The Templar Legacy: A Novel (Cotton Malone Book 1) by Steve Berry (MOBI)

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.

User’s Reviews

Praise for Steve Berry The Amber Room “Sexy, illuminating . . . my kind of thriller.”—Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code “Magnificently engrossing, with wonderful characters and a plot that speeds, twists, and turns. Pure intrigue, pure fun.”—Clive Cussler, author of Sacred Stone The Romanov Prophecy “Perfect for thriller fans and history buffs alike. Fabulous plot twists.”—David Morrell, author of The Protector “Compelling . . . adventure-filled . . . a fast-moving, globe-hopping tale of long-lost treasure and shadowy bad guys.”—San Francisco Chronicle The Third Secret “Controversial, shocking, explosive . . . rich in a wealth of Vatican insider knowledge and two thousand years of Virgin Mary visitations. The Third Secret will change our view of the relationship between religion and wisdom.”—Katherine Neville, author of The Eight From Publishers Weekly Berry goes gnostic in this well-tooled Da Vinci Code-knockoff, his fourth novel (The Romanov Prophecy). Ex-U.S. Justice Department agent Cotton Malone is intrigued when he sees a purse snatcher fling himself from a Copenhagen tower to avoid capture, slitting his own throat on the way down for good measure. Further snooping introduces him to the medieval religious order of the Knights Templar and the fervid subculture searching for the Great Devise, an ancient Templar archive that supposedly disproves the Resurrection and demolishes traditional Christian dogma. The trail leads to a French village replete with arcane clues to the archive’s whereabouts, and to an oddball cast of scholar-sleuths, including Cassiopeia Vitt, a rich Muslim woman whose special-ops chops rival Malone’s. Malone and company puzzle over the usual Code-inspired anagrams, dead language inscriptions and art symbolism, debate inconsistencies in the Gospels and regale each other with Templar lore, periodically interrupting their colloquia for running gun battles with latter-day Templar Master Raymond de Roquefort and his pistol-packing monks. The novel’s overcomplicated conspiracies and esoteric brainteasers can get tedious, and the various religious motivations make little sense. (Thankfully, the author soft-pedals the genre’s anti-Catholicism.) But lively characters and action set pieces make this a more readable, if no more plausible, version of the typical gnostic occult thriller. (Feb.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. About the Author Steve Berry is the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of The Lincoln Myth, The King’s Deception, The Columbus Affair, The Jefferson Key, The Emperor’s Tomb, The Paris Vendetta, The Charlemagne Pursuit, The Venetian Betrayal, The Alexandria Link, The Templar Legacy, The Third Secret, The Romanov Prophecy, and The Amber Room. His books have been translated into 40 languages with more than 18,000,000 copies in 51 countries. History lies at the heart of every Steve Berry novel. It’s this passion, one he shares with his wife, Elizabeth, that led them to create History Matters, a foundation dedicated to historic preservation. Since 2009 Steve and Elizabeth have traveled across the country to save endangered historic treasures, raising money via lectures, receptions, galas, luncheons, dinners, and their popular writers’ workshops. To date, nearly 2,500 students have attended those workshops. In 2012 their work was recognized by the American Library Association, which named Steve the first spokesman for National Preservation Week. He was also appointed by the Smithsonian Board of Regents to serve on the Smithsonian Libraries Advisory Board to help promote and support the libraries in their mission to provide information in all forms to scientists, curators, scholars, students, and the public at large. He has received the Royden B. Davis Distinguished Author Award and the 2013 Writers for Writers Award from Poets & Writers. His novel The Columbus Affair earned him the Anne Frank Human Writes Award, and his historic preservation work merited the 2013 Silver Bullet from International Thriller Writers. Steve Berry was born and raised in Georgia, graduating from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University. He was a trial lawyer for 30 years and held elective office for 14 of those years. He is a founding member of International Thriller Writers—a group of more than 2,600 thriller writers from around the world—and served three years as its co-president. For more information, visit www.steveberry.org.From the Hardcover edition. From Booklist The Knights Templar, a small monastic military order formed in the early 1100s to protect travelers to the Holy Land, eventually grew and became wealthy beyond imagination. In 1307, the French king, feeling jealous and greedy, killed off the Templars, and by 1311, the last master, Jacques de Molay, was burned at the stake. The whereabouts of the Templars’ treasure–and their secrets–have been the subject of legend ever since. Now, a new thriller trieas to follow in the steps of The Da Vinci Code.There’s a secret about early Christianity at the core of Berry’s Templar Legacy, but he dispenses the clues too slowly. The cat-and-mouse game between Cotton Malone, a former Justice Department agent, and a modern-day order of Knights Templar is weighed down with too much confusing backstory about the Templars’ connection to Rennes-le-Chateau and the mystery that surrounds it. (The real-life town plays a part in The Da Vinci Code as well.) Like Dan Brown, Berry draws on the seminal nonfiction work Holy Blood, Holy Grail for many of his themes. After nearly grinding to a halt through