Templar Secrets

Excellent historical fiction with a great blend of ancient and modern history, relationships, adventure, and suspense. Characters that you care about weave the past and present together in a very interesting story.

this is an historical novel that purports to discuss the link between the Templar Knights (The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ) who were destroyed by the French King Phillip on Friday 13 1307, and today's Freemasonry.  This connection has been made many times and Economou does a good job with the history of Templars, their fighting during the Crusades and the protection of pilgrims to the Holy Land.  When the last of the Crusader kingdoms (Acra) fell, they moved onto Cyprus, then Rhodes and finally Europe.  (The offshoot of the Teutonic Knights,  participated in the conversion of the Germanic tribes and founded Koenigberg (now Kaliningrad) as their main castle.

Forward to a time when the few remaining Templars were able to meet and to reform under the guild of the Masons.  They Templars were supposed to have found the Ark of the Covenant under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.  They had settled at the bottom of the Temple Mount (in what had been the stables) where they found a secret tunnel that led them to a subterranean chamber where they found the Ark.  Supposedly the brought the Ark out from Jerusalem when they left and over many years it was purported to be hidden in a safe place that only the top echelon of the Freemasons knew.

Enter two friends in Modern Britain who have joined the Freemasons.  Using their knowledge learned from their initiations into the mysteries of the masons, history and a ability of decipher clues (like in the Da Vinci Code)  they begin to track down where the Ark might be.  It's a good story worth reading.

NOTE:  though for centuries people have looked for the Ark, it was most likely taken to Roman by Titus after he destroyed the Temple in 70AD, along with all of the booty from Jerusalem.  See Titus's Arch in Rome.

This was a great historical fiction thriller whose author expertly wove the mystery through the past into current day. Recommending for purchase.

I found this to be a well-written and  interesting book. Are Freemasonry and the Knights Templar connected?  
While this book is fiction, it is intervowen with historical facts that make the story feel real.  I enjoyed reading this book.

This is a fictional story based on facts about the Templars and Freemasons.  It's fascinating.  I love to read anything pertaining to the Templars.  They are such a mystery.  The Freemasons have many symbols that allude to the Templars.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  It does jump around alot, but it does it to explain why things were the way they were.  At the end of the book, the author lists the dates of what is historically known.  He also lists the people that actually existed in the book and what they actually did.  It makes you wonder if he is right.  Sadly I don't think that in this present day anyone knows what actually happened.  I think it was lost as people perished.  I highly recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction or anyone with an interest in the Templars.

"Templar Secrets" eBook was published in 2018 and was written by Andreas Economou (https://www.aeconomouauthor.com). This is Mr. Economou's second publication. 

I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence. The story is set across the ages as it tells a story of the Templars and the Masons. 

This story is a mixture of facts and fiction. In the present is George Makrides living in Cyprus. He has recently joined the Masons and has been seeking the secrets that he expected to be revealed. 

Starting in 966 BCE Hiram is sent by his king to design and build King Soloman's temple, but there is intrigue between the kings. Later the crusades take the Holy Land and established the Kingdom of Jerusalem. There is a need to protect pilgrims as they travel to Jerusalem from Europe and the Knights Templar are born. Much later the French nobility and church view the Templars as a wealthy threat and they are persecuted. The Templars are eventually officially disbanded. 

Foreseeing trouble, the Templar leadership hides their treasure on Cyprus. The head of the order forms the Masonic lodge to maintain and hand down clues to where the order's treasure has been hidden. The Masonic order evolves over the decades, but the essential clues in their ceremonies remain. 

George and his friend and Masonic brother Alex are becoming disillusioned with the Masons, but their interest in the Templars has expanded. They wonder if the fabled Templar treasure exists and if it really is hidden on Cyprus. 

I enjoyed the 11 hours I spent reading this 474-page mystery. While the primary plot of the story is the mystery of the Templar treasure which George and Alex pursue, I found the historical fiction of the Templars and the Masonic lodge much more interesting. I like the selected cover art. I give this novel a 4.1 (rounded down to a 4) out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/. 

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

I found this novel interesting if not all of it was true. I wish I knew exactly what part of it is true and which is not. 

As with The Da Vinci Code it is based on truth with a splash of fiction. I have already found this subject interesting. There is so much mystery wrapped around the subject that again I am not sure exactly what part of the leaked information is myth or legend. 

That being said the story makes you think and puts a new spin on the subject. The story is well written and interesting. 

Any person interested in the subject will enjoy this story. Well worth the read. 

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is an historical novel exploring links between the Knights of the Templar and Freemasons.  I have had a long interest in the Templar Knights so was really eager to read this, and I wasn't disappointed.  It's a big book, there is a lot of reading here, and it took me a while, but it is an engrossing and exciting read.  The fact that it is fiction kind of interwoven with fact, or legend, a la Dan Brown, made it all the more fascinating for me.  I also like the way it combines the past and present, weaving them together skilfully.

The author lists at the back which events and people really existed, as far as we know, which adds an extra dimension to the novel.  A very interesting, well written, enjoyable read.

I received an eArc from the publisher via Netgalley, but this review is entirely unbiased and the words are my own.

This book is told alternately between four different timelines and four stories.  George Makrides is a 28 year old  math professor at a local university in Cypress. He has just been initiated as an apprenticed Freemason.  What does that mean.?  Another storyline come fro Hiram the builder of King Solomon’s Temple.  One other storyline have Father Pierre de Bologna and William de Grafton which became known as the Grand Masters of the secret society known later as Freemasonry.  The last storyline includes Sir Hugh de Payns and Father Nickodemus became known as the founders of the Knights Templar.

This is a fascinating book as the author includes historical events and figures which made me think that it was done to make the story more realistic.  The book was a page turner for me.  I kept wanting to know more.  The descriptions of the four different timelines is done exceptionally well by the author.  Needless to say that I think that the characters engaging.  I kept wanting to understand why there were four different timelines.  Even though this book is an excellent read, it is long.  It was something I didn’t expect.  I don’t think that the book could be made shorter without losing some important material being left out.

A page turner of a novel dealing with four different timelines from Hiram building Solomon’s Temple 3,000 and tragically being murdered which in turn influences the establishing of  the Knights Templar
 2 millennia later and their discovery in the ruins of the Temple. Later the Knights escape being arrested in 1307  and how in turn leads to the beginning of modern Freemasonry. This brings the novel to the present day and George, a maths professor who is keen to discover the origins of Freemasons created by English medieval stone masons - what are these strange handshakes, passwords, and rituals and how he with his pal tries to find a secret in Cyprus where he lives. A brilliantly managed novel full of research yet still enjoyable and fascinating.

I loved this book! Yes, it is fiction, but it's totally believable. The Knights Templar and The Freemasons, secretly connected? OK that might sound a little like a conspiracy theory, but Economou skillfully weaves together the story in such a way that you quickly get lost in its pages. I liked this more than I did The DaVinci Code honestly.