'The Key'

There are those of us who unashamedly adore religious conspiracy stories.  'The DaVinci Code' may not have been the first book published dealing with 'all things hidden', but it certainly fed our appetites, merely for its subject matter.  Jesus married?  And the father of a child?  Why not, I say.  Dan Brown wrote a delicious story that left me hungry for more.

I found quite a few written in the same vein.  Some were so-so; most were extraordinary.  I took to the internet and library, and studied.  Of course, the truth didn't quite quench my thirst.  I found I wanted more religious mysteries.  The more fictiony, the better.  More relics!  More blasphemy!  More women standing up and defeating religious misogyny!  More 'good vs. evil'!

When I read 'Sanctus', by Simon Toyne (Book Hog October 2011), I was mesmerized by the group of monks bound and determined to keep their astonishing sacrament hidden.  But then, along comes a woman, and their whole world in the secretive Citadel is almost blown to hell.  Go, women!

When I finished reading the last page, I was delighted to learn that Mr. Toyne would be continuing the adventures of the mad monks.  I couldn't wait to read it.

Just one year later, I opened 'The Key', and I was lost for a day and a half.  The laundry could wait.  My husband could feed the cats.  I had the sequel I'd been dying to read.

And it was worth it.

Courageous journalist, Liv Adamsen, having escaped from the Citadel, is now isolated in a hospital, where she has lost most of her memory of that horrific time.  Despite that fact,  something stirs within her, bringing with it strange dreams and whispering voices.  But when others hear of this, they know exactly what it means, and are bound and determined to silence her.  A desert mercenary, known as 'The Ghost', knows that Liv holds the key to a very powerful secret.  The monks, now suffering from a brutal plague, want her returned.  And the only man she trusts, her beloved Gabriel, does his utmost to rescue her from danger.  Together, they race against time to reach the cradle of civilization in order to fulfill a prophecy of the 'end times'.

It was good to become acquainted with Liv and Gabriel once again.  The villains pursuing them were merciless and contained no warmth, which is how a good villain should be portrayed, in Book Hog's opinion.  Surprises abound, the action is relentless, and some people are not who they appear to be.

And when you finish this well-written story, I hope that you will share my theory.

Let's hope it plays out in book number three.

Laundry be damned!