Customer Reviews

The Templar Cross

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In this excellent sequel to The Sword of the Templars, Paul Christopher weaves past and present into a seamless whole. West Point professor John Holliday finds that he can't let his military skills go into retirement. When Holliday's only surviving relative and niece is kidnapped on an archaeological dig, the retired Army Ranger and her fiance are determined to find her. And people end up dying all around them. The chase takes this intrepid duo from North America to Europe to Africa and they travel in the rough on a buckboard of a desert vehicle, as well as in style - the Orient Express. Christopher's sense of pacing, exciting plots, and character development are exceptional.

Paul Christopher is well worth the read. You won't regret picking up this book. It makes the sky miles go by very quickly!

Exciting have read all three in this series and anxiously waiting his fourth. Little too much foregin languate though, even though translated. Keep them coming Paul.

This is the second book in the series that I have read. I was fooled a little by the title as it is not a book about the Templars at all. Regardless, I thought the book was good, as in average. It gave a little bit of history which I always like. The story kept me interested in what was going to happen next, though a lot of it was predictable. It is a book that, in my opinion, uses the Catholic Church as a kick plate. That seems to be popular today and if that bothers you to much, don't read it.

I enjoyed this book very much. It's easy reading, yet exciting enough to keep you coming back for more.

Someone complained about too much detail, others complained about it mentioning Dan Brown's books too much, but I found it a good relaxer on my ride home on the bus, after a long, hard day at work.

I received the book along with the other two Paul Christopher Templar trio together. I haven't read it yet, but will do so in the near future.

As with the Sword of the Templars, in this sequel, Mr. Christopher tends to over-describe, laying down list after list of descriptive notes. That being said, he manages to paint vivid pictures of the surroundings and places within the story.

When Doc Holliday finally gets around to killing the bad guys, the scenes are very anticlimactic. Each supposedly climactic confrontation is like an aside in the journey rather than being key scenes.

The title of the book is a misnomer, because when I got to the templar cross scene in the last chapter, I couldn't even remember where he got it or why. If it wasn't for his reiterating details in that final chapter, I never would have remembered it. In fact, I still don't remember more than a vague scene buried somewhere back in the story.

I found no big problem with his political and philosophical rantings. At least he seems to slam even his own country, Canada, as much as he slams everyone else. He appears to have a bone to pick with Dan Brown and the whole holy grail thing. I personally think of it as color, and not necessarily that he is putting down Mr. Brown and all the others with their holy grail theory. Then again, I can see where others may think that he is putting those authors down.

Finally, he makes quite a case for the Vatican being the bad guys. Big surprise! Not being a Catholic, I find his rantings just another take on that huge organization. He may be a closet Catholic that has a bone to pick with the Vatican, or it may just be more color.

Despite these flaws, I found myself engaged and had a great time reading this book. I am now well into the Templar Throne. If you don't mind the problems I mentioned, this is a thoroughly enjoyable story. Recommended.

I would be delighted to review this book if I could read it -- and I cannot read it since you failed to fill my order by sending it to me!!

Robert A. Burka

rburka@foley.com

I like this hero. He's middle aged and one eyed. He's had training and uses it when necessary, but isn't invincible. And he loves his niece.

This is another read it for the fun of it book. The second in the Holliday series.

Just another hack author turning out novels after Dan Brown's blockbuster. I knew something was wrong when this author started putting his liberal anti-Christian viewpoint into the mouths of the hero. You get anti-Patriot Act, anti-Christianity, and anti-Southern US attitude from this guy. Why was I not surprised to find he was born in 1949 in Canada - made him a teenager during all the anti-war protests - I guess he never got over it. The stories don't hang together, the editorializing about the US from a Canadian, and some proofreading errors make this a book to avoid. His real name is Christopher Hyde.