Sanctus

A quick entertaining read although it would be nice if they could have had someone other than the church be the bad guys and I say that as an atheist.

4.5 stars. An excellent read that has left me wanting to read the next book in the trilogy. A superior book within this sub-genre. Well worth a read for anyone that hasn't read it!

Fascinating tale of a religious mystery that is being guarded. The monks of the Citadel will kill to keep their secret. This is a thrilling mystery where the story is so fantastically convoluted. The twists and turns keep the story moving at a fast pace. You may have to leave your believes at the door because this tale will challenge them.

Wow, what a fantastic ending. To be honest I originally bought this book because I had won the sequel 'The Key' in a publishers competition. It sat on my bookshelf for months before I finally picked it up and began reading it. It consumed my every waking moment from the first page and I quickly ordered the third book 'The Tower'.
It is well written, totally enthralling and an interesting concept. The ending was a complete surprise and I cannot wait to get started on 'The Key' for the story to continue.

Great read!!

Speed read it. Started off good but just never kept my attention.

An entertaining, fast-paced thriller with secret sects, an order of monks not quite what they seem and plenty of action.

This brilliant debut novel from author Simon Toyne is full of suspense, action, deception, strength, courage, wisdom, history, and, above all, hope. The story begins with the mysterious and somewhat ceremonial suicide of Samuel, a Monk who has seen too much and has a secret to share with the world. His sister, Liv, is the only person who can solve the puzzle of his death and thus begins the action of this novel as she delves deep into the mystery, called the Sacrament, at the core of the Citadel of Ruin. Solving this puzzle is made more difficult for Liv when she is hunted down by two groups of people. The two groups have descended from long lines of enemies going back to the beginning of mankind's existence on Earth. One of these groups has long awaited the coming of a cross, described in a prophesy they believe is finally coming true. The other group wants to destroy the mysterious Sacrament hidden in the fortress, and wants to capture Liv to prevent the prophecy, As the details of how these two groups are connected starts to surface, the story becomes more and more intense and pulls the reader in until it is impossible to put the book down. The fictional "heretical" religion created here will touch the heart of every reader as the suffering and desperate measures come into focus to explain the extraordinarily self-less death of Samuel. As his sister becomes more involved in the mystery of his death (and life in the Citadel of Ruin) a story going back to the beginning of time, to Adam and Eve, to Ask and Embla, shines through to transcend religious differences and brings together characters of all types to one time and place where a miracle occurs and the world is changed forever by one woman. This marvelous novel will leave readers with a desperate urge to find out what happens next. While on par with a Dan Brown novel in terms of suspense, religious mystery, and inter-woven plot style, Sanctus far surpasses his work in the level of connection to the characters, by sheer diversity of protagonists, and the novel's simple yet unpredictable ending. All of the characters seemed realistic and human - even the antagonists had likeable qualities: the monks seemed down-to-earth, the religious zealots seemed sane, and all of the antagonists had heartbreaking background stories to explain their motivations. Every piece of this novel fit together seamlessly. I would recommend it to everyone.

Simon Toyne's first novel, Sanctus is a fast-paced religious thriller featuring many of the genre's tropes: a mysterious sect hiding a long-held secret, unsuspecting civilians drawn into the struggle between the sect and its age-old enemies, &c. Combine those with a few nasty assassin-types, an ancient library filled with the works of ages, and you've got all the ingredients for a good morning's reading. While the book is almost 500 pages long, I read it in a single sitting; it's good enough to keep the pages turning quickly, and I'll certainly be watching for the next installment.

A religious conspiracy mystery. I enjoyed the book quite a bit, I like books with ancient secrets and secret societies and this one certainly had a large secret hiding in it. The story was told very well and it kept a good pace. I enjoyed the story from beginning to end, however there were several interesting things that came up through the story that made me think the author didn't really understand what the 'twists' he added meant. Either his understanding of genetics was just a glossy surface or I am missing some important knowledge. I'm not going to actually point out the problem since I consider it a large mysterious plot point but it made me scratch my head.A mysterious figure has climbed to the top of the mountain ridge overlooking the Citadel, standing with his arms outstretched unmoving; for hours. Suddenly he falls forward to his death at the feet of the tourists and news crews who've been watching and wondering about the spectacle. The Citadel is closed mouth about the whole thing both before and after the death. Its expected to be an open and shut case and is handed to detective Arkadian, just when he's expecting it to be closed the autopsy brings up some questions that he would like the answer to; a phone number scratched on a piece of leather for one. No one knows who the dead man is or why he died and the phone number is the best lead he has.Overall I really enjoyed reading this book and it had far fewer plot holes than similar genre like Dan Brown or Steve Berry. I think the one thing that I really had trouble with was the ending. There was a big reveal and lots of hints about things but none of them are strong enough to really give a sense of what happened and what was going to happen next. This makes me think it is planned to continue in another book. I think this one would have been best as a stand-a-lone novel. We'll see what happens.

