Heretic: The Templar Chronicles (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "Niall O'Connor watched those around him intently..." (more)
Key Phrases: joseph nassise, Echo Team, Knight Commander, Commander Williams (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Heretic keep[s] us off-guard and entertained with its every surprising move. -- Bestselling author Peter Straub

One part religious horror, one part military thriller, and 100% fast-paced action! -- The Horror Channel

Review

"A breakneck-paced thriller that delivers on the thrills and tosses in more than a few chills."

-- Kelley Armstrong, author of Stolen and Industrial Magic

"Heretic has it all -- action, suspense, terror, sharp dialogue, a dynamite central concept, and richly drawn characterization. Don't try pigeonholing this book, because Nassise -- like his Templar Knights -- doesn't stand still long enough for you to take aim. This is cross-genre fiction at its absolute best. I, for one, cannot wait for the next book in what promises to be a long and rewarding series."

-- Gary Braunbeck, author of In Silent Graves and Graveyard People

"One part religious horror, one part military thriller, 100% fast-paced action."

-- The Horror Channel

"Heretic keep[s] us off-guard and entertained with its every surprising move."

-- Peter Straub

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Pocket (September 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743470958
• ISBN-13: 978-0743470957
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #921,180 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Necromancers and zombies abound, August 18, 2006

By	Jody Rose (U.S.A.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In HERETIC: THE TEMPLAR CHRONICLES, Cade Williams is a modern-day Templar Knight who has a terrible wound in his heart, a wound that can never heal, one that torments his every waking and sleeping hour. This wound, however, has also empowered Cade to fight evil like no other knight before him, gifting him with a rare talent for recognizing the powers of darkness and black magic that threaten not only the church, but also the world. The Vatican, recognizing Cade's unusual skills, assigns him commander of the church's special operations division, which battles the arcane forces of darkness.

When someone or something starts desecrating the Templar cemeteries, and the Vatican's Templeton Commandery in Cincinnati is attacked, killing many of the Knights Templar, Cade begins to suspect that a very powerful and ancient necromancer from out of his past might be the force behind both the desecrations and the attack. As Cade sees it there is only one necromancer in the world who would commit such evils, be so brazen as to attack the Commandery itself -- the very same necromancer who wounded Cade's soul those many years ago, and stole from him his very reason for living. However, the necromancer now has a new campaign, the theft of a holy relic hidden somewhere in the deep repositories of the Vatican's enclave, a relic that will impart to him limitless supernatural power over both the living and the dead once he takes possession of it.

It is up to Cade and his team of Knights to cross the very boundaries between life and death to defeat the necromancer and his army of the undead; to plow under the necromancer's corruption, which has reigned unchallenged since Cade's last encounter with him.

But Cade also has a secret agenda, which is to inflict his own brand of revenge on the necromancer, and take back from hell the life that was stolen from him.

If you enjoy swords-and-sorcery adventure with zombies and apparitions, this action-packed novel of good versus evil, written in third person omniscient narrative, will not disappoint. Joseph Nassise is a very capable writer who has invented a brooding but sympathetic hero in Cade Williams, the protagonist in HERETIC, which is the first novel in Mr. Nassise's supernatural horror series, THE TEMPLAR CHRONICLES.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Knight of the Living Dead, December 5, 2005

By	Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

I read Joseph Nassise's Riverwatch and liked it when the book first came out four years ago. It had an innovative twist on an old theme and I had some hopes for the author. I'm not quite sure where he went, but Nassise stopped as quickly as hi started. When I found that he had finally released another book, I snapped it up and found that the author had changed his style considerably over the years, but that he could still write an interesting story.

Something is eating the modern Knights Templar, one commandery at a time. They have survived vindictive suppression by the Catholic Church, remaining hidden until modern times when they reunited with the church and become the militant arm of the church's defense against evil. Now, something that comes in the night can breach the defenses of a stronghold and entirely destroy the entire garrison, almost as if they were completely helpless. The remains left behind are badly mauled, clawed, and bitten. Something is playing for keeps.

It was time to bring in Cade Williams and his troops. Cade is the kind of Templar who scares other Templars. He is violent, secretive, and pursuing a vengeance all his own. Badly scarred with an encounter with a demon, he recovered to discover the he had hidden talents - he could see the past of any object on touching it - whether he wanted to or not. And he can cross to the other side of reality. Now he has to find who is destroying the commanderies and why. And then put a stop to it while there are still Templars left in the US.

What he finds is a nest of necromancers, allied with the same demon that murdered his wife and destroyed his face. He calls it The Adversary, and all he seeks is its destruction. They are hunting relics, sacred objects that will let them conquer the world. If Cade doesn't find the key to the puzzle the world will be enslaved. This task may be too hard for Cade Williams and his small army of loyal knights.

As you can tell this is something of a potboiler of a novel. Something is always going on whether it is supernatural or military action. With guns blazing and spells going off you can imagine that character development isn't a strong point. But since this is to become a series, Nassise has the time to make Cade into something more than a killing machine over time. This is a good start, and it will be fun to see where it goes.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We need all the books in this series, July 4, 2009

By	Jonas O. Rodriguez "acrijos" (Montgomery, TX & Mexico City, Mexico) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a refreshing wonderful book combining the supernatural, action heroes, technology, religion and all elements to make this a very good book. It is a pity that Amazon does not carry the whole series, which are available in Europe. We need them in printed form, and in Englilsh, not only via Kindle !!!!