The Brotherhood Of The Holy Shroud (2007) - Plot & Excerpts
Yet another Spanish romp is Julia Navarro's The Brotherhood of the Holy Shroud. Just when you thought you were safe from the Knights Templar, here they return, as heroic in fiction as they have been derided in history. This is yet another silly historical-thriller-joining-the-Dan-Brown-wagon. If it's not Dante whose books provide clues to modern crimes, it's the bloody Templars and their rituals. Surely there's enough history in Europe without having to dream up a fresh conspiracy? Arturo Perez-Reverte did very well in the genre (see his The Flanders Panel, e.g.) but his successors are unimaginative. This book is particularly bad. The Shroud of Turin, widely accepted to be a medieval fraud, still commands considerable reverence among Catholics. What is its history? Well, you won't learn it from this novel. Instead, Navarro posits yet another secret organisation: based in Edessa (modern-day Urfa), the first Christian city, and trying desperately to get the shroud back. A bunch of Templars are holding them off. What! you cry. Templars? Surely they died off after Philip the Fair butchered them in the 1300s? Oh no. They continued to lead clandestine but powerful lives in Scotland from where they guided mankind's history in the ensuing centuries. The story? When a part of the Turin cathedral is set ablaze and men with no fingerprints or tongues are found lying dead in the rubble, the Arts Crime department of the Italian police is called to investigate. Among the investigators is your usual brilliant and insanely beautiful woman (who, of course, doesn't realise either her brilliance or her beauty). She is shacked up with a plodding cop in her group, much to everyone's surprise. She traces the history of the Shroud, meets sundry people who may or may not be Templars, is particularly struck by the presence and charisma of one of them, and decides that the plodding cop is not good enough for her anymore. It says much for a historical novel when the most interesting in its story is really the most inconsequential portion.There is a conspiracy as ridiculous as you'd like, and despite the heroics of the Edessans, they are clearly bumbling idiots who can locate their noses with less facility than they can recover the Shroud. Bad juju, I say.
No es lo mismo leer la novela en su año de publicación (2004), siendo uno de los primeros best seller del subgénero, que leerla ahora cuando ya estamos cansados de tener los mismos argumentos una novela tras otra. En su día, se suponía que era una novela fresca, innovadora y atractiva, rasgos que dan más bien la “historia” de la Sabana Santa y las sociedades secretas. Fuera de esta parte, la manera de escribirla es un tanto sencilla, casi vulgar, sin definir los personajes, sin sorpresas ni giros argumentales o su trama policial un tanto absurda.Según vas pasando las páginas los personajes se van diluyendo, quedando aún más impersonales, intentando ensalzar y alabar la inteligencia de las féminas de la novela de una forma un poco pobre, trata a ideas normales y lógicas como algo magnífico y único, creo que lo hace de la forma más fácil posible sin ninguna clase de profundización y elegancia. Su narración a partir de la mitad de la novela se centra más en la historia antigua de la Sabana Santa, teniendo que acelerar la acción en el presente de una forma muy precipitada, anteriormente lo que antes iba lentamente se transforma en una necesidad de la autora de terminar cuanto antes el libro. Lo único que se puede alabar de su lectura es que sabe muy bien dirigir la atención a los aficionados al género, centrándose en los elementos místicos de los Templarios y de otro tipo de sociedades, eso sí, olvidándose del resto de características que hacen un buen libro.
What do You think about The Brotherhood Of The Holy Shroud (2007)?
Why hadn't I heard of this author before? I absolutly loved this book, I was hooked right from the beginning. I loved the way the author intertwined the story with an old religious sect and the Templar's. I admit it took me while to get used to the jumping back and forth between the past and present, but after a while it just seemed natural. The characters were amazing. They all felt so real, hard to explain, I found their reactions to whichever obstacle that was thrown at them to be believable. I don't remember feeling as if certain things were out of character, their emotions or their reactions, especially during the historical part of the book. I felt for certain characters like Mendib, Ana and Sofia. Knowing that their safety was at risk, and also hoping for the best. Couldn't stand Addaio, but I understand the difficult decisions that he had to make, although I thought he made the wrong ones.The ending was a complete surprise! Didn't see it coming. But I liked it, I can understand why the author to leave the secrets underground. Except for one person...but I won't get into that...4.5/5
—Leya
Junto con La sangre de los inocentes este es el segundo libro que leo de Julia Navarro, el primero me gustó muchísimo, aunque este no tanto. Me ha parecido un poco lento, con unas cuantas páginas que le sobran, que hay veces que se alarga de manera innecesaria, y que cuando parece que avanza la historia te frenan en seco por los continuos cambios de época, la verdad esperaba algo más. Aunque también hay que resaltar lo bueno de este libro, como son la documentación y las fechas y hechos históricos y como a partir de ahí se ha sacado esta historia, y el final que la verdad me ha gustado, la verdad no me esperaba un desenlace como este, aunque la verdad también se te queda alguna que otra duda en el aire.
—Juan Nieto Cano
An airplane novel in the style of the DaVinci Code. Why do "accidents" seem to surround the cathedral that houses the Shroud of Turin? Sofia, Marco, and the other members of the Art Crimes department are on the case! The modern-day mystery is interspersed with the origin story of the shroud. From a disciple removing it from Jesus' tomb, to a leprosy-stricken king cured by its touch, and so on... I found the historical part much more interesting than the thriller intrigue. Especially the origins of the Brotherhood of the Shroud. The mystery was okay. Except that there's no big reveal at the end, since the reader knows all along that some mysterious Order is behind the "accidents".And the ending?***SPOILER ALERT***Ana's death seemed like a waste. First off, she's with a man who's dying and she's forcing him to reveal the history of the shroud to her? She doesn't try escaping first? She calls Sofia, but doesn't scream for help, and instead records the priest's confession? That's really her priority? How does she know there's no chance for rescue - at least try! I don't think any human being would react that way. And I feel cheated with the shroud. Yeah, when they wrapped the shroud in another cloth, which then had the image of Jesus imprinted on it - got it. We've been looking at the 2nd cloth the whole time, and that's why carbon dating says 14th century. Obviously. But none of our modern-day characters ever see the real cloth? Or find out its location? Or find out if it still cures the sick?!?!!? It's fiction - let's see something mystical happen!
—Kristen Schrader (Wenke)
