The Templar Conspiracy ("JOHN ""DOC"" HOLLIDAY")

The fourth entry in what started as a decent series of international intrigue fails to live up to the first two entries, becoming a tired repetition of plots that ignore all of the common-sense instincts that the main characters should have. I would only recommend this book to fans of spy/adventure thrillers who feel the need to finish a series once they start it. But this book was by no means a great example of the genre.This one finds "Doc" Holliday and his cousin, Peggy, in Washington, DC, where they are approached by Brennan, the slovenly chief of the Vatican's secret service, who had been one of their many opponents in previous books. The Pope had been assassinated on Christmas Day, and Brennan convinces Doc and Peggy that the assassin was working on behalf of the Templar-associated secret society known as Rex Deus. Traveling to Rome to investigate around the time of the pontiff's funeral, which is attended by dignitaries including the US Vice President and Secretary of State, Doc and Peggy witness the additional assassinations of those US officials, opening the way for Richard Sinclair to be appointed as the new VP. Richard is the son of wealthy and powerful Kate Sinclair, herself one of the controlling members, and nominally the leader, of Rex Deus hell-bent on taking control of the entire US government. In order to do this, though, the Sinclairs need a Templar notebook discovered by Doc in the first book of the series which gave him access to vast sums of money originally funded by Crusades-era Templar treasure but which now existed as numbered bank accounts. Doc and Peggy and their allies travel all over the world, including Switzerland, France, Czechia, Canada, and New Hampshire, all the while trying to avoid enemies sent after them by the Sinclairs and to prevent the assassination of the US President.The above description sounds like the makings of a great international thriller, but EVERY plot point is accentuated by glaringly dumb decisions by the main characters. Doc and Peggy get kidnapped so many times, and blunder blindly into so many obvious traps, that they seem more like teenagers leaving the farm for the first time, rather than experienced international travelers, intelligence officers, or photojournalists who had literally spent the last few years involved in high-stakes adventures pursued by dangerous operatives sent by some of the most powerful people on the planet. The US VP and SecState are assassinated as a result of an apparent total lack of advance security planning by diplomatic security, including the standard task of securing any points that might have line-of-sight to where those dignitaries will be. Just about every character that is touted as having some sort of expertise ignores all of that expertise in order to fall into the snares set by Doc's opponents. The plot was fun to read in a way, but required so much suspension of disbelief that it could not be deemed a plausible story. All of this is enough to knock this down from a five-star review to a three-star review.But another star has to be deducted because of the edit. The text is replete with punctuation errors, misspellings, repeated words, and other sorts of grammarian pet peeves. It's almost as though whatever success the author had with the first three novels led him to fire or ignore his editorial staff, such that the first raw draft became the final published product. Neither the author nor the publisher should allow that.In sum, this is a disappointing fourth entry in a series that started well with the first two books. Again, I'd recommend this book to thriller fans only if they feel the need to finish the series.

A very enjoyable read and hard to put down. My only issue is that this series is becoming to repetitive and predictable.

This series by Paul Christopher is very good in that it keeps you on the edge of your seat as to what will be happening next. He gives a very detailed account of the locations that his action takes place in. Some of the action itself, or the results of the action, seem a little far fetched, but do make for interesting reading.

Paul Christopher continues to weave tales of international intrigue in this one of his latest yarns. And, it is a great yarn at that.What I enjoy about the author's writing is his truthfulness to historical events and current day events, governmental politics,military tactics and strategies, the geographical canvas on which he paints his epochs.The author's novels would be enjoyed by any reader of military action fiction ie: Tom Clancy, W.E.B. Griffin, Dale Brown, etc.

quick, steady moving . Some of his earlier books bogged down . Less background in this one ,almost to the point of Holliday's character change . Less a college professor who gets dragged into these adventures . More a crusader pushing the action .

Good read. Would like more Templar novels. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

This is an action series with a reasonable plot. It is a little predictable and makes some sequence steps that probably wouldn't happen in the real world but it is enjoyable and an easy read. The title is a little misleading in that this book has very little to do with Templar characters or legend. It is a treasure seeker format.

this is the first series that I have read by Paul. I very much liked the book and the other books in the series.

I love all stories related to the Templars and this held my attention to the end. Now on to the next one!

Really enjoyed this book.

These books by Paul Christopher are enjoyable as long as you can suspend you're belief in real life, as long as you do that they are good.

Lots of intrigue and interest in this story which, although forming part of Paul Christopher's Templar sequence, works fine as a stand-alone story, probably moreso than some of the other titles in the sequence.

Enjoyable series of books. The use of known people historically make the stories believable