all the premise building, the novel finally gathers steam in the last 100 pages or so, concluding with a revelation that seems refreshingly clear after the many convoluted twists that precede it. Until the next Dan Brown opus is released, this should hold devotees. Ilene CooperCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved From AudioFile Berry’s thriller features rival groups of the Knights Templar searching for lost treasure and a lost secret of the order. They unwittingly involve “Cotton” Malone, a one-time federal agent, now a Copenhagen-based bookseller. Brian Corrigan reads in a likable voice and varies his characters’ voices fairly well, though he makes a son and his mother sound overly similar. However, the nasally voice he gives Malone makes him sound like a pest. Still, Corrigan’s pacing is fine, his reading skills professional, and his command of the frequent accents good. In the end, though, no narration could make this poorly written novel worthwhile. W.M. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine– Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. ONE Copenhagen, Denmark Thursday, June 22, The Present 2:50 pm Cotton Malone spotted the knife at the same time he saw Stephanie Nelle. He was sitting at a table outside the Café Nikolaj, comfortable in a white lattice chair. The sunny afternoon was pleasant and Højbro Plads, the popular Danish square that spanned out before him, bristled with people. The café was doing its usual brisk business—the mood feverish—and for the past half hour he’d been waiting for Stephanie. She was a petite woman, in her sixties, though she never confirmed her age and the Justice Department personnel records that Malone once saw contained only a winking n/a in the space reserved for date of birth. Her dark hair was streaked with waves of silver, and her brown eyes offered both the compassionate look of a liberal and the fiery glint of a prosecutor. Two presidents had tried to make her attorney general, but she’d turned both offers down. One attorney general had lobbied hard to fire her—especially after she was enlisted by the FBI to investigate him—but the White House nixed the idea since, among other things, Stephanie Nelle was scrupulously honest. In contrast, the man with the knife was short and stout, with narrow features and brush-cut hair. Something haunted loomed on his East European face—a forlornness that worried Malone more than the glistening blade—and he was dressed casually in denim pants and a blood-red jacket. Malone rose from his seat but kept his eyes trained on Stephanie. He thought of shouting a warning, but she was too far away and there was too much noise between them. His view of her was mo- mentarily blocked by one of the modernistic sculptures that dotted Højbro Plads—this one of an obscenely obese woman, lying naked on her belly, her obtrusive buttocks rounded like windswept mountains. When Stephanie appeared from the other side of the cast bronze, the man with the knife had moved closer and Malone watched as he severed a strap that draped her left shoulder, jerked a leather bag free, then shoved Stephanie to the flagstones. A woman screamed and commotion erupted at the sight of a purse snatcher brandishing a knife. Red Jacket rushed ahead, Stephanie’s bag in hand, and shouldered people out of his way. A few pushed back. The thief angled left, around another of the bronzed sculptures, and finally broke into a run. His route seemed aimed at Købmagergade, a pedestrian-only lane that twisted north, out of Højbro Plads, deeper into the city’s shopping district. Malone bounded from the table, determined to cut off the assailant before he could turn the corner, but a cluster of bicycles blocked his way. He circled the cycles and sprinted forward, partially orbiting a fountain before tackling his prey. They slammed into hard stone, Red Jacket taking most of the impact, and Malone immediately noticed that his opponent was muscular. Red Jacket, undaunted by the attack, rolled once, then brought a knee into Malone’s stomach. The breath left him in a rush and his guts churned. Red Jacket sprang to his feet and raced up Købmagergade. Malone stood, but instantly crouched over and sucked a couple of shallow breaths. Damn. He was out of practice. He caught hold of himself and resumed pursuit, his quarry now possessing a fifty-foot head start. Malone had not seen the knife during their struggle, but as he plowed up the street between shops he saw that the man still grasped the leather bag. His chest burned, but he was closing the gap. Red Jacket wrenched a flower cart away from a scraggly old man, one of many carts that lined both Højbro Plads and Købmagergade. Malone hated the vendors, who enjoyed blocking his bookshop, especially on Saturdays. Red Jacket flung the cart down the cobbles in Malone’s direction. He could not let the cart run free—too many people on the street, including children—so he darted right, grasped hold, and twisted it to a stop. He glanced back and saw Stephanie round the corner onto Købmagergade, along with a policeman. They were half a football field away, and he had no time to wait. Malone dashed ahead, wondering where the man was heading. Perhaps he’d left a vehicle, or a driver was waiting where Købmagergade emptied into another of Copenhagen’s busy squares, Hauser Plads. He hoped not. That place was a nightmare of congestion, beyond the web of people-only lanes that formed the shoppers’ mecca known as Strøget. His thighs ached from the unexpected workout, the muscles barely recalling his days with the Navy and the Justice Department. After a year of voluntary retirement, his exercise regimen would not impress his former employer. Ahead loomed the Round Tower, nestled