The House of Secrets (2016) by Brad Meltzer and Tod Goldberg starts with the death of Jack Nash, world-renowned host and creator of the long-running “House of Secrets” TV series. 

That TV show investigates the meanings behind various symbolism, alleged secret codes, and conspiracies around the world.

The deadly car crash leaves his thirtysomething daughter, Hazel, injured and unable to remember exactly who she is.

The plot revolves around Hazel’s efforts, with the help of older brother Skip, to discover her father’s past and recover her own. 

Weirdly, Hazel is some kind of badass, street-fighting anthropology professor.

Unlikely?

Sure. 

Like Dad’s TV show, this book is full of historical mysteries. Hazel fits right in.

It’s got something to do with Benedict Arnold’s Bible. 

George Washington was devastated by the betrayal of one of his best friends.  I learned that here. 😀

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Not his best — but Koontz is a genius of the interesting plot.

And he’s a very good story teller.

It’s a horror story. But one with a surprisingly uplifting ending.

… Billy Wiles has not even turned on his PC since his fiancée Barbara fell into a coma several years ago. Leading the life of a recluse who spends his spare time alone at home doing woodwork, he leaves his secluded house only when he goes to work as a bartender. …

… takes the law into his own hands when, out of the blue, he is threatened by an anonymous adversary ..

This is the first full novel (2006) in Steve Berry’s Cotton Malone series.

Comparisons to The Da Vinci Code (2003) are inevitable. This is a mystery involving the supposedly extinct order of the knight Templar, and their most treasured secret, the Great Device.

There seems to be a religious thriller genre.

Personally, I can’t recommend this book. The story and characters were not compelling for me. And the puzzles used to find the prize too confusing. When the secret is finally revealed, … a let down.

The author was a trial lawyer for 30 years. It took him 12 years and 85 rejections before selling a manuscript.

The ancient order of the Knights Templar possessed untold wealth and absolute power over kings and popes—until the Inquisition, when they were wiped from the face of the earth, their hidden riches lost.

But now two forces vying for the treasure …

Cotton Malone, one-time top operative for the U.S. Justice Department, is enjoying his quiet new life as an antiquarian book dealer in Copenhagen when an unexpected call to action reawakens his hair-trigger instincts–and plunges him back into the cloak-and-dagger world he thought he’d left behind.

It begins with a violent robbery attempt on Cotton’s former supervisor, Stephanie Nelle, who’s far from home on a mission that has nothing to do with national security. …

SteveBerry.org

“The novel’s overcomplicated conspiracies and esoteric brainteasers can get tedious, and the various religious motivations make little sense. - Publishers Weekly.

“A long, tortuous journey to an unsurprising, though thoughtful, end.” – Kirkus Reviews.

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