Raymond KhouryRecensioni

Enjoyed reading this book = good mixture of the tale of 13th century+ Templars and mixing it with modern mystery = kept my attention throughout = and I like our hero/heroine

Suspense

Suspense

"The Last Templar" starts with a bang; it ends stronger than a whimper, but certainly weaker than the beginning. In fact, towards the end, the book begins to show signs of a serious lack of a reality check. Although it does drag in spots and is a bit "preachy" at times, the story is good and Khoury keeps a few plot twists up his sleeve to make this a good read. While the book is strong in terms of its plot and somewhat weak on characterization, it is, nonetheless, an engaging, fast-paced read. which I found it difficult to put this book down. Those who loved Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" should enjoy this book, as well. One should, however, as with "The Da Vinci Code", read this action-packed thriller with the understanding that it is simply fiction.½

Eh...

This book, to me, definitely has a voice that I associate strongly with Ed Wood (apart from Tim Burton’s/Johnny Depp’s interpretation of the man; I still love that movie tho’). The prose style is bland and straightforward with an increasing level of hyperbole which never quite reaches its height with a sudden almost anticlimactic summation at the end of the current thought or personal anecdote.
The first half of the book is thin and kind of boring save for the offbeat style which adds a level of palpable quitch to the reading. At about the direct center of the book come tales of accidents on Western movie sets which I found a high point. After that, the second half is full of interesting anecdotes, including one about Bela Lugosi coming out of a long career hiatus in the West Coast Theater in San Bernardino (my old hometown) on New Year’s Eve 1953 that I was never aware of. He also seems to have a penchant for describing what the women are wearing in any given anecdote, not a single scrap of clothing described for the men. Also, if the woman, often a girl, is hypothetical, then she’s wearing a white Angora sweater. He also has a habit of name-dropping all throughout the book although when he starts listing names, it is droll fortunately landing just above tedious. Somehow it matches his voice.
The book seemed to hit a natural conclusion at the end of chapter 10 and then went on to Chapter 13. These last three chapters feel tacked on and the last feels very cynical in its final tidbit of advice, the book's last line. Now, the advice found in this book is typically vague and often just plain bad advice. It seems it was pretty much useless when the book was written and is utterly incoherent today (if it ever was coherent in the first place). Here’s an example:
Everyone who wants to be a writer, no matter how successful he might be in other fields – even allied fields – doesn’t necessarily make it. It’s a tough row to hoe at best. Come to think of it, why don’t you give it up before you get started? And that’s not sour grapes! That’s good, sound advice, which few of you will take… but sound advice all the same. [pg.131]
Most of the advice found within this book takes this form though is not as discouraging as the last line of the book.
When the writer tries to give an honest view of Hollywood show business it’s somewhat boring and more indicative of Ed Wood’s personal experience (the only interesting thing about the first half besides its odd style). This got to me a little when he started talking about bill collectors coming to seize “your” assets for several pages. When the book becomes a string of his own recollections in the second half it gets so much better. By better I mean that the book throws off the thin premise of how-to-get-into-show-business and becomes more of a memoir and the collected opinions-of-the-day of Ed Wood Jr.
In addition, the author’s mood is palpable as the book moves from Chapter 1 to the last, Chapter 13. It starts with a cheery though bland voice, very much like those of the old black and white educational films screened in elementary classrooms in the 1950s, then into a lament as the book moves into memories professing love for everything past and a peculiar disdain for the current day (of its writing), to utter despair in chapters 12 and 13. The last sentence of the book is: “Believe it or not, your life is more real than the Hollywood scene.” The Hollywood scene which, if the earlier chapters are to be believed, was Ed Wood Jr.’s passion.
I did enjoy this book and would recommend it to those interested in the man or those seeking a very cheesy and seedy (and maybe a little dubious) portrait of the Mid-Twentieth-Century Hollywood machine as viewed from its fringe. Otherwise, the only things here materially are a handful of interesting Hollywood stories (only a few seem dubious but then again, I’m not reading Ed Wood's autobiographical material for cold hard facts) and the personal experience of Ed Wood disguised (badly) as a how-to-guide for aspiring young actors.
I’ll leave you with a favorite quote from the book:
Sex! It becomes all important. Sex! It becomes more important than any possible talent. [pg. 79]