firmly against the Trinity Church like a thermos bound to a lunch pail. The burly cylindrical structure rose nine stories. Denmark’s Christian IV had erected it in 1642, and the symbol of his reign—a gilded 4 embraced by a c— glistened on its somber brick edifice. Five streets intersected where the Round Tower stood, and Red Jacket could choose any one of them for his escape. Police cars appeared. One screeched to a stop on the south side of the Round Tower. Another came from farther down Købmagergade, blocking any escape to the north. Red Jacket was now contained in the plaza that encircled the Round Tower. His quarry hesitated, seeming to appraise the situation, then scampered right and disappeared inside the Round Tower. What was the fool doing? There was no way out besides the ground-floor portal. But maybe Red Jacket didn’t know that. Malone ran to the entrance. He knew the man in the ticket booth. The Norwegian spent many hours in Malone’s bookshop, English literature his passion. “Arne, where did that man go?” he asked in Danish, catching his wind. “Ran right by without paying.” “Anybody up there?” “An older couple went up a little while ago.” No elevator or stairs led to the top. Instead, a spiral causeway wound a path straight to the summit, originally installed so that bulky seventeenth-century astronomical instruments could be wheeled up. The story local tour guides liked to tell was of how Russia’s Peter the Great once rode up on horseback while his empress followed in a carriage. Malone could hear footfalls echoing from the flooring above. He shook his head at what he knew awaited him. “Tell the police we’re up there.” He started to run. Halfway up the spiraling incline he passed a door leading into the Large Hall. The glassed entrance was locked, the lights off. Ornamented double windows lined the tower’s outer walls, but each was iron-barred. He listened again and could still hear running from above. He continued ahead, his breathing growing thick and hampered. He slowed his pace when he passed a medieval planet plotter affixed high on the wall. He knew the exit onto the roof platform was just a few feet away, around the ramp’s final bend. He heard no more footsteps. He crept forward and stepped through the archway. An octago- nal observatory—not from Christian IV’s time, but a more recent incarnation—rose in the center, with a wide terrace encircling. To his left a decorative iron fence surrounded the observatory, its only entrance chained shut. On his right, intricate wrought-iron latticework lined the tower’s outer edge. Beyond the low railing loomed the city’s red-tiled rooftops and green spires. He rounded the platform and found an elderly man lying prone. Behind the body, Red Jacket stood with a knife to an older woman’s throat, his arm encasing her chest. She seemed to want to scream, but fear quelled her voice. “Keep still,” Malone said to her in Danish. He studied Red Jacket. The haunted look was still there in the dark, almost mournful eyes. Beads of sweat glistened in the bright sun. Everything signaled that Malone should not step any closer. Footfalls from below signaled that the police would arrive in a few moments. “How about you cool down?” he asked, trying English. He could see the man understood him, but the knife stayed in place. Red Jacket’s gaze kept darting away, off to the sky then back. He seemed unsure of himself and that concerned Malone even more. Desperate people always did desperate things. “Put the knife down. The police are coming. There’s no way out.” Red Jacket looked to the sky again, then refocused on Malone. Indecision stared back at him. What was this? A purse snatcher who flees to the top of a hundred-foot tower with nowhere to go? Footfalls from below grew louder. “The police are here.” Red Jacket backed closer to the iron railing but kept his grip tight on the elderly woman. Malone sensed the steeliness of an ultimatum forcing some choice, so he made clear again, “There’s no way out.” Red Jacket tightened his grip on the woman’s chest, then he staggered back, now firmly against the waist-high outer railing, nothing beyond him and his hostage but air. The eyes lost their panic and a sudden calm swept over the man. He shoved the old woman forward and Malone caught her before she lost her balance. Red Jacket made the sign of the cross and, with Stephanie’s bag in hand, pivoted out over the railing, screamed one word—“beauseant”—then slashed the knife across his throat… –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ I bought this on a whim – I’ve heard some good things about Berry and I have to say, his writing style did not disappoint. And yes, it’s entirely fair to say this is, er, “inspired” by Dan Brown.But I think it goes a little far to call it an outright knockoff. Cotton Malone makes for an intriguing protagonist, and the story moves along within his characterization. By that I mean I don’t have to suspend a whole lot of disbelief to accept startling leaps of insight and intuition from the characters.The story itself is, well, I’m not sure it matters. I mean, the plot for thrillers doesn’t have to be documentary-quality. Suffice it to say that facts cited aren’t inaccurate, the story itself is plausible and works with its own internal logic, and it’s not something that makes me roll my eyes. There are certain sequences in the book that had me turning pages…well, pressing the Next Page button on my Kindle anyway.In short, it’s an enjoyable read…a good overview of history to make it accessible to the interested lay reader, enough facts to keep it interesting for those who know more about the history in question, and Berry does interesting things with it all to turn it into a work of fiction. It’s a good book.