An intense, high tension thriller with many plots. An exciting roller coaster of a read! This book keeps the reader's rapt attention with it's fast-paced action and riveting chatacters. Reminiscent of a Dan Brown thriller but more tightly and better written..I recommend this one to any thriller lover!

What a great first book. A thriller that keeps on thrilling and made me keep on reading. The book flap states this is book one of a trilogy, but I do not know what more he could do with this story and yet I can not wait to see.

Great book, fast pace, very compelling, looking forward to next book

This religious thriller is the debut novel of author Simon Toyne. As such, it has a lot to offer. While the plot and setting of the book are entirely fictitious, which detracts somewhat from the readers ability to suspend disbelief, the story is quite engaging, and a real page turner. I quite enjoyed reading this novel, and will certainly look for future offerings from Mr. Toyne.That being said, I do believe that the story could have been greatly enhanced by using more factual elements as a backdrop.

Modern day Turkey - the city of Ruin. Above the city of Ruin is The Citadel - a mountain enclave that houses a group of monks named the Sancti who have protected their secrets for thousands of years. And suddenly one day high on a mountain above The Citadel is a man, standing with his arms outstretched - in the shape of a cross. The world sees him....and sees him fall. And to another group who have been patiently watching the Sancti for hundreds of years as well, it is the sign they have been waiting for.One group is determined to protect their secrets as much as the other group wants them exposed to the world. Caught up in the conflict is journalist Liv Adamson, the sister of Samuel, the fallen monk.I enjoy conspiracy thrillers and with Sanctus, Simon Toyne has penned a thoroughly entertaining one. I liked that the two main protagonists were female for a change. There's lots of action and although the plot line is not new, Toyne has put his own twist on it. The promise of discovering what the mystery sacrament was kept me turning pages til the very end. Some plot points seemed a bit far fetched - most notably the reason that the sect did not discover that Samuel had a living relative. But you know, I really wasn't looking for a hard and fast fact based read when I picked up Sanctus. What I did get was what I expected - an entertaining read. Readers with strong religious beliefs may not enjoy Toyne's alternative views. But fans of James Rollins, Steve Berry and of course, Dan Brown will enjoy it.Sanctus is the first in a trilogy. I am very curious as to where Toyne will take the characters after the last 40 pages of Sanctus.

If you liked Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code or Angels and Demons then you will loved Simon Toyne's new fast paced thriller Sanctus. The plot surrounds a devout, secretive sect of monks that live in The Citadel, an inpenetrable fortress in Turkey, and who guard an ancient secret called The Sacrament. Throw in a suicide, some murder, a hard nosed journalist with a vested interest and a detective who just wants to do the right thing and you have the ingrediants for a great and classic story with a surprisingly original plot.The only real detractors were what another reviewer called 'speed bumps'-the writing at times can be a little laborious and there are some editing issues, but don't let this dissuade you from picking it up because the story is really great and I expect that these minor problems won't plague the other books in the trilogy. I recommend this book highly.

