Customer Reviews

The Last Secret of the Temple

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Unlike some people, I enjoyed Dan Brown's THE DA VINCI CODE and heavily admire Brown's plotting ability. I'm not a big fan of most of the DA VINCI knockoffs and imitations that have followed, but Paul Sussman's THE LAST SECRET OF THE TEMPLE is a pretty good one.

THE LAST SECRET OF THE TEMPLE is an adventure novel that deals with a religious secret, one that may impact the struggle for power in the Middle East. Sussman spends a lot of time describing the political and social conflict betweens Jews, Arabs, and Palestinians, and I found this aspect of the novel quite fascinating.

Unlike most novels of this sort, the main character isn't American -- the three major protagonists are instead Egyptian, Israeli, and Palestinian. Sussman takes a lot of time developing all three of these characters, and they are all interesting people to spend time with. If you're curious in hearing all sides of the Middle East conflict, Sussman does a pretty good job fleshing it out for the reader here, although he does get heavy handed at times.

The pace of this novel is rather slow at the beginning, but it speeds up rather quickly by the half-way point. The last hundred pages of the book are pure action, with the inevitable big confrontation at the end. I could have done without some of the silly plot twists at the end, but they don't distract from the overall fun of the story.

Overall, THE LAST SECRET OF THE TEMPLE is a good read with a lot of interesting historical content. It was apparently a huge hit in the UK. I'm surprised this book didn't get better distribution in the US, but it's worthing seeking out if you enjoy thought-provoking thrillers.

I approached this book with mixed feelings. I had enjoyed Sussman's first book `The Lost Army of Cambyses so much that I thought it would be impossible for him to reach such dizzy heights again. How wrong could I have been. This book is equally as good if not better.

The author has the uncanny ability of being able to draw you into the plot, so that you almost feel as if you, the reader are a character in the book. You can smell the sights and the sounds of Jerusalem, just less than 100 years after the birth of Christ. You can literally hear the sound of the hob nailed marching sandals of the Roman legions as the besiege the Holy Temple.

Your are brought forward in time to Nazi Germany, where prisoners have to drag a mysterious crate deep into a disused mine and are then brutally murdered by their German guards.

The plot then arrives back at the present day. A body is found in the ruins at the Valley of the Kings, in Egypt. On the face of it, it seems to be an open and shut case, but the more that is uncovered about the dead man by Inspector Khalifa the more uneasy he becomes about it.

The Inspectors findings send him on a trail of murder and mahem that could turn the Middle East into a bloodbath.

This is how all murder, mysteries should be written.

I have just finished reading this marvellous thriller last night. What a tremendously good work of fiction it is!!! Pulls you in from page 1 and takes you on an exhilarating ride. Mr Sussman is a very, very good writer and he really brings his Middle East setting alive - I almost felt that I was in both Jerusalem and Luxor, Egypt, so evocative was his writing. The plot is extraordinarily good and his three protagonists well drawn. We have the gruff Israeli policeman, the by-the-book Egyptian detective and the crusading Arab journalist. Their quest to find the original Menorah from the Temple of Solomon before it falls into the hands of terrorists really comes alive and the plot twist at the end took my breath away. I did NOT see that coming!
I cannot recommend this book highly enough for lovers of the thriller genre. It is far superior to the Da Vinci Code. Blows it out of the water, in fact.

Mr. Sussman has written a great book. I believe the book was described as 'the intelligent reader's answer to the Da Vinci Code' and I wholeheartedly agree with that description. The majority of the part transpires in the present-day Middle East and a small portion in ancient Jerusalem. Very, very well done.

I liked a lot about this book but the author uses a series of very unbelieveable coincidences to move the plot forward. It gets old. The author is very capable of doing a lot of research and the locations are finely drawn. If only he used as much energy on creating a more credible plot line, the book would be much better. The comparison to Brown is poor - he let the characters figure out the answer to the problem. Sussman allows his characters to blindly bump into the the next part of the puzzle or be led by some unseen intuition to happen to be at the right place at the right time. And the twist at the end, while not completely unexpected, contradicts the portrait he spends many, many pages building throughout the book.

I like books that are based on history and involve archeology so I wanted to like this book. And it did hold my interest but as the story unfolds you start to realize that it just contains way too many coincidences to be considered a really well-crafted book.

A Wonderful read, 5+ stars. The best so far of the Da Vinci-esque type books. Mr. Sussman has done his homework and written a masterpiece. The only slight fault that might put a reader off is the slow beginning as he builds a solid foundation on which to write an amazing story. Mr. Sussman is a master story teller and his The Last Secret of the Temple is simply a terrific story. Filled with fact and fiction, he blends it all together to keep the reader involved at all levels. The story is complex on several levels but Mr. Sussman is able to keep the reader engaged throughout this tale. Best of all, Mr. Sussman has a wonderful ending. Unlike most Da Vinci Code type books that have uncertain or weak endings, this book is powerful at the end. It actually closes the deal and makes the reader happy to have read it. Magnificent.
The story is rather complex but in essence deals with a lost Jewish relic during the Roman sacking of the Second Holy Temple of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD. I won't tell you the relic as that is key to the story and suspense but needless to say it is an amazing winding tale. Flash to the turmoils of the modern day Middle East and be prepared for a rollicking ride of suspense, as a murder mystery opens the door to the past and the present.
This is one of the best reads in years that has true character development. Mr. Sussman fleshes out his characters in a dynamic way that is not only interesting but pleasing as well. I thoroughly enjoyed the character interaction. Not always pleasant but life is not always happy either. As I have spent some time in the Middle East I can tell you the characters are very realistic. Another superb point is that Mr. Sussman includes a very good 14 page glossary at the end of the book. Excellent for understanding the various Jewish, Arabic, and religious terms. A great help.
Language was very strong throughout and the reader should be warned beforehand of that fact. Nevertheless it made the story stronger.
No gratuitous sex or violence.
If you liked the Da Vinci Code this book is an absolute must. I personally feel it is better. Overall I highly recommend it. Just stick with it through the first 150 pages of literary foundation building and you will be well rewarded. It will be more than worth it.
I hope that Mr. Sussman writes another book soon.

