The Templar Agenda

by John Paul Davis

UK Top 20 - #16
UK Top 3 - Thrillers
UK #1 - Religious Fiction
US Top 5 - Historical Thrillers
US Top 20 - Religious Fiction

From the Bestselling Author of The Plantagenet Vendetta and The Larmenius Inheritance

Reviews

Can't wait for the new one! - RICHARD DOETSCH, international bestselling author of Thieves of Heaven, Half Past Dawn, and The 13th Hour

John Paul Davis clearly owns the genre of historical thrillers. The Templar Agenda is a fast paced and absorbing tale that takes the reader on an exhilarating adventure from the first page to the last. This tantalizing story is intricately woven and stretches from the ancient secrets of the world's most powerful society to the modern behind-the-scenes brotherhood that still wields power on a global level. - STEVEN SORA, author of The Lost Treasure of the Knights Templar, The Lost Colony of the Templars, Secret Societies of America's Elite

A well-researched, original and fascinating work - a real page-turner. - GRAHAM PHILLIPS, bestselling author of The End of Eden, Merlin and the Discovery of Avalon, The Templars and the Ark of the Covenant, Alexander the Great, The Moses Legacy, The Marian Conspiracy, Act of God

A clever, absorbing tale...The Templar Agenda grabs you right from the murderous beginning and takes you on a fast-paced, thoroughly researched thrill-ride... - DAVID LEADBEATER, UK #1 bestselling thriller author of The Bones of Odin

Told at a pace that leaves the reader breathless, Davis has constructed a plot that flies across the planet...We follow the novel's protagonists, Swiss Guard Mikael (Mike) Frei and Gabrielle Leoni, daughter of a murdered banker, as they race against time to uncover the hidden secret that has already led to a series of assassinations, could wreak havoc in the world's banking capitals, and threatens the stability and integrity of the Catholic Church itself.... Davis is adept at managing several storylines, moving swiftly from one group of characters to another, as the novel progresses. But he is equally skilled at ensuring that the reader remains gripped by the central plot to its dramatic and surprising conclusion... - JOHN ALCOCK, author, prize winning poet, and former Director of Open Studies Creative Writing, University of Warwick, and Exchange Professor in Dramatic Literature, Eastern Michigan University

FROM THE BACK PAGE

A Swiss banker is found murdered, the latest in a string of murders whose victims had connections to the Vatican. Their a secret society whose members include some of the most influential men on the planet. They are the inheritors of the Knights an ancient brotherhood of warrior monks who once fought for the preservation of the Church in dangerous times.

But in whose name do they act now?

Back in Rome, the Vatican Police make a chilling discovery. All of the victims have one thing in common. And the Camerlengo's great-niece is their next target.

When Swiss Guard Mikael (Mike) Frei is sent to St. Gallen to act as temporary bodyguard for Gabrielle Leoni, daughter of the murdered banker and great-niece of the Camerlengo, he is completely unprepared for what awaits him. Mike and Gabrielle fail to take to one another but following the discovery of a 14th century diary left behind by Gabrielle's father which provides a dramatic insight into the cause of recent deaths, both of their lives are endangered.

A disturbing trail is emerging and an explosive secret is waiting to be a secret someone wants to remain hidden. With Gabrielle intent on discovering the truth behind her father's murder, Mike's position is compromised, forcing him to embark on a dangerous mission across Europe and the Atlantic to ensure Gabrielle's safety and in doing so attempt to uncover the identity of the murderers before they strike again. Something serious is about to happen...

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Ebooks

536 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 14, 2011

About the author

📚 John Paul Davis is the international bestselling author of fourteen thriller novels. His debut, The Templar Agenda, cracked the UK Top 20 and claimed the #1 spot in Historical Thrillers. Since then, he has continued to keep readers on the edge of their seats, with hits like The Cortés Trilogy, which reached the UK Top 40 and US Top 20, and the White Hart series, starring a secret black ops group with origins dating back to the Middle Ages.

🖊 In addition to thrillers, JPD has authored seven works of nonfiction. His debut work, Robin Hood: The Unknown Templar, sparked international press interest, while Pity For The Guy, the first full-length biography of Guy Fawkes, was featured on ITV’s The Alan Titchmarsh Show.

🏠 JPD is an active member of International Thriller Writers (ITW) and an Associate Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He holds a BSc from Loughborough University and resides in Warwickshire, where he enjoys sports, history, reading, contemplating the meaning of life, planning book-related travels and pondering plot twists.

Checkout his official Website: www.johnpauldavis.com

Reviews

[Lada Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Global conspiracy, history, murder — and the Knights Templar!

