to say that the heroine, Liv Adamsen, is a brave, brilliant, and befuddled recipient of the soul of that biblical character, and she must carry that albatross not around her neck, but th More...

When the first book Sanctus was first announced i must admit i looked at it and thought...Nah, not for me, but i was thrown an advance copy of it and in an obliged manner i read it, and read it and read it, i was hooked and The Key is a fitting and powerful 2nd book.

Simon Toyne is one of the most original and imaginative thriller writers out there right now.

For me the book is a triumph of locations, history, and the inner working of people. for those like me in the first instance who look at the More...

I received this through the GoodReads Giveaway.

I have not read the first book in the series, so this was read as a stand alone. Reading the first book probably would have offered some backstory, but I was able to pick up the gist fairly quickly.

There are a lot of plots and twists that lead to some unexpected decisions and discoveries. I feel like if I state one, then I need to explain the next and it will ruin it for people.

If you like religious conspiracy thrillers, artifacts and ancient stori More...

I tore through this book. I couldn't put it down. Simon just writes so detailed and thoroughly. I wanted to scream at the characters in order to help at some points (mostly Liv as she is the one usually about to get kidnapped)She wasn't a weak character though, for only having being in that situation for a couple weeks I feel she deals with it incredibly well, she is strong and brave and smart.

Gabriel is so smart I felt like an idiot reading him at some points, I was like what is he doing and wo More...

If you haven't read Sanctus, the first in this trilogy, start there. Otherwise, I imagine all this will be too confusing. The Key is a book brimming with action--plots and subplots, conspiracies on the part of good guys and bad, danger at every turn, multiple plot lines and characters, a question of whom to trust. It has suspense and thriller elements, and even a little romance, but I like to call it Adventure, which a pair of innocents on a mission. If they succeed, they'll save the world, if n More...

The Key is Simon Toyne's second instalment in the Sancti Trilogy and this book definitely does not disappoint. It's fast paced, thrilling and suspense builds with every page.
The book picks up after Liv and Gabriel broke into the Citadel and releases the Sacrament and concludes two weeks after that event. With the Sacrament gone, the Sanctus members are suffering from a haemorrhagic disease, the orchard and trees in the Citadel garden are dying and Bother Gardner and the monks tending to the flo More...

3.0 out of 5 stars The path to Ruin...

I ordered this not realizing that it was the second book in a planned trilogy (with Sanctus being the first book). I was able to get the gist of the situation and don't feel the need to go back to read it to get any further background.

That said, this novel is similar in style and plot to almost every other in this genre: bad, greedy men seeking a religious type treasure or secret to control the world and expose dastardly evildoers. These books also have a wa More...

The Key was the book no.1 at my want-to-read list ever since I had finished Sanctus, Simon Toyne's first novel. Now that I finally did read it,I must admit that it stood up to all of my expectations.
No, actually, it significantly surpassed most of them, which is pretty big deal, you know, given the fact that I expected, from what the author built up in the first novel of this trilogy, a top-notch thriller. And tell me, can a simple fan of intriguing, suspense, action filled thrillers that keep More...

Like most of the readers of Sanctus (I would guess) I finished that book wondering how on Earth Simon was going to follow it up. The ending of the first was pretty world-shaking, after all.

It took me a long time to getting round to reading The Key, largely because of a heavy reading list requirement and not having the free moments, but I have always had it floating in my MUST GET TO pile. I finally discovered that I had free moments and leapt on the books with a sense of urgent excitement.

It too More...

THE FATE OF MAN LIES IN THE HANDS OF ONE WOMAN

The Key (The Ruin Trilogy, Book 2) by British author, Simon Toyne, is a page turner! I love a good conspiracy thriller, and that precisely describes The Key.

A brilliant writer, I rate Simon Toyne right up there with James Rollins and Steve Berry. He has an astonishing gift for the written word, and is an impeccable storyteller. Although it was 2:00 a.m., I couldn’t put the book down until my eyes felt like they were filled with sand! I finished the l More...

Not quite as good as the first one in the series, Sanctus, but I will read the third in the trilogy once it's out as I'd still like to know what will happen.

the next step on the sanctus saga did not fall short of expectation. It comes in the form of a perfect page turner where opp lot is king and characterisation a secondary concern. Which for this genre is spot on

The story picks up at the precise point Sanctus left off with the main characters in hospital or locked up with no memory of the events which preceded.

This fast paced novel kept me gripped and has left me eager to read the concluding novel.

In my opinion it does fall a little short of the s More...