The opening sentence of THE LAST SECRET OF THE TEMPLE sets the mood for what is to come in this engrossing sophomore effort from Paul Sussman, author of THE LOST ARMY OF CAMBYSES. There is an image --- horrific, barbaric and unforgettable in its brutality --- that reminds readers that the troubles in the Middle East (Jerusalem in particular) have existed for two millennia (actually, since the beginning of time, if one gives credence to the events chronicled in the Book of Genesis). Sussman's novel, however, is concerned with modern times, in a tale that is part thriller, part mystery and all-encompassing.

As plot-driven as THE LAST SECRET OF THE TEMPLE is, it is the primary and secondary characters presented therein --- one of whom does not appear until well into the final third of the book --- that ultimately make it a winner. Almost all of the protagonists are deeply flawed in some way or another. Yusef Khalifa is an Egyptian police detective who is doggedly dedicated to his profession and to his family --- in that order, to his quiet guilt --- but who is haunted by a decision he made early in his career during the investigation of the murder of a woman who was a concentration camp survivor. Arieh Ben-Roi is an Israeli cop who lost his fiancée to a terrorist attack and whose program of alcoholic self-medication is driving his career, and his life, off the rails. Meanwhile, Palestinian journalist Layla al-Madani provides a regular and reliable literary litany of the offenses of the Israeli government against the Palestinian people.

These three characters are slowly and inexorably brought together when Khalifa begins his investigation into the death of Piet Jansen, the owner of an Egyptian hotel. The cause of Jansen's death is determined quickly enough; Khalifa, however, slowly begins to tie Jansen to the murder of Hannah Schlegel, an Israeli woman whose brutal killing constituted Khalifa's first investigation. While the case was listed as solved, Khalifa always felt as if there was a rush to judgment; the more he investigates Jansen's life, the more Khalifa feels that it was Jansen who in fact murdered Schlegel. Reopening the investigation, his trail leads him to Israel, where he is paired --- first via long-distance and then in person --- with the reluctant and increasingly hostile Ben-Roi, who wants nothing to do with his Egyptian counterpart. But Ben-Roi uncovers some interesting facts concerning Schlegel almost in spite of himself.

Meanwhile, Al-Madani receives a mysterious correspondence seeking her assistance in making contact with a deadly Palestinian terrorist, so that "invaluable information" in the struggle against Israel and its people effectively can be brought to bear. The letter includes an ancient coded message, one that leads al-Madani on a globe-hopping quest to unravel one of history's greatest mysteries. As the paths and quests of these protagonists slowly converge, another party shadows them, hoping they will lead him to a secret that will upset and destroy the fragile status quo of the Israeli and Palestinian territories.

While THE LAST SECRET OF THE TEMPLE is an engrossing thriller, it also contains an intriguing and tantalizing mystery that keeps the reader guessing until almost the very end. By virtue of its socio-geographic backdrop, to some extent the novel is also a political work dealing with a topic that by its very nature generates strong emotions and opinions. Sussman, though no doubt possessed of his own strong feelings regarding those complex issues, has made what appears to be an effort to give a balanced presentation of the views of the parties involved. Will it make everyone, or even anyone, happy? Probably not. Regardless of one's opinions, however, this is a compelling read that should satisfy the vociferous appetites of mystery and thriller readers alike.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

This is a superb novel, fast-paced spanning centuries and chock full of fanatastic plot twists that keep your heart pounding.

The author is also to be congratulated for giving his characters real emotions and real actions and reactions. You feel with these people since they seem and act real. They are flawed human beings like all of us.

Mr Sussman clearly has an extensive knowledge of the Middle east and it shows.

His sympathetic portrayal of Palestinian charcters in the story is also a nice surprise.

Prepare yourselves for the ride of a lifetime. The plot twists are just amazing!

Thought this would be an entertaining review. Just going to throw it out - not even going to donate it to the library as I normally do when finished with my Amazon books. It is blatantly pro-Arab and anti-Israel. I like to read and learn both sides of an issue. Mr. Sussman is definitely carrying the water for the Palestinian and Arab causes. Disappointing for an academic.

Well, I loved the book. But, why Paul felt he needed to use the f-word everywhere is beyond me. It added nothing to the story and was actually distracting. It is strange I would write this because normally such language does not both me, but its us for some reason seemed stretch, unnecessary, and didn't add to an otherwise excellent book.