Jerusalem, 70 AD. As the legions of Rome besiege the Holy Temple, a boy is given a secret that he must guard with his life...Southern Germany, December 1944. Six emaciated prisoners drag a mysterious crate deep into a disused mine. They too give their lives to keep the secret safe: murdered by their Nazi guards...Egypt, Valley of the Kings, the present day. A body is found amongst some ruins. It appears to be an open-and-shut case for Inspector Yusuf Khalifa of the Luxor police. But what begins as a routine investigation rapidly turns out to be the most trying case of his career. Forced into an uneasy alliance with Arieh Ben-Roi, a hard-drinking Jerusalem detective, and Layla al-Madani, a daring Palestinian journalist, Khalifa enters a murky, murderous world of greed, duplicity, intrigue and revenge as he goes in search of an extraordinary long-lost artifact that could, in the wrong hands, turn the Middle East into a blood bath. Traveling from ancient Jerusalem to contemporary Egypt, and involving Cathar heretics, coded medieval manuscripts, and hidden Nazi treasures, The Last Secret of the Temple is an absorbing thriller set against the tumultuous politics of the present-day Middle East.
“Not just a tightly plotted, richly observed, thought-provoking thriller, but one with a soul . . . The compelling mix of tough, page-turning suspense, archaeology, history, and characters caught up in the brutal politics of the Middle East make this a timely and authentic novel. Paul Sussman builds his story with the meticulous strokes of a craftsman, growing it from a seemingly innocuous death in the shadows of the pyramids to a discovery that threatens millions of lives.” —Raymond Khoury, author of The Last Templar
“The Last Secret of the Temple is a gripping mystery, intricately plotted and eloquently told, with more hairpin turns than the road to Hitler’s Berchtesgaden. But more than that, its tale of an ancient artifact and the grudging alliance of an Egyptian detective and Israeli cop is as urgent and meaningful as the best journalism. Paul Sussman’s novel is not just thrilling, it makes the tension and promise of the Middle East heartbreakingly alive.” —William Dietrich, author of Napoleon’s Pyramids
“The Last Secret of the Temple is a brilliant detective novel, hidden within a medieval saga, tucked inside of an archaeological mystery, surrounded by a modern-day Middle-East Terrorist thriller. Paul Sussman has managed the impossible: a multi-layered quest— where all the characters are real and alive, and we should expect the completely unexpected.” —Katherine Neville, author of The Eight
“Two for two. Another surefire winner from a gifted storyteller. Hopefully, The Last Secret of the Temple won't be Paul Sussman’s last.” —Steve Berry, author of The Templar Legacy
“While Paul Sussman’s brilliant novel, The Last Secret of the Temple, will be compared to Dan Brown’s eight-hundred-pound gorilla, it is so much more. The mystery runs deeper, the history more accurate, the suspense drawn to a keener edge. It also shines a light into a bloody part of the world, where it is hard to tell enemy from friend, and where ancient debts of pain and murder echo to the present. Here is a thriller on par with the best literature out there. Challenging, shocking, evocative…it should be required reading during these harsh times.” —James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author of Black Order and The Judas Strain
“What could possibly bring together an Egyptian detective, an Israeli cop, and a Palestinian journalist? This international bestseller, dubbed ‘an intelligent reader’s answer to The Da Vinci Code.” —Library Journal
Description:
Jerusalem, 70 AD. As the legions of Rome besiege the Holy Temple, a boy is given a secret that he must guard with his life...Southern Germany, December 1944. Six emaciated prisoners drag a mysterious crate deep into a disused mine. They too give their lives to keep the secret safe: murdered by their Nazi guards...Egypt, Valley of the Kings, the present day. A body is found amongst some ruins. It appears to be an open-and-shut case for Inspector Yusuf Khalifa of the Luxor police. But what begins as a routine investigation rapidly turns out to be the most trying case of his career. Forced into an uneasy alliance with Arieh Ben-Roi, a hard-drinking Jerusalem detective, and Layla al-Madani, a daring Palestinian journalist, Khalifa enters a murky, murderous world of greed, duplicity, intrigue and revenge as he goes in search of an extraordinary long-lost artifact that could, in the wrong hands, turn the Middle East into a blood bath. Traveling from ancient Jerusalem to contemporary Egypt, and involving Cathar heretics, coded medieval manuscripts, and hidden Nazi treasures, The Last Secret of the Temple is an absorbing thriller set against the tumultuous politics of the present-day Middle East.
From Publishers Weekly
A bestseller overseas, Sussman's follow-up to The Lost Army of the Cambyses opens at Jerusalem's Holy Temple in the year 70, jumps to doomed WWII German prison camp inmates dragging a Nazi-purloined holy relic down an abandoned coal shaft and then fast-forwards to present-day Egypt. There, Det. Insp. Yusef Ezz el-Din Khalifa of the Luxor police investigates the murder of an old man whose body has been found at an archeological site in the Valley of the Kings. Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, Palestinian journalist Layla al-Madani and Israeli police detective Arieh Ben-Roi have their own sad histories and complicated lives to deal with. Eventually, Sussman twines all the threads into one, and the three principals are hard on the trail of the mysterious artifact hidden by the prisoners. There are familiar Da Vinci Code elements, but Sussman, an archeologist, puts in plenty of satisfying twists and turns, and grounds the story in the violence and intrigue of the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict. *(Oct.) *
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Review
“Not just a tightly plotted, richly observed, thought-provoking thriller, but one with a soul . . . The compelling mix of tough, page-turning suspense, archaeology, history, and characters caught up in the brutal politics of the Middle East make this a timely and authentic novel. Paul Sussman builds his story with the meticulous strokes of a craftsman, growing it from a seemingly innocuous death in the shadows of the pyramids to a discovery that threatens millions of lives.” —Raymond Khoury, author of The Last Templar
“The Last Secret of the Temple is a gripping mystery, intricately plotted and eloquently told, with more hairpin turns than the road to Hitler’s Berchtesgaden. But more than that, its tale of an ancient artifact and the grudging alliance of an Egyptian detective and Israeli cop is as urgent and meaningful as the best journalism. Paul Sussman’s novel is not just thrilling, it makes the tension and promise of the Middle East heartbreakingly alive.” —William Dietrich, author of Napoleon’s Pyramids
“The Last Secret of the Temple is a brilliant detective novel, hidden within a medieval saga, tucked inside of an archaeological mystery, surrounded by a modern-day Middle-East Terrorist thriller. Paul Sussman has managed the impossible: a multi-layered quest— where all the characters are real and alive, and we should expect the completely unexpected.” —Katherine Neville, author of The Eight
“Two for two. Another surefire winner from a gifted storyteller. Hopefully, The Last Secret of the Temple won't be Paul Sussman’s last.” —Steve Berry, author of The Templar Legacy
“While Paul Sussman’s brilliant novel, The Last Secret of the Temple, will be compared to Dan Brown’s eight-hundred-pound gorilla, it is so much more. The mystery runs deeper, the history more accurate, the suspense drawn to a keener edge. It also shines a light into a bloody part of the world, where it is hard to tell enemy from friend, and where ancient debts of pain and murder echo to the present. Here is a thriller on par with the best literature out there. Challenging, shocking, evocative…it should be required reading during these harsh times.” —James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author of Black Order and The Judas Strain
“What could possibly bring together an Egyptian detective, an Israeli cop, and a Palestinian journalist? This international bestseller, dubbed ‘an intelligent reader’s answer to The Da Vinci Code.” —Library Journal