New Thriller Series

 

In the movie National Treasure with Nicolas Cage, he is searching for the treasure of the knights templar. They were an order of knights that became fabulously wealthy in the middle ages. Considered the fathers of the modern banking system, they owned Cyprus and a large fleet of ships.

 Have you ever wondered why Friday the 13th is considered bad luck? It is because on October 13, 1307, the king of France decided it was easier to slaughter the Templar than to repay the funds he had barrowed. But he did not arrest, torture and murder them all. Many escaped, and their fleet of ships vanished overnight, with, many believe, a great treasure.

 What I find fascinating is that the original five members of the Templar went looking for something beneath Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. One of the founders of the order was a Jewish French nobleman able to trace his linage back to King David. And, since Solomon, the richest man in the world at the time, was King David's son, if there was a secret in the family, about buried wealth, maybe his ancestors knew about it.

Only that could explain why the Templar asked to be housed at Solomon's Temple, and why they immediately began tunneling beneath the ruins. They were searching for that treasure, that valuable family secret. And nine years later they found it.

 They quickly traveled to the Pope, and became immensely wealthy. So the question becomes: What did they find under Solomon's Temple, and why did the pope pay dearly for it?

 That is where my Templar Map series takes off. I propose that what the Pope bought was a map to Solomon's mines. Adventures have searched for the mines for centuries. What would happen, I ask, if that map had been smuggled out of the Vatican archives, and disappeared for ages, until one day it is discovered by a young widow in LA?

 Israel would demand its return, and of course would dispatch a squad of commandos to get their valuable property.

 The Vatican too would send a team of soldiers (did you know that the Vatican actually has highly trained special forces working to protect the Vatican?) to get their property at any cost.

 The widow is assaulted, threatened, and robbed in broad daylight on a busy street. Even the FBI Art Theft Unit gets in on the action and demands the widow turn over the map.

 Enter Jason Dalton. He is a tough private investigator who is hiding out. Years back, when he was in charge of an Army Ranger kill squad that was taking out cartel leaders for Uncle Sam, their network got hacked and the cartels butchered one of his team. To protect his family, the army arranged his death and supplied a new identity. Now he takes small insurance cases as he waits for the cartel to come for his wife.

 However, when Sophie Devonshire, the widow, walks into his office, the sound of her Italian kitten heels clicking on the marble floor and a neckline low enough to be intriguing, Dalton can't help but notice her tight dress and the distorted checkerboard pattern of her blouse. But what really caught his attention was the thick envelope of crip hundred dollar bills.

 Dalton knew the case could be a trap, a way of luring him into the open, but he realized he was tired of playing dead, and this woman needed his help.

 That is where the series begins. And it ends with the third book, Wolf Hunt that ties up all the plot threads.