La búsqueda de un oscuro secreto, escondido en un libro del 1700, llevará a una genetista y un agente de la CIA a embarcarse en una aventura mortal. Nápoles, 1750. Tres hombres armados irrumpen en el palacio de un supuesto marqués. El príncipe de San Severo lo acusa de ser un impostor y exige conocer su secreto. En la lucha, el falso marqués escapa dejando un palacio en llamas. Bagdad, 2003. El ejército descubre un laboratorio secreto en el que han muerto docenas de personas, víctimas de espantosos experimentos. El misterioso científico al que perseguían, un hombre que puede estar trabajando en un arma biológica, huye llevándose la sorprendente verdad de su tarea. Pero deja una pista: el Ouroboros, un símbolo que representa una serpiente que se muerde la cola. Cuando el poder de dicho símbolo sale a la luz, desvelando los siglos de destrucción que ha dejado a su paso, surge una mujer en el centro de una conspiración mundial.

Indeed this was different read, and a hard one to be honest, the writer really knows how to write a really excitement novel, of course I have many disagreements with the writer's main idea, but still I enjoyed it very much

En la Antártida, una expedición científica echa anclas para una transmisión de noticias en vivo. Cuando la periodista de CNN comienza su informe, una enorme y brillante esfera de luz aparece repentinamente en el cielo, envolviendo la nave en una luminosa luz blanca antes de desaparecer tan misteriosamente como llegó, todo el evento fue presenciado por una audiencia mundial incrédula.
Mientras tanto, en un bar polvoriento de Egipto, una docena de hombres están discutiendo perezosamente el estado del mundo cuando el símbolo brillante y resplandeciente en la televisión los detiene en seco. Un hombre comienza a sudar, se santigua repetidamente y sale corriendo del bar murmurando la misma frase una y otra vez: "No puede ser".
A través de internet y en todo el mundo, una controversia sorprendente amenaza con consumir el mundo: ¿Dios finalmente decidió revelarse a sí mismo? ¿O hay algo más siniestro a la mano?

En plena exposición de los tesoros del Vaticano en el Metropolitan Museum de Nueva York, un grupo de hombres a caballo, vestidos como caballeros templarios, irrumpe a sangre y fuego y se apodera de varias reliquias. Entre los asustados testigos está Tess Chaykin, una joven arqueóloga que enseguida sospecha de los verdaderos motivos del asalto. Uno de los objetos que se han llevado los asaltantes contiene la clave para sacar a la luz un secreto que permanece oculto desde que el último templario dejó Tierra Santa, llevando consigo un cargamento de incalculable poder. El mismo secreto que llenó de terror a la Iglesia y que precipitó la destrucción brutal de la Orden del Temple en 1312. Un misterio que cambiará completamente nuestro mundo si sale a la luz. Con la ayuda del curtido agente del FBI Sean Reilly, Tess se embarca en una carrera contra el tiempo para recuperar la reliquia antes de que sea demasiado tarde.

Akre, viti 1291 pas Krishtit... Ndërsa qyteti digjet dhe sulmet e furishme të njerëzve të sulltanit mbi të nuk kanë të reshtur, anija Falcon Temple nis lundrimin duke mbartur një grup të vogël kalorësish dhe një arkë të mistershme, që u është besuar atyre nga Mjeshtri i Madh i Urdhrit. Anija zhduket pa asnjë gjurmë.Qyteti i Nju-Jorkut, në ditët e sotme... Katër njerëz të veshur si kalorës tempullarë sulmojnë Muzeun Metropolitan në ditën e hapjes së një ekspozite të Vatikanit dhe vjedhin një kodues mesjetar të mistershëm.
Nuk ka vlerësime

Avec l'efficacité qu'on lui connaissait depuis le Dernier Templier, Khoury promène son lecteur dans un bassin méditerranéen historique, de l'Inquisition aux Lumières, de Naples à Lisbonne en passant par Paris, jetant un regard aussi émerveillé que franchement critique sur cette société libertine qui, après avoir goûté aux espoirs humanistes, s'abreuvait de connaissances dans une débauche décadente tandis que gronde le peuple. Les palais et hôtels particuliers de Paris contrastent par leurs fastes avec la puanteur d'une Seine surchargée d'immondices flottant entre deux eaux : c'est aussi évocateur que les geôles étouffantes de l'Inquisition dans laquelle oeuvre Sebastian, personnage central de la partie historique, qu'on retrouvera sous différentes identités – dont celle, plus illustre, du comte de Saint-Germain qui époustoufla (bluffa surtout) la cour du roi de France par ses dons prodigieux, son savoir étrange et… sa longévité.

