The Templar Legacy

When I opened this book, I first loved the main character, Cotton Malone, a guy who owns a bookshop in Copenhagen…really? Then he journeyed to Rennes Le Chateau, which I went to in 2013 while I led a tour to France in search of the Templar Knights's footprint and uncovering some of their myths and legends. You have to want to get there; it’s miles from anywhere and in the Pyrenees. In the 19th century, a priest suddenly became exorbitantly wealthy there, and Steve Berry’s book picks up the thread.

He’s a really great writer. You sit right in the… show more.

I first discovered author Steve Berry with the publication of his excellent novel, The Templar Legacy, one of a series involving Cotton Malone, a retired security operative turned conspiracy investigator. Berry weaves a complex story about the lost treasures of the medieval Knights Templar, and their modern-day attempts to regain power. As in all of Berry’s books, there is a well-researched historical background, plenty of plot twists, and, of course, murders. I particularly like Berry’s attention to historical detail, his rich description, and sense of fatality. Berry’s writing inspired me enough to ask him to be a cover reviewer… show more.

I owe a lot to Steve Berry. He was local to the area I lived in when I started writing. I was in the same critique group, albeit at a different time, as Berry. I had met him several times and listened to his stories of how he got started writing. Around the time I finished my first manuscript, post-editing, Berry made The New York Times bestseller list. When he was doing a local book signing, I approached him, manuscript in hand, and asked if he'd be kind enough to read it and tell me what he thought of it.… show more.