Fast-paced thriller (with speed bumps)The characters were distinctive, appealing, and cleverly ambiguous as to their affiliation with the "good" or the "evil" elements of the story. The plot was structured for suspense, and the style of storytelling released little pieces of the truth here and there. This provided compelling suspense, and made me want to keep reading. The speed bumps came, unfortunately, from the writing. The first sentence of the book reads: "A flash of light filled his skull as it struck the rock floor." Ideally the first sentence draws you into the story and piques your interest for what comes next. Instead, it set me to wondering about sentence structure, misplaced modifiers, rules of grammar, etc. Obviously that sentence means his head hit the floor, but doesn't it actually say that the light beam hit the floor? Perhaps both hit the floor. How could he have said it more clearly, I wondered. By that time, my interest in the story had waned; I didn't relish having to parse every sentence to figure out what the author was trying to say.But the descriptions of the book that had caused me to request it through the Library Thing Early Reviewers program drew me back to the story. As I read I put a post-it note on each spot where something was amiss with the writing -- poor sentence construction, misplaced modifiers, illogical sequences, use of the wrong word, etc. After 5 or 6 chapters I was hooked on the story and stopped marking the speed bumps, but they still jarred me. Toyne did an excellent job of building a story, a cast of characters, and a mystery surrounding an ancient secret. His work deserves better editing!

The Citadel in Ruin, Turkey, has stood as a religious focus for centuries. It is tied to the Catholic Church, but The Citadel predates it significantly, and guards a mysterious "sacrament." Naturally, the monks want to keep it secret by any means necessary and there is an opposing group who wants it revealed. Comparisons to "The Da Vinci Code" are probably inevitable here, but despite the religious aspect, the books are quite different. For me, TDC succeeded more because it was an adventure mystery (follow the clues to the big reveal) with action and investigation. Sanctus has one underlying "mystery," takes place almost solely in Ruin, and there really is no investigation - just a lot of exposition. There was a lot of unnecessary description which didn't further the plot because the plot was so weak. Hence the 3 star rating.I can't deny that the hook totally worked, though. I kept reading just so I could learn what the "sacrament" was and why they would kill to protect it. And it was a very cool idea that could have earned the book 4/5 stars just on originality and cleverness alone. However, once the secret is revealed the book pretty much ends. There is no fall-out or consequence to the great reveal. In fact, it's not even clear that the secret was revealed to anyone but the reader. I felt a little cheated. This book had a lot of potential, and while it kept me reading, it never reached that potential. Still, it was a good effort for a debut novel. A shame the publisher/editor didn't help the author do more with it. Would I recommend this? Sure. It was, as another reviewer pointed out, a good beach read.

What worked for me:The Gripping opening - was immediately pulled into storyPremise/High ConceptSamuel - great characterShort Chapters - like a bag of potato chips...just want to keep reading/eatingFabulous writing skills - action words, fast-moving description, well-writtenWhat Did not work for me:Middle of book was saggySkimmed over last 1/3 of book - Just wanted the book to be overToo long - could have benefitted from some plot tighteningA few darlings needed to be killedAuthor did not deliver on what I felt was promised to the reader at the beginningDeus Ex Machina Ending - Resolutions came from outside the protagonist, not any character change in LivLingering plot threadsEnding was more fantasy/supernatural than I expectedHorribly disappointed by the ending - felt like the author took the "easy way out" by using supernatural elements to "explain everything"A few too many characters for me to keep track of - could not connect with any of them on a deeper level - felt superficialClimax of the book was too predictable for me - no real twists - just weirdRepetitive information - rehashing the same info

A breezy thriller with a neat twist at the end. Otherwise, pure airplane tosh.

I'm not quite sure what to say about this one. It was a decent read and at times a page turner. I do not believe it was a great book or particularly well written. But, it wasn't bad either. For me personally, there was just too much "fiction". A fictitious city, Citadel, religion and the like. I tend to prefer thrillers/conspiracy theory that at least have some kernals tied to actual history or to me they become fantasy reads. Just my opinion. Again, not a bad read and I might try book two of the apparent thrilogy. Thanks LTBob in Chicago

Fast paced thriller about spiritual beliefs. The story includes suicide, murder and kidnapping. Liv Adamsen is a reporter who is called when it is discovered that her brother, a monk at a Citadel in Ruin has committed Suicide. She travels across the world to find out why he did and that is when the adventure begins. Can't until the other books in the trilogy are out.

This debut novel was an absolute page-turner of a thriller. The investigation into religion-fueled conspiracies leads, naturally, to comparisons with Dan Brown, but the plot of Sanctus reads as much more original and fresh.There were some hitches with the writing and editing. Some of the descriptions in the novel seemed either unnecessary for the genre or sounded off, and there was some telegraphing of plot elements that would have made the reveal pop more had they been withheld longer. However, the book is definitely worth reading if you are a fan of thrillers that balance action with intrigue. I look forward to reading the next installment in this trilogy.

