The 57th secret of the Templars

I bought "The Treasure of the Templars: Scorpion",

assuming it was a free-standing volume. In reality, it's the fourth part in a series. It can be read on its own, but certain plot elements will remain obscure unless you procure the entire series. Which, I'm afraid, I have no intention of doing. The story wasn't *that* interesting, although I admit it could work as a Hollywood flick (or even a mini-series).

The plot is set in the 18th century, before the French and American revolutions, but has a very modern “feel”, with emancipated females, politically correct criticism of the crusades, attempts to bring in “peace” in the Middle East, and an evil papal court who looks like late 20th century conspiracy theorists imagine Satanists or Illuminati to look like.

Much of the plot revolves around various Templar mysteries. In this version, the Knights Templar wanted to unite Christianity, Islam and Judaism! They found ancient scrolls proving that Jesus was a prophet, rather than the Son of God, and that Peter had been crucified in Cappadocia and hence couldn't have been the first pope of Rome. The secret is hidden in an ancient ruin in Syria, together with fabulous riches, and more than one interested party wants to find it and claim it… Well, you get the drift.

For your weird Templar lore collection only. We've been here before, haven't we?