The breakout novel "Sanctus" by Simon Toyne has all the qualities of a good story; it has characters that cause things to happen and react to what has happened. It has action and suspense from the first chapter to the last. The novel has an intriguing premise; an ancient holy relic lies hidden in a Citadel built into the sides of a mountain in the city of Ruin in Turkey guarded by an order of monks. The monks in the stronghold are divided by levels of status distinguished by cassock colors. Only those in the highest order, the green cassocks of the Sacramental order know the secret of the ancient relic.
In need of a break from work and some recent near-death adventures, archaeologist Annja Creed visits France to indulge one of her greatest fantasies: finding D'Artagnan's lost sword. The rapier was a gift from the reigning monarch and has been missing since the seventeenth century. And Ascher Vallois, one of Annja's treasure-hunting friends, believes he has located the site of the relic. But when Annja meets with Vallois, she learns that he's made a huge sacrifice to protect the sword and its secret from a relic hunter. Annja discovers that the artifact holds the key to a fortune. And the man won't stop until he gets everything he wants - including Annja.
While scuba diving in Tanzania, Sam and Remi Fargo discover a relic belonging to a long-lost Confederate ship named the Shenandoah. An anomaly about the relic sets them off chasing a mystery, and a rumored second artifact-but, unknown to them, a much more powerful force is engaged in the same chase.
In the exciting eighth supernatural thriller from bestsellers Preston and Child (after 2006's The Book of the Dead), FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast and his ward, Constance Greene, seek peace of mind at a remote Tibetan monastery, only to fall into yet another perilous, potentially earthshaking assignment. The monastery's abbot asks them to recover a stolen relic, the cryptic Agozyen, which could, in the wrong hands, wipe out humanity. The pair follow the trail to a luxury cruise ship, where a series of brutal murders suggests the relic's evil spirit might already have been invoked.
Added by: Kahena | Karma: 11524.33 | Fiction literature | 11 November 2010
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The Keys of Hell
Paul Chavasse makes his living running arms and intelligence from Italy to the oppressive communist country of Albania. But when the Albanian government begins a religious purge, he finds himself in a deadly race to recover a priceless relic that has protected the faithful for generations. Now he must outrun-and outwit-an entire army to save the lives of thousands of believers.
