The Templar Legacy: A Novel (Cotton Malone, #1)

by Steve Berry

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Exciting . . . hard to put down without reading one more page.”—The Florida Times-Union

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.

• ISBN10: 0345504410
• ISBN13: 9780345504418
• Publish Date: 27 November 2007 (first published 1 January 2006)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Random House Inc
• Format: Paperback (US Tall Rack)
• Pages: 544
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780345504418

Reviews

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

I saw that someone called Steve Berry’s Cotton Malone series as a thinking man’s Dan Brown; then I think about Umberto Eco’s Foucault's Pendulum. While I did find The Templar Legacy far more enjoyable than expected, it was still very much in the style of Dan Brown. The pacing and characters were decently written and the story would be controversial for someone that would get offended by Religious themes in fiction.

I wouldn’t compare it to Dan Brown anymore more than the fact its set around a conspiracy, after that it is more in the feel of Indiana Jones. The modern day Templers make for great antagonists as Cotton goes treasure hunting. The scenery is the biggest stand out for me; the description of France and Rennes-le-Chateau, mixed with some creative licence makes for an enjoyable backdrop.

I enjoyed this book, but like most bestsellers, I didn’t love the book. It packs a punch and was thrilling to read but I don’t think I will ever read it again.