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Author: Brokaw, Charles
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
ISBN-13: 978-0-7653-2871-7
Follow Here To Purchase The Temple Mount Code (Thomas Lourds, Book 3)
Author: Brokaw, Charles
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
ISBN-13: 978-0-7653-2871-7
An international adventure into the unknown, starting at an archaeological dig in Henan Province, People’s Republic of China, this exciting tale of modern-day mystery and intrigue speeds its way through a range of settings that are beset by terrorist activity, including the Gaza Strip and Tehran. Counterpoised against the hectic pace of the unfolding plot in such urban settings as Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Vienna is the finding of a key inscription in an isolated monastery set high up in the Himalaya Mountains.
Brokaw clearly exploits the fear of Muslim world domination, as the plot hinges on a frantic race to find the hiding place of Mohammed’s divinely inspired handwritten Koran and a scroll that foretells the fate of Muslims on Earth. Despite the urgency of the quest, the chief protagonist and catalyst of all the action, the internationally renowned linguist Professor Thomas Lourds, also takes a keen interest in beautiful specimens of the opposite sex, in the form of an ex-lover, Alice von Volker, who is presently married to a pernicious anti-Semitic neo-Nazi arms dealer, and a lethal young Mossad agent, whose torture by Revolutionary Guards in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison is related in graphic and ghastly detail. (The Temple Mount Code is most definitely not for overly sensitive readers!)
This third book in the Lourds series is as exciting and titivating as the first two. Brokaw does not tread gently around highly sensational topics, instead appearing to revel in known antagonisms ― the Western Christian world versus the militant Jihad faction, pro-Jewish sentiments against radical neo-Nazi fanatacism. Although such issues are used to impel the novel forward, Brokaw at no stage goes into any great depth in dealing with their ramifications, as the plot that he unfolds, despite being multi-threaded, is a straightforward linear narrative. As such, his novels are likely to appeal to those who wish to have a fast, stimulating read, without requiring any profound insights into the modern political world.
Despite the fortunate lack of academia in The Temple Mount Code, Charles Brokaw is the pseudonym of a Midwest academic and college educator. His interests, as can so clearly be seen in the Lourds series, are history, human accomplishment, and archaeology. One just rather wishes that he would take a little more time delving into the psyche of his major characters, but then, perhaps his writing is not only intended to reach a wide-ranging audience, but also to act as a well-earned timeout from the tediousness that comes from being one of the intelligentsia…