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Jun 23, 2008

Nick rated it:

Are you tired of reading books that you have to think too much about? Do you like obvious details being overtly and continuously pounded into your head? If you answered yes to these question then I recommend The Last Templar.

Raymond Khoury thrusts the plot of this book upon the reader in much the same way the creepy guy on the crowded subway car thrusts his junk against your ass every time the car shakes.
You're not positive that he's doing it on purpose but you still feel More...

2 comments like (18 people liked it)

Jan 02, 2009

Scot rated it:

Ultimately, I didn't like this book, but I hate failing any work with just one star, and parts of the plot were exciting, so I'll be magnaminous and give this two stars. I do enjoy historical studies, and have long been interested in the Knights Templar. When the opening few pages of this book were described to me by someone who had just started it, I mistakenly thought the book would involve time travel, and that intriguing overlay led me to eventually check it out for myself.

Those More...

4 comments like (4 people liked it)

Mar 04, 2009

Matt rated it:

I hardly ever buy a book and not finish it. But put this book in that category.

It never got rolling. The characters were hard for me to keep straight... not a good sign. The idea is good but I don't think I got deep enough into it (only about 65 pages) to appreciate it.

I can't recommend this book... okay I can... to someone on a long plane or train ride. It will get you from sitting there mindlessly reading and turn it into a peaceful slumber.

Sorry--- but doe More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Nov 18, 2010

Charly rated it:

I found this to be a most interesting read. As a well written suspense piece should, it contains twists right to the very end. Khoury does a very nice job with this and the entire Templar speculation. I enjoyed this quite a bit. to say any more might require a spoiler notation.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 04, 2011

Zeek rated it:

Initially, I found The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury to be surprisingly engaging, despite the less than stellar reviews on Amazon. By the time I turned the last page I understood why it doesn’t quite work for many people.

Doesn’t work for men- Because the writer attempted to throw in a romance between the FBI agent called in to solve the case of the mystery horseman dressed as Templar knights who raided NY Met committing gruesome murder along the way and the archeologist Tess, who jus More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

May 28, 2008

Marc rated it:

"The Last Templar" was a pretty good book - standard adventure/suspense fare. It was pretty well written, although the second half of the book wasn't as enjoyable as the first. The crime drama part in the beginning was relatively exciting and enjoyable, but once the story leaves New York for Turkey, it loses some of its suspense, and doesn't have as many twists and turns as one would wish. It also has several chapters of boring historical/religious background (right in the middle of More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 26, 2007

Wicaksono rated it:

Bukan main, dalam buku setebal 668 halaman ini, Raymond berhasil menyajikan ramuan yang padu antara sejarah, logika, dan tentu saja imajinasi yang kreatif untuk mempertanyakan kebenaran sebuah kitab suci, yaitu Injil.
Buku ini juga menambah panjang guncangan polemik kepercayaan yang terjadi saat ini. Pengungkapan akan adanya Injil Kristus yang merupakan tulisan tangan asli Yesus dan isi yang sangat berbeda dari Injil yang sekarang, melengkapi polemik teori kontroversial Dan Brown serta pe More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 23, 2011

Daniella rated it:

Blah, blah, whatever. This seems like The Da Vinci Code all over again, except the writing is marginally better. That's not saying much, though, considering just how hard that book sucked. The Last Templar doesn't quite meet DVC levels of suckery; it had potential, I thought, but the writing turned out to be too technical, for lack of a better way to put it. Basically, Khoury seems to labor under the notion that his readers won't be able to understand the story unless his writing is absolute More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 21, 2007

Samantha rated it:

The book started off really strong and fast. I was really interested in the concept that Jesus wrote a book in the Bible stating that he was human not Son of God and the Vatican wanted to destroy it. However, the book in the middle somehow got lost. It got bogged down in some very farfetched plot devices that won't even make sense in a movie. This book was written first as a screenplay then turned into a book when the author decided it would be better to market the book that way. I didn't like t More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 08, 2008

Patrick rated it:

It seems like most reviewers here picked up this book out of desperation at an airport. Haven’t we all done that? In my case, the book was left behind at the house by a friend (who didn’t warn me). I was in the mood for a ‘DaVinci Code’ clone—so why not? I’ll tell you why not: it’s crap. I would give it to a thrift shop, but then I’d be afraid someone might pick it up for a quarter and read it. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone (well, maybe one person I have in mind), so I will use the pages for pa More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Mar 17, 2009

Geoff rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Oct 27, 2011

Ahmad added it

Judul : Messiah Conspiracy
Penulis : Raymond Khoury
Penerbit : Dastan Books
Tebal : 668 halaman
Ketika jagad sastra dunia sedang bergetar oleh dentuman Da Vinci Code (DVC), bermunculanlah puluhan novel sejenis dengan tema yang kurang lebih sama : Vatikan, Ksatria Templar, dan rahasia harta pusaka Templar dari Kuil Yerusalem. Nampaknya pengarang novel di Amrik tidak terlepas dari ‘aji mumpung’. Semua ingin memanfaatkan momentum tersebut, momentum yang telah mengantarkan Dan Brown, More...