[...]

Des chapitres brefs, où l'action prédomine, un découpage privilégiant le suspense et les variations de rythme (l'agent Corben et Mia, tout en enquêtant pour retrouver Evelyn, sont régulièrement aux prises avec les commanditaires de l'enlèvement : fusillades, explosions et accidents scandent la progression de leurs recherches) : dès que cela commence à tirer en longueur, on saute à une autre époque. C'est parfois frustrant, souvent artificiel, mais cela permet d'entretenir la tension. En revanche, par rapport Dernier Templier, les personnage sont assez mal dépeints : on peine à éprouver de l'empathie pour Mia, pourtant volontaire et courageuse, et on définit mal les contours de la personnalité de Corben, de l'intrigant Kirkwood (représentant des Nations Unies) ou de ce hakim sans nom, entre savant fou et chef maffieux.

[...]

La révélation finale, quoique poétique, est loin de remplir les espoirs qu'on pouvait décemment nourrir tout au long du périple de ces aventuriers : le finale est bien pauvre, malgré quelques discussions intéressantes sur l'opportunité de dévoiler un secret qui bouleverserait la société humaine. Là où Spielberg choisissait de ne pas consumer la magie de la découverte et d'entretenir le mythe dans Indiana Jones & la Dernière Croisade, Khoury dévoile un mystère bien loin des attentes enflammées.

Ca reste divertissant, et efficace.½

Quatro homens mascarados montados a cavalo, vestidos como Cavaleiros Templários, irrompem na noite de gala de inauguração de uma exposição do Vaticano no Museu Metropolitan e roubam um misterioso decodificador medieval, lançando o agente do FBI , Reilly, e a arqueóloga , Tess Chaykin, numa corrida mortal por três continentes em busca do local final de descanso do Templo do Falcão e a perturbadora verdade sobre sua carga.

448pgs. library book-story of search for the world's most dangerous book. the story bounces from the 1700's to today centered on two groups one which protects the book and one which wants to acquire and exploit the book. Into this mix Mia and her mother(evelyn) are drawn when evelyn is first offered the book and then within hours is kidnapped. Mia desperate to rescue her mother joins forces with Corbin a CIA operative in Lebanon. And that's when all the fun begins-who are the good guys who are the bad guys who to trust and who to fight and most importantly where is evelyn and how to get her back!

Se promener dans le temps, avec toutes les implications... De belles références dans notre monde actuel.

For some reason I deferred reading this book as I had reservations about the alternative history. Don't ask me why. I am a Science Fiction fan and I like Raymond Khoury as an author. Well needless to say I stepped in and read it. To be blunt, I should have read it the first time I picked it up. If nothing else this is a different prospective of the world than I ever thought of, yet it is as relevant as today's headlines.

In my opinion the story is so complex and nuanced that it is difficult to give a synopsis that would even start to reflect the complex journey Raymond Khoury takes us on through time, space, history and political philosophy. We open in Paris in a world that might have been; the Muslim armies of Ottoman Empire won a devastating victory against the Christian forces at Vienna and swept over Europe except for England. The United States exists as a fanatical isolationist Christian dictatorship and Russia exists on the periphery of the Ottoman Empire. The Empire still is ruled by the whims of the Sultan. Personal freedom exists to an extent but is closely monitored, defined and supervised by the Empire. From the time we are introduce into that world it is an exploratory journey into what would the world be today should one of history's critical junctures had gone the other way. Why did the Vienna fall this time? Why was there no growth nor any progression or maturity in the Imperial government over the centuries? Why were the people still solely ruled through the inconsistent whims of the Sultan? And who was the mysterious man that seemed to exist throughout the Empires existence? And did there appear to be an understanding of history that was just occurring? Throughout the story all of these come into play and lead us on a journey back to the origin and basis that made the difference at the battle of Vienna. The future becomes the past and the past is never what it seems to be.