⭐ Interesting and very detailed plot. Premise revealed at end of book is that Christ was not resurrected, so the basis of Christianity is a lie. It’s an interesting plot with varied twists and turns to get there, but I suspect that for true Christians, this will make them feel they wasted their time reading the book. For non-Christians, however, this will reinforce their belief that Christians are all fools to believe what they do. I can’t recommend the book.

⭐ A fun read in much the same vain as the Da Vinci Code and an Indiana Jones movie. At the end of the book Berry describes what was fact, what was fiction and what was gray area between the two.My only quibble is that he sometimes frames what is fairly commonly known Biblical history and tries to make it sound like scholarly knowledge known only to a few. But, then again, he wrote this for mass consumption and most people probably would not know those common facts.Overall a fun read combining the Knights Templar, a smattering of alternative theology and a spy novel.

⭐ I have read several of the Cotton Malone Series, obviously out of order. This is by far the weakest. The plot is not bad but the Author bites off much more than he can chew with the multiple twists that bog down rather than promote the story line. His limited understanding of history, Textual criticism, and archeology as it relates to ancient texts is too distracting for the advanced story line. This one was a swing and a miss for me.

⭐ This author puts the story up front, as real feeling as it gets. Your going to love this. Easy read, fast paced, with great characters that almost grab you by the hand and drag you along for the greatest adventure imaginable. If edge of your seat adventure is on your list then beside it will be this book. All the way to the end you are going to be part of each thrill and move the characters make. This author put his all into making this story one of the very best ever written about the Templars. The only one thing I didn’t like, characters names. Give everybody simple names, I don’t want my mind pronouncing some of these names, it slows me down. So, get your glasses, and don’t miss a single word. Enjoy.

