Here’s the set-up for Terrence O’Brien’s The Templar Concordat, just $2.99, or Currently FREE For Amazon Prime Members Via the Kindle Lending Library:

When the truth is your greatest danger, and the enemy knows the truth, things can only go downhill when the enemy finally gets the proof. And that’s the proof the Hashashin get when they steal what the Vatican doesn’t even know it has.

Now the infallible decrees of two Twelfth Century popes and three kings, stolen by the Hashashin, threaten to catapult the bigotry, bias, and religious blood baths of the Third Crusade straight into the Twenty-First Century.

When Templars Sean Callahan and Marie Curtis are drawn into the mess, they face an ancient enemy that has already nearly won the battle, a newly elected Mexican pope being undermined by entrenched Vatican powers, world class scholars who will sell their prestige to the highest bidder, and terrorists lingering over lattes in sidewalk cafes.

Moving from Rome to London, Switzerland, and Saudi Arabia, Callahan and Curtis are desperate to find some way to stem the success the Hashashin are having enlisting the majority of moderate Muslims in their Jihad. Out-maneuvered at each step by the Hashashin, only a last ditch roll of the dice has any chance of success. But it’s the only chance they have.

122,000 words – appx 400 pages

From the reviewers:

I found The Templar Concordant to be a real fun read starting with the Templar’s in the middle ages and updating them to the present day where they are intertwined in modern day society. I think this is Terrence O’Brien’s first novel and I’d say he did a very good job, always fun to find new authors with their own unique voice.  –  “jackzvt”

My husband is really the historian in our family and loves everything Templar related. When this book came up on one of my searches, I jumped at it after reading the intro. Since he only reads on the weekends I thought I would read the book first. After starting it midday, I was reading well into the night and finally under the covers with my little kindle light. I could not put this book down. –  “kdl”

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found it enthralling and I couldn’t put it down. When I finished I read everything on Terrence O’Brien’s wet site to find out about the background of the Templars.  –  “ajq”

“I loved this book and am still kicking myself for resisting its sirencall for so long. The history and details woven skillfully into the action and well rounded characters made for an exciting read…” -Sandra Gilbert

If you enjoyed the DaVinci Code, this has a lot of the same elements – but it’s a bit more believable, so it’s easier to suspend disbelief and just go along with the story. As other reviewers have pointed out, an ancient treaty is discovered that could have huge ramifications for the modern world, the Catholic church, and Christianity in general.  –  Heather

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The idea for the book began to grow a few years ago as news reports revealed more and more about Al Qaeda. What struck me was thefact that it had no national allegiance. It operated outside the established nation state system. Al Qaeda didn’t care what the government of Saudi Arabia, Syria, Pakistan, or Iran thought. It did whatever it wanted, and claimed to be doing it to further world-wide Islam.

So, I wondered what things would be like if there was an organization in the West that was also free from the governments of the West. How would they combat Al Qaeda? What kind of scene would play out across the world if that kind of group challenged Al Qaeda without worrying about media, Congressional hearings, appeals courts, public opinion, or the next election cycle?

Then I remembered there once was such a Western organization when the Knights Templars were active from 1120 to 1307. They answered to nobody, had the strongest military of the day, crossed borders at will, amassed a huge fortune, engaged in trade and commerce, and financed many of the monarchies.

So, why not bring the Templars forward in time, and let some escape the ambush by the King of France and the pope that destroyed them in 1307? And since the Templars were a creation of the Crusades and the Church, let those players come into the present day, too. And the Hashashin, a secretive branch of Islaimi Shiite Islam that excelled in covert operations? Let them escape their destruction by the Mongols in 1275, and come forward to the present day.

I also noticed news stories about the discovery of the Chinon Parchment from 1308 dealing with the Templar trials. The document had been misfiled in 1628 and was lost to history until an Italian researcher found it buried in the stacks of the Vatican Library in 2001. So the notion that things could get lost for hundreds of years in a library was definitely reasonable.

The result is The Templar Concordat. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

About the Author

After leaving the Marine Corps I began a career in mine and oil field development. So, I have followed the oil fields spanning Alaska, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia, and now live with my wife in Kansas City where I became a floor trader at the Kansas City Board of Trade. I’m currently working on Avram’s Cross, the second book in the series.

And here, in the comfort of your own browser, is your free sample of THE TEMPLAR CONCORDAT by Terrence O’Brien: