The Templar Salvation (Sean Reilly and Tess Chaykin Series #2)

This is an exhilarating thriller with a strong historical core setting up the present day saga

In 1310, Templar knight Conrad of Tripoli accidentally finds a treasure of ancient writings from Christian early days. Following the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Church hid the material out of fear that what it contains could destroy the faith especially in the Church.

In the 1950s, a CIA hit team killed the family of Iranian Mansoor Zahed. The only survivor of the massacre he has patiently prayed for the day he can enact vengeance on the west. He knows the avenue would be to find the Conrad documents and release it to destroy one of the pillars of western religious thought. When his lover Tess Chaykin is kidnapped, FBI special agent Sean Reilly follows clues that take him to the Vatican where he believes a document exists that might prove the key to bringing home safely his beloved.

This is an exhilarating thriller with a strong historical core setting up the present day saga. The story line is action-packed from the opening fourteenth century find and never misses a beat as the centuries go by. Readers will fully appreciate the powerful fast-paced Templar Salvation as a worthy sequel to Reilly starring in the terrific Last Templar.

Harriet Klausner

8 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

Truly Enjoyed the Historical Perspectives

I got this book for free.
Article first published as Book Review: The Templar Salvation by Raymond Khoury on Blogcritics.

"The Templar Salvation" by Raymond Khoury is the long awaited fictional sequel to "The Last Templar". The Knights Templar existed for more than two hundred years doing the bidding of the Roman Catholic Church. At some point the knights have fallen out of favor with the Pope, were hunted down and took their secrets (and some say artifacts) to the grave.

Conrad, one of the last of the Templars, is on a mission - he must save several crates and ensure their safety. Archeologist Tess Chaykin is forced by a mysterious Iranian man to solve Conrad's mystery 700 years later while her boyfriend, FBI agent Sean Reilly, tries to save her from certain death.
Their adventure takes them to Europe & Turkey, meeting strange and wonderful people while their lives are being constantly threatened. Part of the mystery is what's in the trunks - the other part is what would they do if they find it.

"The Templar Salvation" is a fast, imaginative page turner which brings back archaeologist Tess Chaykin and her boyfriend FBI special agent Sean Reilly. This is an enthralling book and I could not find any glaring historical inaccuracies in it, quite the opposite, I thought learned a few things along he way.

The book jumps back and forth in time, switching between the story of one of the last Templars and our contemporary heroes. While the knight is trying to hide the objects of desire, central to the plot, Tess and Sean are following his footsteps trying to find them.

I did find some of Agent Reilly's luck and actions to be a bit too implausible - it seems as if the man cannot die and if he gets hurt he just shakes it off. Reilly also did things I thought were out of character. As a former solider I know that for a time I felt naked without my gun, it is hard for me to believe that Reilly would make the mistake of putting his gun in a backpack.

"The Templar Salvation" is filled with chases and fights (which I thought were overdrawn and could have been shortened - but that's nitpicking), but I truly enjoyed the historical perspectives which were mesmerizing. The reference to other characters in Templar books not written by Mr. Khoury certainly got a chuckle out of me. Overall this is an enjoyable book which was fast paced, likable characters and when it was all said and done, left me with some things to think about.

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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Action packed ...

Great action story and new Templars revelations, but disappointment hit about 75 pages before the end when I realized that yet another great secret will be lost to the world. It would be fun to read a story of a discovery that made it to the front pages of the world news. Let the imagination wander to what would change.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Look for this to become a trilogy

Once again, Mr. Khoury has included some of his personal opinions toward the government policies and leadership of the United States. Personally, this does not seem to be an issue with me, but may be with other readers. Not to the extent as in The Sign, however.
I found the book to be rather mundane, compared to "The Last Templar", until well into the reading. Not until well after 250 pages (hardback edition) did the story begin to really peak my interest. After that, the storyline became a fast paced, action filled thriller to the final page. Of course, the ending leaves this tale wide open for the final edition of this evolving trilogy. All in all, a fun read with good historical reference.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

The fact that even Khoury makes a direct connection with another Templar books, tells you that the theme is universal and is almost a sure winner when used in literature.

The Templar Salvation by Raymond Khoury

The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders. The organization existed for approximately two centuries in the Middle Ages.