⭐ ‘Nuff said. Far too “Dan Brown-ish” with anti-theological assumptions that are beyond ignorant and have been proved false repeatedly. This could have been so much better.

⭐ I have started my adventure with Cotton Malone and it was a thrilling and wild ride. I mean right from the get go we were thrown into some heavy action with little knowledge of why. We are however introduced to our lead character of Cotton Malone, but this story is not just told from his perspective. It is actually told from a few others as well, including the main villain, a character know as the Seneschal, and sometimes from Cotton’s former boss Stephanie Nelle.So Cotton formerly worked for the Justice Department until one incident pushes him into an early retirement. The story itself picks up a year after that where Cotton lives in Copenhagen as a sort of Book Antiquer. One day he gets a call from his former boss Stephanie that she will be in the area and it takes off from there. Cotton was a really great character to follow from. I’m intrigued by his overall persona and want to get to know more about him. Stephanie was an okay character, I liked her but she definitely could have been fleshed out a little more. This book really focuses a lot about her past but I was more intrigued by everything else going on. The character that hit me the most was actually the villain of the story. His drive, his tenacity, the lines he was willing to cross were executed very very well. Especially with this book focusing a lot on the Templar’s and of course the truth behind them.The Templar Legacy did a fantastic job with the overall mystery and really keeping the reader on the edge. I know I was for pretty much the entirety of the book. I think the one thing I had a tad issue with was near the 75% mark the story and mystery became very info dumpy which I totally understood but it was at times quite repetitive. There was also a reveal in the book towards the end that I didn’t particularly feel was necessary but it was minor.I overall thoroughly enjoyed this book and I cannot wait to read more of Cotton Malone’s stories.

⭐ I enjoy Steve Berry’s books and have read most of them. So I decided to read “The Templar Legacy” again after having read it several years ago. Berry does a lot of historical research for his books which he weaves throughout his edge-of-your-seat novels. His descriptions of the settings and actions makes you feel like you’re right there participating in the events. My only complaint with “Templar” is that, toward the end, I became confused by all the characters and action and details of the story; I’ll blame it on my getting older. Otherwise, a good read, and you’ll learn a lot of history about the Templars.

⭐ I had read a few of his latter stories so was interested in starting from the beginning….not that a lot of backstory is included here except perhaps his intro to Cassiopeia so order of series doesn’t seem that critical. I really enjoy how Berry brings a bit of conspiracy and “what if” into each story – the best part of Historical fiction. I found the details into the Templars and the discrepancies between the gospels and the crucifixion fascinating. Some jived with my existing feelings especially in relationship toorganized religion- ” A tool used by men to manipulate other men to provide answers to questions have have none.”RE the Bible : “It’s a book of stories . Glorious stories , designed to point people toward a good life . There’s even greatness in those stories — if one practices their moral . I don’t think it’s necessary that it’s the Word of God . It’s enough that the words are a timeless truth . ”“Faith, not fact, defines it … faith also eliminates logic.”

⭐ Cotton Malone has retired from the Service, but a visit from his ex-boss, Stephanie, almost immediately gets him involved in the action when a thief steals her purse. Malone chases the thief who, when cornered, throws himself off the top of the tower. Stephanie retrieves the stolen purse which contains her late husband’s diary filled with notes of his research on the possible reemergence of the Templars and clues to the location of their lost treasure. Thus begins the convoluted search by several parties (with good or bad intent) to recover the wealth of the Templars. Lots of action, puzzles solved, and just a good romp. Fun to read, if a bit long.

Keywords

Free Download The Templar Legacy: A Novel (Cotton Malone Book 1) in MOBI format
The Templar Legacy: A Novel (Cotton Malone Book 1) MOBI Free Download
Download The Templar Legacy: A Novel (Cotton Malone Book 1) 2006 MOBI Free
The Templar Legacy: A Novel (Cotton Malone Book 1) 2006 MOBI Free Download
Download The Templar Legacy: A Novel (Cotton Malone Book 1) MOBI
Free Download Ebook The Templar Legacy: A Novel (Cotton Malone Book 1)