An urban fantasy about a group of Knights Templar whose organization exists in contemporary times and that is tasked to defend holy relics and fight evil on earth. The book has two central characters with mystic powers, the "heretic" knight Cade, whose encounter with the Adversary years ago left him with a variety of powers, including a form of second sight, psychometry, and the ability to pass into another realm; and a more toe-the-line knight Duncan, who is repressing his ability as a faith healer because he fears his power may not have come from God. I like the general idea — Knights Templar are always fun to read about — but I was disappointed in their opponent, the Council of Nine. If heroes are measured by the quality of their opponent, the Knights Templar suffered from this rather lackluster group of villains. So Jena, my partner in crime over at Pure Textuality, has been on me to read Joseph Nassise for like … ever. (I don’t remember when, so I’m going with forever) but I never got around to it.Now I feel like a total jerk.What I liked:Mr. Nassise writes a pretty story. Well, okay, the story itself is actually gritty and involves a fair amount of insides that are now on the outside … but the actual structure of the story is so damn pretty. The way he used specific words to build a story is just an art form. Witness his use of horrendous:“He glimpsed an indistinct shape of horrendous proportions in its depths, then the bars of the gate were peeled apart to create an opening large enough for a man.”But enough fangirling over the English language and Mr. Nassise’s use of it.The story is fast paced and chilling. Like, I'm not sure if I'll be able to sleep tonight chilling. Which works out, since I stayed up WAY too late finishing the story ... So I guess all's well that ends well?What I didn’t like:It took me awhile to get into the book. Not that it was bad, or slow, or anything … I’m pretty sure it was just one of those things where having the attention span of a squirrel on meth works against me. But I just wanted to warn you. In case you’re a squirrel on meth.Hey, I’m not here to judge, man.Also, there was a thing with a dog that I did not enjoy …Who I would recommend it to:Anyone who enjoys UF. Seriously, anyone. It’s really well written. Okay, you should probably enjoy UF on the darker side of things, but still ...
What do You think about The Heretic (2010)?
Dull, rudimentary & felt as if it was written for Rambo/Special Forces fan...Should be a "YA" read.
—heather
Brain candy. Super simple with quite a few themes I'm enjoying. I'll read the next one.
—ashleylobdell
I'm not a supernatural military novel guy, but this was ok.
—16mpeterso
Reminds me of Angels & Demons, with more demons. (:
—Yanger