Although it took me a little bit to get into the book (from being distracted by other things, not because of the book itself), I read through this in two days, mesmerized by the fervor with which Toyne writes. An original and intriguing storyline, I loved how the book follows the POV of multiple characters. I also loved how short the chapters were--it always makes you feel more productive when reading! The only fault I could find with this book is that as much suspense as was handed out throughout 3/4 of the story, I expected the ending to be a bigger bang. What I mean by that is...I liked the end of the suspense, and I liked the "Sacrament," but I didn't like how this ending gave us the idea there's to be more books following this. I would have liked the book more if it had just been a book by itself.

In this electrifying, nonstop adventure, a young newspaper reporter, driven by the memory of her lost brother, uncovers a dark secret nurtured for 3,000 years by blood and lies by adherents of an ancient, unknown religion in a Vatican-like citadel hidden away for millennia from unwelcomed prying eyes. I read all of three books in sequence and thoroughly enjoyed the whole trilogy in fact I would suggest it is one of the best stories I have ever read.

The one true cross will appear on earthAll will see it in a single moment- all will wonderThe Cross will riseThe Cross will fallTo unlock the Sacrament And bring forth a new ageThrough it's merciful death The meaning of these words, and the rest of the prophecy has been sought for a very long time. I admitto being a fan of religious thrillers. This first in a series fills the bill. Non stop action and underlying mysteriesmade this a very enjoyable read. There are many twist and turns and many threats that need to come together in this enjoyable read. We find one of the main characters honoring the memory of her brother who has been missing for eight years. Liv Adamson is a journalist and a botany enthusiast. She lives alone with her plants and her personal demons. Kathryn Mann runs Ortus, an ancient organization that helps to fund charities the world over. Kathryn though, has a background that she keeps to herself. Oscar de la Cruz is her elderly father who is the quiet keeper of much knowledge and many secrets. Gabriel Mann is Kathryn's son and has a few secrets of his own. Together, they have been watching and waiting for the prophecy to come to fruition, wondering if it would happen in their lifetimes. The dark and mysterious Citadel, home of The Sancti, has been looming over Ruin as long as anyone can remember. There are many stories of what it is and what happens there, including that it is the hiding place of the cross of Christ, or perhaps the Holy Grail. No one knows what happens within the Citadels walls. The monks who live there make sure of that. No one ever leaves there, once they themselves have learned what the Citadel holds. All of the monks know that, and feel that it is a small price to pay to serve God. All of these dark and ancient secrets and technology too? Why yes! This story would never had come together without some useful and in some cases fascinating technology. Even within the walls of the Citadel we find that the monks themselves count heavily on technology to keep their own secrets, most of it thanks to the knowledge of one of their own, who chose to leave the world behind. And then there is Brother Samuel. He has seen the Sacrament. For better or for worse, he has seen it and made a choice with far reaching consequences

If you aren't of a mind to suspend disbelief as you trot through this religious thriller, don't start!
Having done so, I found some irritants, well covered by other reviewers, but enjoyed it well enough as a ripping yarn. The ending was not particularly well done, in part because of the need to make us buy parts 2 and 3, I think! It worked well enough that I will read on, however, if only from a vague dissatisfaction with the ending so far.

The plot is very similar to the Dan Brown's books. It is fast-paced and gripping and is also set into religious fiction thriller. It's a pity that the characters don't have rough edges, but rather are fictional personalities. I prefer more those characters, which one could meet in the flesh with tics and a own life next to the story, just someone I could identify with.

I can't resist a religious conspiracy. This one is better than most. It took me a while to get used to the change of perspective that is used in the book but it really moves the book along and I really enjoyed it after I got used to it. It had been a while since I had read a book structured like this one. There is plenty of action but the characters are still developed really well. I won't go into the plot because I don't want to give anything away, but it is fascinating.

Dan Brown this is not. However, I thoroughly enjoyed this read and as a thriller it certainly had me holding on to the edge of my seat or rather bathtub. I think the lack of progressive clues, during the middle, really stood out for me, and was a downside but the constant action, spurred me onto the finish.

I really could not anticipate the ending which was fantastic, as was the setting. I will no doubt buy the rest.