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Aug 27, 2011

Sumando Libros rated it:

Comencemos!!!

Primero debo decir que me he llevado una GRAN sorpresa y qué sorpresa!!!

Este libro lo leí hace unos meses pero recién (hoy) he podido reseñarlo... recuerdo que decidí leerlo porque en aquel entonces busque comentarios de personas "x", personas anónimas, que algunas veces dejan su opinión en alguna pagina de compra Online. Lamentablemente no pude encontrar la pagina pero sí el comentario en dos paginas jejeje…

"... aunque había visto es More...

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Apr 14, 2011

Christian rated it:

The Last Templar was an alright book. It was very intruiging and action-packed, but I thought it lacked certain wrting techniques that really attaches a reader to a book. Had it not been so action-packed, I would have rated this book 1 star. To me, Raymond Khoury seems like an author that knows how to write an action book, but when it comes to writing about relationships and feelings and emotions of characters, he just doesn't get the job done. In The Last Templar, Agent O'Reilly has to deal wit More...

0 comments like

Mar 25, 2011

Elaine rated it:

Started out great but got a lot too preachy at the end.

Archivio Segreto Vaticano- the Vatican's secret archive Opened to visiting scholars in 1998. Includes Henry VIII's request for annulment from catherine of Aragon and account of Galileo's trial.
Red ribbons bind the official documents (just under a million) . Thought to be the origin of the term "red tape"

Veritas vos liberabit---The Truth Will Set You Free

1118- First Crusade is over.Baldwin More...

0 comments like

Oct 09, 2010

Malcolm rated it:

Raymond Khoury's "The Last Templar" (2006) is part of a deluge of novels and nonfiction to step outside mainstream history to explore the real, prospective and imagined secrets about alchemy, the Knights Templar, and the origins of Christianity.

One cannot help but think of Katherine Neville's "The Eight" (1997) which focused on present-day people fighting over and/or guarding the secrets of the Philosopher's Stone and Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" (200 More...

0 comments like

Oct 07, 2010

Michelle rated it:

I read this book a few years ago. I suppose it was close on the heels of Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code. Everyone was jumping on the relics/mysterious ancient social orders bandwagon. And I'm sort of a sucker for thrillers that deal with the aforementioned. I know, I know...cliche. Whatever. I like escapist lit once in a while. So sue me.

I think I might have really enjoyed this one (i.e., given in three stars because let's be honest, most thrillers are guilty pleasures More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 21, 2010

Dlora rated it:

This is another one of those Da Vinci Code type books were the good guys are racing to beat the bad guys, solving clue after clue, to find a centuries-old treasure that will change the world. I actually liked the book better than I thought I would. Greg had read it and was disgusted with the author's stance that religion is manipulative and fake. I thought the author was more balanced than that. Of the two main characters, one is an archeologist who feels much of religion is based on myth with n More...

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Aug 15, 2010

Ron rated it:

Even though it caters to (and is derived from) the niche "Da Vinci Code" market, including elements of Vatican conspiracy, medieval monks and astounding/confounding secrets impacting what/how people worship/believe, I found this thriller enjoyable and fast-paced. I appreciate the arcana that can be gleaned from this genre, including, here, bits about particular crusades campaigns, a particular monastery in southern france and certain geographical details about turkey. On the down sid More...

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Jul 26, 2010

Randy rated it:

For the first few pages, I enjoyed the book. A bold robbery of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art was refreshing new plot line. However that new plot line soon turned into a tired anti Christian dialogue. According to the author the lost treasure of the Templars as well as the Holy Grail were simply the knowledge that Christ was just an ordinary person, who sired a mulitude of children, many of which were later to join the Templars and that the Bible was written solely for political means al More...

