The Templar Heresy

I’m going to keep this review uncharacteristically (for me) short. I simply want to highlight what works and what does not work.At least one other reviewer stated concerns regarding typos and misspellings. Yes, I must also note that the writer is, like many writers, a weak editor/proof reader. The spelling is poor enough that I am taking a star away. This is something I’ve not done in quite some time.BLUSH FACTOR: No worries here. I found not a single profanity. In fact, I double-checked with the search engine in Kindle.Other important points would be that, aside from the typos, the writing is a quick, easy read that is worth taking the time to sit back and relax. I’ll publish an excerpt below.EXCERPT‘…‘It’s the character set,’ Angela replied. ‘You speak fluent Italian and more than enough French to get by, so if somebody handed you a piece of paper with meaningless words written on it, but you saw an acute or grave accent over a letter “e”, or a cedilla under a “c”, you’d probably guess that it was written in French, even if the words themselves were encrypted. This is pretty much the same thing, though we’re not looking at diacritical marks but the actual script itself. We’re guessing that this temple or whatever it is dates from at least five hundred years ago because of the known history of the region, and so we would expect an inscription from that period to almost certainly be written in Arabic and probably in what’s known as Kuic script. And if it wasn’t written in Arabic, then other common options would be one of the other North Arabian languages like Safaitic or Talmudic, which are quite similar to Arabic. But what we wouldn’t expect would be to find an inscription written in the Latin alphabet, the same alphabet that we use today, pretty much.’‘Latin changed over time,’ Stephen Taverner explained, ‘like all languages. The classical Latin alphabet had only twenty-three letters, and all but two of those were derived from the earlier Etruscan alphabet, but during the Middle Ages the letters “j”, “u” and “w” were added, and that gave us the same twenty-six letters that are used today in English and form the basis of most other European languages. We have no idea if this inscription contains the full character set, because not one of those letters is carved into the rock, so if it is written in Latin, we have no idea of the approximate date. If there had been a “w”, for example, that would have told us it had to be late mediaeval.’‘So what do you think the encryption is?’ Bronson said.‘Perhaps Atbash – it’s a really early form of cipher, allegedly used by Julius Caesar. Basically, you just write out the letters of the alphabet in a horizontal line, then write out the reversed alphabet directly below it, so that “z” is under “a” and “y” is under “b”, and so on. In order to encrypt your message, all you do is write down the plaintext and then substitute the letters from the reversed alphabet. The obvious problem is that you always end up with nonsense, so it’s immediately apparent to anyone seeing it that the message must be encrypted. The other problem is that if you apply frequency analysis to the message – there are certain letters that occur much more frequently than others in every language – you can probably work out some of the plaintext letters fairly quickly.’‘But if everybody knows that Atbash just uses the reversed alphabet, then presumably anybody could translate the message about two minutes after they’d realized that it was enciphered. Or am I missing something?’ Bronson sounded puzzled.‘You are,’ Stephen said, ‘but not a lot. That’s basic Atbash, but there were…’Becker, James. The Templar Heresy: An extraordinary conspiracy thriller that doesn't let go (pp. 41-43). Canelo. Kindle Edition.BOTTOM LINEDespite the typos, this writers has an admirable skill at weaving a story together that holds the reader’s interest. I hope this writer writes more stories on this subject. First, though, I hope he finds a good proofreader/editor so his imagination can reach and satisfy the largest possible audienceFour stars out of five.Will you help me? I hope and trust that this review has helped you. Did I answer most of your questions and concerns? I encourage you to click the appropriate button [helpful or not helpful] below. Also, leave a comment below. Doing so helps me provide reviews that work better for you.I am writing a book for aspiring reviewers and for product suppliers seeking reviews in an effort to help improve the process and to understand the value of Amazon’s Customer Review process. 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Reading the kindle edition. So many typos in words like rifle show as rile and lots of other words that should start with F are written as starting with an L, I feel like the writer depended on some strange auto correct. Just saying I expect a better quality of editing. Whomever the proof readers were must have been blind.

I have never read a more poorly-edited book as The Templar Heresy. James Becker should be ashamed to have his name associated with this monstrosity of errors. The first few pages got me so irritated that I decided to keep track of the spelling, grammar, and writing errors I found. In the first 100 pages, I found 129 errors. It was so obvious that either no one edited this manuscript, or if someone did, they should be banned from the publishing business. And sadly, because of the horrendous editing, Mr. Becker looks like a second ... no, tenth-rate writer. Overall, the book is very tedious to read because there are long, long paragraphs that try to provide far too much information. And he has dialogue where one speaker drones on and on and on, attempting to provide background information; but it is way too much. Then compounding the terrible conversations between characters is the fact that the dialogue switches from one character to another and then back to the other character, sometimes 5-6 times, but it is all in one paragraph. So it is very hard to tell when a conversation moves from one character to another. Again ... terrible editing. And the ending happens way too fast. The author bored the reader with long, tiresome inaction through 250-plus pages, and then wraps things up in four pages. I cannot recommend this book because it is an insult to anyone who enjoys reading. The only reason I finished it was because I was so angry for having invested my time, struggling with the book, I felt there was no other course of action but to grind it out.

First and foremost I want to say thst this is an interesting presentation. I did enjoy the story, however there is a major flaw running through the book. It is a proofing error. There are numerous repeatly used words that lost the first letter of their spelling.Flash/lash, flower/lower, flick/lick, etc.It is not confined to "F" words, nor is it every "F" word. Perhaps another reader may find a pattern but I could not. It is annoying and mars a very entertaining premise. Five even becomes I've in one line.There was enough hints to other back stories throughout that it sometimes felt as if I was reading a series adventure not a stand alone. Because of that the main character development seems a bit thin. Not flat or unblievable but not fleshed out.I would recommend the book. It is good waiting room / beach / consumer of time reading.I believe these problems are a result of automated proofing and poor quality spell correct programs such as the one on this tablet that I am using to write this review.Poor, incorrect proofing is rampant within the ebook community and perhaps emdemic at the price level that I chose to read.If you enjoy ACTION, mysteries, and buried treasure theory you WILL enjoy this book. You simply have the get "eye" the "issing" first "etters".

I read this before the Last Apostle which I have also reviewed. Having read both it is apparent the author uses the same structure in the books and hangs different ‘historical’ matter around it. Sadly it still has the anti Christian / Catholic message running through the book and into the alleged historical note at the end. Not for me, a shallow fantastical plot with anti Christian propaganda message which I don’t appreciate and I think is misplaced.

An enjoyable book. Chris Bronson and his former wife Angela are on an nother nail biting adventure. This time they are being chased by murdering fortune hunters. Though the story is written as if the bad guys might be religious zealots. In places l found the going abit hard and laboursim but am glad l stuck with Chris and Angela to the end. The good guys always win no matter what the writer throws at them. I do enjoy James Beckers books and have just read the Echo of the Reich which l really enjoyed.

A terrific read with the reader on edge as to what is going to happen next. So exciting to not have the faintest idea of where the characters are going to end up next. Brilliantly conceived and presented by the author. Perfect for those who love mystery and adventure.

It is a good read, and really enjoyed the references to the past and how they are part of the story. it is not too taxing if you like The Da Vinci Code this is worth a read but not on the same level

A book that starts at a brilliant page turning pace slows to a detailed history lesson Good in its own way but not the thriller I initially expected