Sanctuary [Hardcover]

I really liked Khoury's first novel, "The Last Templar", and gave it a rave review last year when it first hit the shelves. I was eagerly awaiting his next book.

What a disappointment. Most writers improve upon the skills they exhibit in their first published work; sadly, Khoury hasn't pulled this off. I didn't think it was possible for a writer to become formulaic with only two published works, but sadly that's what's happened here.

Whereas I found "Templar" to be original, fast paced, and with richly drawn characters, "Sanctuary" was simply a "Templar" knock-off without the upside. The characterizations were flat and - in some cases - confusing. Characters suddenly changed actions and apparent motivations mid-stream simply as a device to create surprise twists in a mundane and linear plot. The "McGuffin" of the story (I won't reveal it so as not to spoil it for others) was unbelievable, and again lacked clarity. Whereas in "Templar" the flashback scenes almost stole the whole book, in "Sanctuary" they were - again - muddled and disjointed.

Further, Khoury wrote this whole thing in the breathless style of pulp fiction, with non-stop chases and gunfights, and cliché damsels-in-distress. Frankly, that's pretty boring. Look at some of Tom Clancy's best work; the scenes of actual violence are few and far between, used to great effect as highlights to the plot, not as the only point to the story. As Hitchcock said, it's not the violence that's terrifying, it's the anticipation of the violence. Khoury needs to learn that lesson.

One last thing. Whoever edited this book needs to take another crack before the paperback version comes out. There are a lot of misusages of American English, unforgivable for a book in which the central characters are all Americans. For example, many times in the book, when writing about a gun being pointed at another character, Khoury refers to the end of the gun barrel as the gun's "nozzle". I don't know what Khoury's native language is, but fire hoses have "nozzles". Guns have "muzzles".

Sorry, can't recommend this one at all.

Good read. Mr. Khoury tackles an interesting subject: What if you could live 3 times longer than the average person? Would this bring you happiness? Or, would it bring problems that the average person does not have to deal with? In this interesting "time" thriller Mr. Khoury endeavors to answer this. Using flashbacks to prior centuries and a race between ancient antagonists and their offspring, The Sanctuary alternates between the old and modern day to analyze a quest for an age altering elixir of life. It's real, it works, but does it bring happiness? That seems to be the premise that Mr. Khoury tries to answer.
The problem with books of this type is they usually become bloated with several plot lines running simultaneously. Not so with The Sanctuary. Mr. Khoury keeps the past in perspective and keeps the reader engaged with the present. Hard to do but The Sanctuary pulls it off. Also, when dealing with elixirs and immortality the tendency is to pontificate but in The Sanctuary Mr. Khoury allows the story to carry the action. The ending is reasonable and not too far fetched. Mr. Khoury does a good job with a difficult subject and keeps the reader involved.
No gratuitous sex or language. Some violence but necessary for plot development. The wolves scene toward the end is well done.
Recommended. Not quite as good as The Last Templar but a good solid read that tackles a difficult subject. Will make the reader think.

For those who pressed on, I hope the book gets better. Never before have I quit a book in the middle. The Sanctuary forced me to do it.

Ladies, please don't take this next section the wrong way. Tess, the heroine of Khoury's The Last Templar, I could handle. As an encore, Khoury drums up a grandmotherly archaeologist and her daughter. The characters didn't have much substance, whether on the side of good or evil, they were character props more than well drawn characters. They simply couldn't hold my attention.

A struggling author friend of mine read one time that, "the road to hell is paved with adverbs". Now, I may be exaggerating here because I no longer have the text in front of me, but - in the first section, taking place in Naples of the past, Khoury uses "menacingly" four times in as many paragraphs. Amateurish.

Skip over this one.