Rating and Review

4/5 stars

Again, if you haven't read Simon Toyne before (He published Sanctus prior to The Key) you'll find this book a treat. Really. If you are a fan of conspiracy thrillers, then this is definitely one for you. The byline on the cover states: 'The Fate of Man Lies in the Hands of One Woman.' This is a very clever pitch for the entire book.

I loved this book and recommend it heartily.

This is so well-written and easy to read. The plot flows solidly and uninterrupted unfolding a More...

I love Simon Toyne!

This is his second novel based around the fictional city of Ruin,which hides a sect of monks so revered that the tourism which comes flooding into the city walls, would leave Elvis' Gracelands wanting.

Just two weeks on from the International news that a sacred monk has fallen from the top of the Sancti walls brings Journalists and treasure hunters into Ruin to try to uncover the secret of the Tau and reveal more about the Sacrament.

The Clementi in Rome is appalled that this a More...

When I chose this book to read, I did not realize it was the second book in a series until a good way into the story. I think that says a lot for the author....the story worked well on its own, with only a spot or two making me realize I probably want to read the first in the series, too.

Reading the first will make the second more "meaningful".

That said, I enjoyed the tale. It was full of twists and turns along the way, as a mysterious monastery in Turkey has experienced an explosion, and "The More...

Having loved Peter Toyne's 1st novel Sanctus, I came to this sequel with feelings of both anticipation and trepidation. Sanctus was just so good, I wondered how the author could equal it, never mind ratchet up the pleasure another notch. In many ways both feelings were borne out as although it was still a damn good read, it never quite hit the heights of the first offering and had several flaws.

It was slow to get going, with a lot of backtracking to link it to Sanctus, though once it got going a More...

In his debut novel, Sanctus, author Simon Toyne thrilled audiences with his high concept, religious conspiracy thriller. The dazzling story continues in The Key, the next novel in his planned trilogy. The novel opens days after the events of the previous book. After her brother's strange death captured the attention of the world, Liv Adamsen finds herself in a hospital bed, unable to fully remember the events that brought her there. She can vaguely remember entering the secretive religious Citad More...

When I started reading the Key, I was very anxious to see where the story was going. I was curios what was going to happen to Liv and Gabriel, but most of all with the Secret she carried inside her.
I was surprised to see that Simon really did think a lot about how the story should go on. This second book of the Sancti series is so well structured that it could very well stand on its own.
As the story developed, it became harder and harder to leave the book from my hand.
New and interesting chara More...

Book Info: Genre: Historic-religion thriller/alternate history
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Fans of historic/religion-based thrillers, conspiracy theories, etc
Trigger Warnings: murder, violence (including domestic violence: a man strikes his pregnant wife), conspiracies featuring the Catholic church

My Thoughts: It has been almost two years since I read the first book in this trilogy, Sanctus (review linked here where formatting allowed); I really wish I could have re-read it before starti More...

A 5 star most excellent read!
I won this book on booktrib which is second in a trilogy, so I went out and got the first book “Sanctus” and I am so very glad I did.
I knew I would love and give both books 5 stars along with my mother who has read and loved them both as well!
“The Key” is a crazy twisted ride all over the world everywhere evil religious men lurk.
It starts out right where “Sanctus” left us off, heart thumping and mind just a whirling….
I will quote a dust jacket blurb… Hunted, Hounded More...

This sequel to Sanctus is actually even more enjoyable than its predecessor! And the ending foreshadows an even more dramatic and thrilling conclusion in the final book in the trilogy! What sets this sequel above the first novel is really the level of action. It’s simply a much more exciting read. While a lot of page-space and time is devoted to detailing the characters’ backstories in Sanctus, here Toyne focuses more on the plot itself and a lot more action is crammed in! And though some elemen More...

This is the second book in the Ruin Trilogy Sanctus is the first book of the trilogy. Liv Adamsen is a journalist who has escaped from the Citadel at the heart of the ancient city of Ruin. She now lays in isolation, staring at blank hospital walls as blank as her memory. Despite not being able to recall her past, something strange is stirring with in her she feels possessed and plagurd by whispers only she can hear:"Kushikaam,", the key.To others the meaning is clear. The ghost a mercenary opera More...

In the second book of Toyne's Sanctus trilogy, the stakes get higher and higher and the matters get hairier and hairier for the survivors of Sanctus -- and new players are revealed, as the Church In Rome (oddly, Toyne refers to it as "The Church" for the most part, rather than as the Catholic Church, even though some of the action involves Cardinal Clemente, the Pope's secretary) turns out to be involved in a massive financial conspiracy designed to enable the Catholic Church to again thrive -- More...