When several, seemingly unrelated, high-profile murders shake up the world’s financial and political system, Swiss Guard Mikael (Mike) Frei is sent to St. Gallen to act as temporary bodyguard for Gabrielle Leoni, daughter of the murdered banker and great-niece of the Camerlengo. After the discovery of a 14th century diary left behind by Gabrielle's father, which provides a dramatic insight into the cause of recent deaths, Mike and Gabrielle are forced to embark on a dangerous mission across Europe and the Atlantic: Mike, to ensure Gabrielle's safety, and Gabrielle, to uncover the truth of her father’s death. Both are drawn into the global conspiracy that may endanger their lives, and in doing so they must attempt to uncover the identity of the murderers before they strike again.

The Templar Agenda is written by a historian, therefore many lush historical details about the ancient Order of the Templars and the Catholic Church are sprinkled throughout the narrative, which, being the lover of history, I personally enjoyed.

The story is well plotted and possesses an intoxicating mix of intrigue, ambiguity and seamless fusion of fact and fiction to keep the reader addicted to the next page. In addition to action, romantic tension and mystery, the reader is asked to consider certain serious questions: Are secret societies the force of good or evil? What are the consequences of actions that are deemed necessary by few, and how do these actions impact many?

The Templar Agenda is a rich, engaging, thrill-filled story, which will appeal to the lovers of history and the historical thriller genre. A great read!

[John Maher · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW JUST WOW !!! One of those unforgettable book's that you will just love

I've just finished this,and I'm gagging to get my hands on another John Paul Davis book's.
I can not believe how anyone could only give it three and a half star's.
If you loved Dan Brown's books, writing style and his storylines then you are going to devour this one.
If I could have giving this book ten star's well,then I think I'd have given it fifteen. It's one of those book's that you wouldn't and couldn't put down till you finished it. Clear your calendar and turn of your phone off your in for one hell of a fantastic read.

[gillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic novel by this author. As per he has done so much research and it shows. A fantastic story with so many twists and turns that kept me hooked from start to finish. In my opinion he is up there with Dan Brown and all his novels so far have been fantastic reads. I enjoy historical entwined modern day stories and he does not disappoint. As always he weans out the fact and fiction at the end and I always learn something new after reading one of his books. Superbly written, likable and interesting characters, enjoy.

[Rosalyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this the history was so good the romantic bit was a bit unreal but with the rest being so marvelous who cared.
Will continue to read any offering from this author as so well researched it was a wonderful way to learn

[Cinta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started reading this book with very high expectations, but little by little I started to lose interest. The story is really good, but the long bits about history, which appear several times along the book, made my mind wander and want to skim them. Don't get me wrong. I am not saying this book is not worth of being read. It is really good, and it reminded me of Dan Brown. You can feel that the author has gone through a long and thorough process of researching for writing this book. Everything sounds plausible and the story has cohesion.
In this novel, the protagonist, a member of the Vatican Swiss Guard, has to protect the daughter of a very important banker who has been murdered. When more people related to the Vatican in some way start appearing dead, things get complicated, and it seems there is some kind of conspiracy. Are the Knights Templar behind the weird things happening? Are the protagonists in danger? Follow them in their way to solve mysteries coming from the past.
I liked the book. However, I found some bits a bit repetitive and dull. I have started to hate the word "slight" and "slightly" since it appears all over the book; more synonyms would have been welcomed. And I found typos and other mistakes. That made me give this book just 3 stars when I was planning to give it 5.

[Kathleen Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not good at writing reviews and I should have done this one at least a month ago right after I read this book and it was fresh in my mind,but I'm lazy. With that said I will do my best now.
I absolutely LOVED this book! I couldn't put it down! From the first page till the last page this book had me! It's filled with intrigue,romance,mystery and suspense.
I love the way the author writes this book as well. Going from one scene and flowing right into the next one. I enjoyed the way the author at first had the two main Character's Mike the Swiss Guard and Gabrielle the Banker's daughter not get along well with each other. Then slowly start liking each other to the point of falling in love with each other.
I loved the mystery the needed to unravel and found clues. Every page of this book was so vivid in my imagination. That makes this a great book. I would absolutely love to see this book turned into a movie! I would most definitely go see it.

Ok so as I said I stink at giving book reviews. It doesn't help that I waited about a month before writing this and had to do my best to remember. I really did enjoy reading this book and didn't want it to end. Now that's a good book,when you don't want it to end!

[Stefano · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot. I read some Dan Brown books and did not like them even if religious fiction is one of my favorite genres.
This novel is different, is much more documented and has a good balance between reality and fiction.
The descriptions of the locations are really detailed as are the characters.

As some of the other reviews have already said, it is not perfect (which book is perfect after all?) but my enjoyment of the book did not suffer, so I give it 5 stars anyway.

