The Last Secret of the Temple

A Wonderful read, 5+ stars. The best so far of the Da Vinci-esque type books. Mr. Sussman has done his homework and written a masterpiece. The only slight fault that might put a reader off is the slow beginning as he builds a solid foundation on which to write an amazing story. Mr. Sussman is a master story teller and his The Last Secret of the Temple is simply a terrific story. Filled with fact and fiction, he blends it all together to keep the reader involved at all levels. The story is complex on several levels but Mr. Sussman is able to keep the reader engaged throughout this tale. Best of all, Mr. Sussman has a wonderful ending. Unlike most Da Vinci Code type books that have uncertain or weak endings, this book is powerful at the end. It actually closes the deal and makes the reader happy to have read it. Magnificent. The story is rather complex but in essence deals with a lost Jewish relic during the Roman sacking of the Second Holy Temple of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD. I won't tell you the relic as that is key to the story and suspense but needless to say it is an amazing winding tale. Flash to the turmoils of the modern day Middle East and be prepared for a rollicking ride of suspense, as a murder mystery opens the door to the past and the present. This is one of the best reads in years that has true character development. Mr. Sussman fleshes out his characters in a dynamic way that is not only interesting but pleasing as well. I thoroughly enjoyed the character interaction. Not always pleasant but life is not always happy either. As I have spent some time in the Middle East I can tell you the characters are very realistic. Another superb point is that Mr. Sussman includes a very good 14 page glossary at the end of the book. Excellent for understanding the various Jewish, Arabic, and religious terms. A great help. Language was very strong throughout and the reader should be warned beforehand of that fact. Nevertheless it made the story stronger. No gratuitous sex or violence. If you liked the Da Vinci Code this book is an absolute must. I personally feel it is better. Overall I highly recommend it. Just stick with it through the first 150 pages of literary foundation building and you will be well rewarded. It will be more than worth it. I hope that Mr. Sussman writes another book soon.

This is a superb novel, fast-paced spanning centuries and chock full of fanatastic plot twists that keep your heart pounding. The author is also to be congratulated for giving his characters real emotions and real actions and reactions. You feel with these people since they seem and act real. They are flawed human beings like all of us. Mr Sussman clearly has an extensive knowledge of the Middle east and it shows. His sympathetic portrayal of Palestinian charcters in the story is also a nice surprise. Prepare yourselves for the ride of a lifetime. The plot twists are just amazing!

I have just finished reading this marvellous thriller last night. What a tremendously good work of fiction it is!!! Pulls you in from page 1 and takes you on an exhilarating ride. Mr Sussman is a very, very good writer and he really brings his Middle East setting alive - I almost felt that I was in both Jerusalem and Luxor, Egypt, so evocative was his writing. The plot is extraordinarily good and his three protagonists well drawn. We have the gruff Israeli policeman, the by-the-book Egyptian detective and the crusading Arab journalist. Their quest to find the original Menorah from the Temple of Solomon before it falls into the hands of terrorists really comes alive and the plot twist at the end took my breath away. I did NOT see that coming! I cannot recommend this book highly enough for lovers of the thriller genre. It is far superior to the Da Vinci Code. Blows it out of the water, in fact.

I approached this book with mixed feelings. I had enjoyed Sussman's first book `The Lost Army of Cambyses so much that I thought it would be impossible for him to reach such dizzy heights again. How wrong could I have been. This book is equally as good if not better. The author has the uncanny ability of being able to draw you into the plot, so that you almost feel as if you, the reader are a character in the book. You can smell the sights and the sounds of Jerusalem, just less than 100 years after the birth of Christ. You can literally hear the sound of the hob nailed marching sandals of the Roman legions as the besiege the Holy Temple. Your are brought forward in time to Nazi Germany, where prisoners have to drag a mysterious crate deep into a disused mine and are then brutally murdered by their German guards. The plot then arrives back at the present day. A body is found in the ruins at the Valley of the Kings, in Egypt. On the face of it, it seems to be an open and shut case, but the more that is uncovered about the dead man by Inspector Khalifa the more uneasy he becomes about it. The Inspectors findings send him on a trail of murder and mahem that could turn the Middle East into a bloodbath. This is how all murder, mysteries should be written.

Mr. Sussman has written a great book. I believe the book was described as 'the intelligent reader's answer to the Da Vinci Code' and I wholeheartedly agree with that description. The majority of the part transpires in the present-day Middle East and a small portion in ancient Jerusalem. Very, very well done.