The Key

May 28, 2012
The middle volume of Toyne’s Sanctus trilogy (after 2011’s Sanctus) fails to deliver on the promise of the first. In the ancient Turkish city of Ruin, hostility to Catholicism has prompted someone to set off explosives at the Citadel, “the oldest continually inhabited structure on earth and the original center of the Catholic Church,” and the resulting damage has led to the first ever appearance in public of any of the Citadel’s occupants. Speculation runs rampant that the survivors of the bombing possess the real secret of the sacrament, another church-foundation-rattling possibility that, unfortunately for the Vatican, coincides with another, more mundane crisis. Cardinal Secretary of State Clementi has learned that trillions of dollars have disappeared from the church’s coffers and hangs his hope for a solution on the secrets of Ruin. Readers should be prepared for less than engaging protagonists and trite setups (e.g., one character avoids being murdered by pure chance). Agent: Alice Saunders, LAW Agency.

Liv Adamsen and Gabriel Mann race to find the key to a plague at the Citadel, in the ancient city of Ruin. Simon Vance's smoky voice captures the tension and mystery in a thriller featuring a religious conspiracy. His tense narration moves the story along as Mann and Adamsen seek to evade Òthe Ghost,Ó a mercenary at work in the Syrian desert, and restore order to the world. The duo must find the answer in a cuneiform tablet before it's too late. Vance's flawless performance pulls listeners into this mystery as it twists and turns through secret places across the planet. The complex events in this volume have a lot of backstory, so listeners are advised to start with Volume I. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine