The Sanctuary

By: Raymond Khoury

Narrated by: Richard Ferrone

After centuries of destruction, one unsuspecting woman stands at the center of a conspiracy that could change the world forever in this thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Templar.

Portugal, 1705. In the dungeons of a Templar castle, a dying old man bequeaths an ancient, half-burnt book to his young inquisitor. Keeping one step ahead of those who would kill to wrench the book's secret from his hands, the inquisitor turns his back on his calling and sets off on an impossible journey to complete the old man's quest.

Baghdad, 2003. Hunting for a mysterious bioweapon scientist, an army unit discovers a concealed state-of-the-art lab where gruesome experiments have been carried out on men, women, and children. The scientist escapes, but a puzzling clue is left behind: a circular symbol of a snake feeding on its own tail.

As the power of the symbol comes to light, revealing centuries of destruction left in its wake, a woman desperate for answers holds the fate of the world in her hands...©2007 Raymond Khoury; (P)2007 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc.

Critic reviews

Praise for The Sanctuary

“[Khoury] follows up the thrills of The Last Templar with...more thrills.”—Tampa Tribune

“A high-octane rollercoaster ride of thrills and spills...Khoury is a screenwriter and the novel’s tight construction and hyper-fast pacing owe an obvious debt to that discipline.”—The Irish Mail on Sunday

“Fresh and exciting...Khoury makes the conspiracy feel utterly believable and imbues his characters with infectious passion for finding the truth. A surefire hit with fans of conspiracy-based historical thrillers.”—Booklist

“What connects a fake marquis in 1700s Naples and an underground lab in Saddam’s Baghdad where civilians were subjected to grievous experimentation? Clues to a dark and devastating secret, which is what made Khoury’s The Last Templar such bestselling fun.”—Library Journal

Kept my interest!

While I enjoyed the author's last work, The Last Templar, I wasn't wild about it. The Sanctuary though, was one of those books that I just couldn't put down! Lots of action--all believable, and lots of interesting historical facts sprinkled throughout. My only complaint was the extremely poor editing job done throughout the reading. Many times there were noises indicating where the reading had been edited. In a few places a phrase was repeated twice--the original take was not fully removed in the editing. Indeed, in one place, the recording jumped to the end of the book every time I I tried to play it from that point. I had to skip over a few minutes of recording in order to continue with the story. In all of the hundreds of Audible recordings I've listened to over the years, this is the ONLY one where I've encountered a bad editing job.

Entertaining, keeps you interest.

Some lengthy and philosophical segments. Elected to fast forward through these. Other than that, great story and kept my interest until the end.

Sanctuary

I loved the book. This book makes you think and then surprises you at the end. I would recommend this book. Enjoy!

Great Read!

Lots of suspense with a steady stream of surprises. Really enjoy Khoury's writing style and storytelling. Highly recommend this book.

Pass on this one

This one is just overwritten. The plot is one fairly predictable narrow escape after another with too much filler in between. And the filler itself is overwritten. The result is just a very long listen.