I really enjoyed this book. The story was very unique and except for one detail totally probably. The writing was very good, the historical references were credible and accurate, the characters became increasing real as the story evolved and the quest to understand what was happening and had happened. All that lead to the world we were dropped into as the story opened.

Anyone who enjoys a great adventure with twists and turns that takes one through the centuries should put this book on their must read list.

Found this an enjoyable read. It was well written with a well thought out story line. The reason for only 3 stars is the it was mundane and did not really pull me into the story. If you have enjoyed previous Raymond Khoury books you will enjoy this one but it just doesn't have the edge some of his better novels do.

An archaeologist, a rouge CIA agent, and a mad scientist walk into a bar... only one walks out, but by the end of the story you wont care. Only recommended if you love the Lost Templar subgenre, all others should sit this one out.½

I just found it too hard to read, the worldbuilding reflected 20th Century issues rather than being a growth from the period the author had chosen to change the world from the Christian majority to the Islam majority. I just didn't care if the characters all died so I decided to leave it behind me and move on to another book

A fantastical tale of time travel involving manipulation of history - primarily of the Ottoman Empire and Europe. Fast paced an mildly entertaining - but extremely far fetched. The author obviously did a greAt deal of historical research that added to the story. I would have rather he refrained from the pontificating that took place in the final stages of the book.½

Histoire peu prenantes, héros pas attachants.

A reasonably competent Da Vinci Code-genre thriller, but it did feel a bit dry and uncompelling. The story was a bit predictable and the main characters weren't particularly likeable.

Just once, I'd like to read a book involving the possible revelation of a world-changing ancient secret go on to actually explore that secret being revealed and the changes it has on the world.

Also, a minor thing: I'm tired of female characters constantly being described as staggeringly traffic-stoppingly gorgeous. Like in every. damn. book. It just feels sexist and unnecessary.½

I actually really enjoyed this story, perhaps because it is very different from anything else I have read anytime in recent memory. In the same vein as stories like Man the High Castle, author Raymond Khoury gives us the thought provoking question, what if history were changed? What would the future be like? In this story, medieval Europe is conquered by the Ottoman Turks, and present day France is now part of an enormous Turkish empire. Islam has become the dominant religion, and the inhabitants now adhere the the strict rules of Shar’ia. No one is the wiser to history being written another way. When a mysterious man covered in strange tattoos shows up needing heart surgery at the main hospital, red flags start cropping up. While in a drug induced haze, the mysterious man spins an improbable tale of being a time traveler, who claims to have rewritten the past. Events quickly spin out of control when Nisreen, a human rights lawyer, and her brother in law Kamal Agha learn of the secret through Nisreen’s husband, who is serving as chief anesthesiologist to the mystery, tattooed man. Living under an oppressive regime, where government sponsored public executions are commonplace, Nisreen wonders if the alternative, unaltered future is better for everyone than the one they are living in. Armored with the secret incantation, Kamal and Nisreen embark on an epic journey into the past to rewrite the future. Filled with epic adventure, hope and tragedy, there is perhaps no journey more epic than changing the past to rewrite the future we know. A unique story that should have widespread appeal. Look forward to hearing more from this author in the future. Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy.

Empire of Lies by Raymond Khoury is not one of my usual favorite fiction genres but it captivated from the first sentence. This is a thriller dealing with alternate history and time-travel. In 1683, the Ottoman Empire is fighting for the capture of Vienna and, in time, the rest of Europe. The novel also begins in Paris 2017 where the Empire has been ruling for three-hundred years. Kamal works for the special police force and his function is to uncover dissidents and traitors. His sister-in-law, Nisreen, a civil rights lawyer, works for the families of people taken prisoner for unproven crimes. Together, the two will attempt to make a difference in their society. This is a must-read book if you like fast-paced thrillers.. It spans four hundred years of history. It will astound you and invite you to ask “what if”. Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge Books and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.