The Templar Salvation by Raymond Khoury
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This sequel to The Last Templar finds us catching up with Tess Chaykin and Sean Reilly – and discovering that their happily ever after wasn’t quite so happy, or ever after.
Following the formula he established in The Last Templar, The Templar Salvation starts off with a historical prologue before bringing us to the current day, when we are dropped down mid-mission with Reilly in Vatican City. Reilly’s doing the unthinkable, and using his connections to get into the Vatican Archives, where he can then go about breaking into a forbidden section. Why? Because someone’s kidnapped Tess – and this is the only way he knows he’ll be able to see her again.
Of course, if it was that easy, the book would be over in a chapter. Instead, Reilly faces a curveball that requires him to apologize and then offer his services to the Vatican – and go on a journey that finds him once again chasing the footsteps of the Templars.
Rich with detail and history, Khoury’s sequel does something that’s too rare in sequels: shows the reader how real life can affect heroes and heroines, and what happens when the high of the adventure fades and life returns. But just as pleasantly, Tess and Sean realize these issues and work with them, even as they work together to unravel this latest mystery of the Templars.