The first thrilling novel in Raymond Khoury’s New York Times bestselling Templar series. In 1291, a young Templar knight flees the fallen holy land in a hail of fire and flashing sword, setting out to sea with a mysterious chest entrusted to him by the Order's dying grand master. The ship vanishes without a trace. In present day Manhattan, four masked horsemen dressed as Templar Knights stage a bloody raid on the Metropolitan Museum of Art during an exhibit of Vatican treasures. Emerging with a strange geared device, they disappear into the night. The investigation that follows draws archaeologist Tess Chaykin and FBI agent Sean Reilly into the dark, hidden history of the crusading knights—and into a deadly game of cat and mouse with ruthless killers—as they race across three continents to recover the lost secret of the Templars.

A secret lost for a thousand years. A deadly race to keep it buried... 1291 AD, Acre. As the city burns under the onslaught of the Sultan's men, the Falcon Temple sets sail, carrying a small band of knights and a mysterious chest entrusted to them by the Order's Grand Master. But the ship vanishes without a trace... Present day New York. At the Metropolitan Museum, four horsemen dressed as Knights Templar storm the gala opening of an exhibition of Vatican treasures and, in a brutal and bloody attack, steal an arcane medieval decoder. For FBI agent Sean Reilly and archaeologist Tess Chaykin this is just the start of a deadly game of cat and mouse as they race across three continents in search of the ruthless killers - and a centuries-old mystery...

The untold story of the secret alliance behind the “discovery” of America • Reveals how a utopian dream of brotherhood among Christians, Muslims, and Jews fueled a murderous power struggle involving secret societies, popes, and kings • Explains why King Ferdinand of Spain supported Columbus’s voyages openly, but, secretly, sought to undermine their purpose • Shows how Columbus knew, sailing west, he would find the “New World,” not Asia Was Columbus a Templar? According to the historic documents and maps revealed by Ruggero Marino, Columbus shared their dream of Christians, Muslims, and Jews living in peace in a New Jerusalem, and his voyage across the Atlantic was both to find a new passage to Asia and to find the place where the New Jerusalem could be built. Marino draws parallels between Marco Polo’s journey east over the Silk Route and Columbus’s sea voyages and reveals that Columbus studied ancient texts and maps from the Vatican Library, access to which was granted by Pope Innocent VIII--who Marino shows to be Columbus’s true father. Innocent VIII (whose own father was Jewish and grandmother was Muslim) was the perfect individual to further the Templars’ plan to create a universal religion combining the spiritual wisdom of the three faiths. Marino shows that Innocent’s “disappearance” and the story that Columbus merely stumbled onto the New World were part of a calculated political and theological cover-up. While King Ferdinand (the model for Machiavelli’s The Prince) and Queen Isabella of Spain are heralded with funding Columbus’s “discovery” of America, it was Innocent VIII who was the main sponsor and master-mind of the expedition. To obscure the purpose of the voyages, and give Spain the credit for the New World discovery, Ferdinand and his agent Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia), Pope Innocent VIII’s successor, initiated the disinformation campaign that has lasted for over 500 years.

Religion.

From New York Times bestselling author Raymond Khoury comes a “a full-throttle action-adventure thriller” (Library Journal) that's even more shocking and explosive than The Last Templar… Constantinople, 1203: As the ravaging armies of the Fourth Crusade lay siege to the city, a secretive band of Templars infiltrate the imperial library. Their target: a cache of documents that must not be allowed to fall into the hands of the Doge of Venice. They escape with three heavy chests, filled with explosive secrets that these men will not live long enough to learn... Vatican City, present day: FBI agent Sean Reilly infiltrates the Pope's massive Vatican Secret Archives of the Inquisition. No one but the Pope's trusted secondi is allowed in--but Reilly has earned the Vatican's trust, a trust he has no choice but to violate. A vicious, uncompromising terrorist bent on revenge has kidnapped Tess Chaykin, and the key to her freedom lies in this underground crypt, in the form of a document known as the Fondo Templari—the secret history of the infamous Templars...

The first thrilling instalment in a legendary historical adventure series. Paris, 1307. The Knights Templar have been destroyed by Pope Clement, having been persuaded by a jealous king that they are corrupt devil worshippers. There is one survivor – a knight who swears vengeance. Devon, 1316. A charred body is discovered in a burned-out cottage, and newly appointed Bailiff, Simon Puttock, believes it to be accidental. Until the new master of the local manor, Sir Baldwin Furnshill, deduces that they were dead before the fire began. With the assistance of the astute yet strangely reticent knight, Simon begins to piece together the events of the man’s last days. Then word comes of another, far more sinister murder – for in this case, the victim was undoubtedly burned alive. Are the two incidents connected, and will the killer strike again? An absolutely sensational historical mystery by a true master of the genre, ideal for fans of S. J. A. Turney, K. M. Ashman and Bernard Cornwell. Praise for Michael Jecks 'Marvellously portrayed' C. J. Sansom 'Michael Jecks is the master of the medieval whodunnit' Robert Low 'The most wickedly plotted medieval mystery novels' The Times

The trial of the Knights Templar is one of the most infamous in history. Accused of heresy by the king of France, the Templars were arrested and imprisoned, had their goods seized and their monasteries ransacked. Under brutal interrogation and torture, many made shocking confessions: denial of Christ, desecration of the Cross, sex acts, and more.This narrative follows the everyday reality of the trial, from the early days of scandal and scheming in 1305, via torture, imprisonment and the dissolution of the order, to 1314, when leaders Jacques de Molay and Geoffroy de Charnay were burned at the stake. Through first-hand testimony and written records of the interrogations of 231 French Templars, this book illuminates the stories of hundreds of ordinary members, some of whom testified at the trial, as well as the many others who denied the charges or retracted their confessions.This is a deeply researched and immersive account that gives a striking vision of the relentless persecution, and the oft-underestimated resistance, of the once-mighty Knights Templar.