Book Review: The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry

The Templar Legacy
Author: Steve Berry
Series: Cotton Malone (Book 1)
Publication: Ballantine Books (February 21, 2006)

Description: The ancient order of the Knights Templar possessed untold wealth and absolute power over kings and popes . . . until the Inquisition, when they were wiped from the face of the earth, their hidden riches lost.

But now two forces vying for the treasure have learned that it is not at all what they thought it was–and its true nature could change the modern world.

Cotton Malone, one-time top operative for the U.S. Justice Department, is enjoying his quiet new life as an antiquarian book dealer in Copenhagen when an unexpected call to action reawakens his hair-trigger instincts–and plunges him back into the cloak-and-dagger world he thought he’d left behind.

It begins with a violent robbery attempt on Cotton’s former supervisor, Stephanie Nelle, who’ s far from home on a mission that has nothing to do with national security. Armed with vital clues to a series of centuries-old puzzles scattered across Europe, she means to crack a mystery that has tantalized scholars and fortune-hunters through the ages by finding the legendary cache of wealth and forbidden knowledge thought to have been lost forever when the order of the Knights Templar was exterminated in the fourteenth century. But she’s not alone. Competing for the historic prize– and desperate for the crucial information Stephanie possesses–is Raymond de Roquefort, a shadowy zealot with an army of assassins at his command.

Welcome or not, Cotton seeks to even the odds in the perilous race. But the more he learns about the ancient conspiracy surrounding the Knights Templar, the more he realizes that even more than lives are at stake. At the end of a lethal game of conquest, rife with intrigue, treachery, and craven lust for power, lies a shattering discovery that could rock the civilized world–and, in the wrong hands, bring it to its knees.

My Thoughts: This excellent thriller introduces Cotton Malone who stars in eighteen thrillers. The plot of this one revolves around lost Templar treasure and information about Jesus Christ that could rock the Roman Catholic church. 

Cotton is approached by Stephanie Nelle his former boss at the Magellan Billet where he used his skills as a lawyer to deal with international crime. He left the Magellan Billet, moved to Denmark, and opened a bookstore. Stephanie has received a journal from her deceased husband. Her husband was obsessed with investigating rumors regarding the Templars. He wrote a number of bestselling books before he took his own life. 

Stephanie feels that she owes it to her husband to see if there was anything to the rumors he was investigating. Since someone is trying to kill her, it looks like there is something to his research. Despite trying to not get Cotton involved, he becomes involved because of his curiosity and loyalty to Stephanie. Then the action happens as they travel from Denmark to France in search of the Templars lost treasure.

We also get the viewpoint of a man who wants to be the new Master of the Templars and get revenge for actions done in the 13th Century. 

This was a fun thriller that reminded me of The Davinci Code. I enjoyed the characters and plan to read more in the series. 

Favorite Quote:

"Dreamers have many times changed the world."

"This is a wild goose chase for a goose that doesn't exist."

I bought this one October 7, 2009. You can buy your copy here.