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Mar 13, 2010

Richard rated it:

I enjoyed this book very much. The story is well-paced, the plot twists and turns engagingly, and the characters are sufficiently motivated to propel the action to its conclusion. I appreciated how Khoury allowed the two principal characters to examine their religious and spiritual beliefs during the course of the story, questioning and scrutinizing their respective belief structures. That the belief system in question in "The Last Templar" is Christianity generally, and Roman Catholic More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 03, 2010

Valeria rated it:

In the wake of Dan Brown’s mega-blockbuster “The Da Vinci Code” there were more than a dozen knock-off books on the Templar Knights, or a variety of related subjects, published at a feverish pace, but don’t be fooled. While Khuory’s book alludes to a similar underlying “Jesus was just a man” theory (sort of), his mode of getting to that point had nothing to do with bloodlines, living descendants, or Mary Magdalene.

We start off with a young Templar Knight fleeing the decimation of More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 16, 2010

Sarah rated it:

This book was well-written and intriguing, for the most part. I felt like the ending was a big lead-up to not much, however, with a tinge of predictability.

I listened to the audio book, and unfortunately the language was raw. I am so used to my young adult fantasy books, that the first F-bomb shocked me! (My least favorite word in the English language) It was also very violent and graphic. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect is the fact that it is an all-out attack on Christianity, o More...

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Sep 28, 2010

Trudy rated it:

I think I read this book shortly after it was first published because the first 50 - 60 pages create quite an impression and they felt very familiar to me. I'm sure I picked up the book the first time because of the title, the second time as well. The Templars fascinate me, however, the book did not.

This was yet another book about some "secret" that could destroy the Catholic church, and the faith of more than 1 billion people around the world. If the rest of the book ha More...

0 comments like

Mar 06, 2009

Sarah added it

I was stuck on a small island reading this piece of junk. It's one of those historical church-conspiracy books. Will we find out that the church is evil and have lied for millennial about the mortality of jesus christ who married and had kids and died a natural death??? Yes we will but reader also gets to enjoy a bullshit discussion on faith and how faith helps us over come the endless violence and divisiveness of the church. WTF??

Not only is the story shite. The characters are char More...

2 comments like

Nov 27, 2009

Doreen rated it:

So I got this book in a pile of others from Freecycle, and figured it looked like your stereotypical Dan-Brown-esque trash. The first few chapters did little to dispel that notion: the heroine is bewitchingly beautiful and an archaeologist to boot, and the hero is a handsome NYPD cop with a shadowed past. A theft involving religious objects throw these two together, under the watchful eye of the Vatican. Hijinks ensue.

But around page 220, an actually interesting idea managed to push More...

1 comment like

Aug 09, 2011

Andrew rated it:

Apparently, like many other readers, I went into this book with high hopes. Nothing like suppressed religious history to get the juices flowing. While it did start out well, the LAST TEMPLAR rather quickly degenerated into a stereotypical thriller with all the baggage that comes with that label. I ended up skipping long passages in the latter stages of the book just to avoid reading the tedious prose that was used to describe mundane matters. The "villain" was the same as in every othe More...

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Jul 21, 2011

Long rated it:

Tôi đọc tác phẩm này trước "Mật mã Da Vinci" nên ít nhất không bị định kiến có sẵn về những "tác-phẩm-ăn-theo" của Mật mã Da Vinci như một số fan hâm mộ của Dan Brown. Khách quan mà nói, truyện này khá hay với cách mở đầu gây tò mò và cách dẫn dắt câu chuyện lôi cuốn. Nhưng về cách xây dựng nhân vật thì vẫn còn nhiều chỗ hơi thiếu thuyết phục. Tôi thích ý tưởng của tác giả là: Chúa Jesus viết một cuốn nhật ký trong đó nói về... (spoiler). Nhịp điệu câu chuyện được tác giả dẫn More...

0 comments like

Jan 09, 2011

Leah rated it:

This book was a bit up and down for me, though in the end I have to say I did enjoy it.

I do typically enjoy books of the church/Templar/Illuminati story line, there are definitely some I enjoy more so than others....this one probably falls just about in the middle.

While it fit the seemingly stock storyline(big mystery to solve, handsome cop with emotional baggage, hot/smart chick to help out, jet setting after clues) the story was quick paced and had enough turns to keep me i More...

0 comments like

Jul 18, 2010

Enoch rated it:

I wish I could give this book a 3.5 star rating. The story was nice and detailed and gave some interesting arguments about the origins of religious organizations. However, some of the writing seemed long and full of abundance that didn't need to be there. The book was 525 pages and felt that it could have lost around 100 pages and still be a good read.

My other problem was the total deconstruction of faith without the equal strength argument for faith. Even though there were circumsta More...

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