Definitely an author to keep an eye on.
Looking forward to read your next novel Mr. Davis!

[Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

This story could have been told in half the pages. The author fills page after page with travelog type descriptions of architectural features and art. Or spends several pages describing the attendees to a meeting, then two or three sentences of someone saying something, several more pages of each attendee's body language in response. What little action (suspense?) there is doesn't occur until past the 75% point of the book. A tedious and arduous read.

[Sherry Hovencamp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story. It moved quite slowly, however, and the language was repetitive. I wish I had counted the number of times the author used the phrase 'unbeknownst to him' or some variation of the same...sometimes twice in the same paragraph. The level of detail was excessive and did nothing to enhance the story. I almost gave up on it, but was already halfway through and decided to finish. I'm glad that's over.

[Judy Jackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book needs a lot more editing. Too many complex issues: the history and legends of the Templars, international banking, the Roman Catholic Church and the Vatican. Too many characters, too many murders, too many meetings discussed in great detail, and too many details about what people are wearing.

[Julie Lange-gledhill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good. Great story line and plot. However this book needs some major editing!!! Several times the author was very repetitive in his sentences. At times I felt he wrote the same sentence over and over just using different words. Otherwise if you like Dan brown I would strongly recommend this book.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is good but where was the climax? It captured me yes but you were hit with wave after wave of build ups that ultimately lead to boring passages. I know every book can't be action packed but this really did have the potential to be brilliant. Disappointed everything was present but not all working.

[Lowell Bonnema · Rating 3 out of 5]

Templar agenda

This book is a work of fiction but the author did exhaustive research into a very complex world of mystery from the Vatican, Freemasons and Swiss guard to the Templars. The story line gets a little too detailed at times what can make it a little slow moving.

[Ryan Rauber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good story and premise, just much too long. I found myself struggling to keep reading. First half is especially slow, but picks up in the 2nd half. Too much info on banking. This book needed a major edit.

[Veronique Furzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read 4 books in between starting and finishing this book. I found myself skipping passages and wondering if this was really ever going anywhere. But ... I did persist and hmmm - not sure what I got out of it to be honest.

[Patricia A Spring · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good

I enjoyed the theory, I enjoy this type of story. I was disappointed in Mike, for such a trained soldier of rank; he didn't pay attention, he didn't react as a trained expert in my opinion.

[John Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good read. I have read a number of Templar Novels of late and this certainly add a fresh twist.

[Cathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't finish this book, not enjoyable for me at all.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. It did have a lot of characters to keep in order but it all came together in the end. It was interesting to see a story from a more Catholic Church point of view.

[Fiona McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gripping read, full of characters, murders, twists and turns.

[Cesar Gatica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great conspiracy book. Fun historic facts, very believable premise concerning banking, finance, and secret societies. Good character development and a very entertaining story. Overall excellent book

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book but could have been shorter. Some of the parts were boring, pages about a board meeting, for instance. The ending was good.

[Alan Austin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good enough read that I felt compelled to finish it, but not so good that I was in couldn't-put-it-down mode.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much to do with banking, of which I understand very little.

[Ellen Snyder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Templar Conspiracy

Enjoyed this book. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the Templars. The author held my attention throughout. Descriptions of locations were vivid.

[Richard West · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's pretty much a given that the original Templars devised what we think of as the modern banking system. It's also a given that the original group ceased to exist after 1307. But, what if a number of the Templars had escaped and over the years by hook and by crook, they survived in secret and their descendants became one of the most powerful organizations in the world, controlling everything from governments to banking and everything in between?

That's the crux of this interesting, albeit sometimes complicated tale, by John Paul Davis. Swiss Guard Mike Frei is assigned the duty of guarding the daughter of a murdered Swiss banker and therein lies the essence of a book with more twists and turns than a mountainous highway. And, you might at times need a scorecard to keep track of who's who and who did what to whom.

Altogether, it's an interesting premise. If you're looking for a tale of the original Templars, this isn't it - this one is set in today's world. All in all, a fascinating read that makes you think and wonder, what if.......?

[Niki · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really could just not get into this book. Really struggled to see how it all came together.

[Robin Jansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you liked the da vinci code you will like this. There is a chapter on the authors research that was really interesting. Good read, but not a quick read.

[Paul Boulton · Rating 5 out of 5]

New read

Bit heavy at times, good plot though still kept me reading till the very end looking forward to the next on

[Morris Shanahan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was way too long, the characters were rather stock standard, there were far too many plots, and too much time was spent on detail that really wasn’t adding much to the story. I gave it 2stars only because it was about a group I love reading about. Definitely not my favourite.