Officially endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church around 1129, the Order became a favored charity throughout Christendom, and grew rapidly in membership and power. Templar knights, in their distinctive white mantles with a red cross, were among the most skilled fighting units of the Crusades. Non-combatant members of the Order managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom, innovating financial techniques that were an early form of banking and building many fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land.

The Templars' existence was tied closely to the Crusades; when the Holy Land was lost, support for the Order faded. Rumors about the Templars' secret initiation ceremony created mistrust, and King Philip IV of France , deeply in debt to the Order, took advantage of the situation. In 1307, many of the Order's members in France were arrested, tortured into giving false confessions, and then burned at the stake. Under pressure from King Philip, Pope Clement V disbanded the Order in 1312. The abrupt disappearance of a major part of the European infrastructure gave rise to speculation and legends, which have kept the "Templar" name alive into the modern day.

Numerous books have been written about them; each one giving a new twist to the Templar Secret that gave them all that power. It is rumored and thought that the Templars knew something about either the Holy Grail, The Arc of the covenant, of the fact that Christ was not divine, but rather a human, or that he had fathered children with Mary Magdalene. They used this knowledge to bribe the church and thus their power and demise.

The Templar Salvation a sequel to Mr. Khoury's first book: The Last Templar. My favorite Templar book is by Steve Berry: The Templar Legacy, which Mr. Khoury makes reference to its main character, Cotton Malone, in this novel.

The book opens with FBI agent, Sean Reilly, trying to save archeologist/girlfriend, Tess Chaykin from a vicious uncompromising terrorist-Mansoor Zahed-an Iranian with a sense of revenge because his family was killed by the 1988 bombing of an Iranian commercial plane by the US. Reilly goes to the Vatican crypt and retrieves a document for the Iranian-Fondo Templari, a secret history of the Templars that contains information of the particular thing the Templars had used to blackmail The Church.

From the last stance in Constantinople, the Templars are able to hide their lute from the advancing Christian troops. Three Templars retrieve the lute in the early 14th century and hide it in modern day Turkey. As it turns out the loot has to do with the Council of Nicea and The Emperor Constantine who created the new Roman Empire by adopting Christianity as its religion and making Constantinople its new Rome. However, Constantine knew that the Christian religion needed to fit a mold, and carry a certain message-otherwise he would not be able to use it to control the Empire. At Nicea he calls all the Christian prelates ands molds the religion to fit his needs. All the documents that would contradict his "New Christian Religion" he orders destroyed. But his confi

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

I thought it was a pretty good story. It ended pretty abruptly,

I thought it was a pretty good story. It ended pretty abruptly, but enjoyed the historical mystery aspect of the tale. Reilly and Tess seem invulnerable........

DO NOT BUY!!!

It was AWFUL!!! The worst book that I have ever tried to read. I finally put it down.

Highly Recommended - you must check it out!!

This is a real page turner. The author is accurate and knowledgeable on his history and has woven a story to rival some of the greats in his category. If you enjoy historical novels, the likes of, Steve Berry, Dan Brown, etc, then Raymond Khoury will thrill the pants off of you.

great read

Captivating story.

If you liked The Last Templar - don't read this

previously interesting characters have become annoying, and only kept reading since i hoped it would get better.

A waste of time

A real disappointment having read his previous work. Not well written and similar to Dan Brown's Lost Symbol which was equally disappointing. It appears only Steve Berry, if you like this genre, keeps up the good work.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great follow up to "The Last Templar"!

Fun follow up to the The Last Templar. Great back story of what could have happened to the Templars.

Good read -- poor editing

Why am I paying practically the same price as hardcopy for an e-book that is riddled with typos?

Storywise, the book is a good read -- especially if you read "The Last Templar". However, it's very irritating to be reading a book that has such obvious spelling and editing errors. You would think that the e-book content is the final electronic version before the text is sent to printing. Apparently, in this case, it was not.

Adventure, history, action!

If you are looking for a fast-paced, history infused adventure, "The Templar Salvation", will fulfill. Well-written plot development and interesting characters with a thorough historical background ranks this book with the best of it's genre. I read the first book, "The Last Templar", a couple of years ago and was hoping there would be a sequel. So, Mr. Khoury...I'm waiting patiently for the next one. I'm hoping you have one in the works.

poor dan brown knockoff

so disappointed. i loved the first one but this sequel is just awful. sad that i spent money on it.

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