Sanctus - (Sanctus Trilogy) Large Print by Simon Toyne (Paperback)

About the Book

"If a thriller has to be one thing it's thrilling, and Simon Toyne's Sanctus is thrilling with bells on....A roller coaster ride through a dark world of conspiracy and betrayal."--Paul Christopher, author of The Templar Conspiracy

If you are a fan of top-notch conspiracy fiction that keeps you up late nights turning pages--if the bestselling novels of Steve Berry, James Rollins, Dan Brown, Raymond Khoury, and Chris Kuzneski make your heart race faster--then remember the name Simon Toyne! Already a smash instant bestseller in the United Kingdom ("Intriguing and engaging...[with a] relentless pace" The Sun) Toyne's Sanctus is, quite simply, one of the most extraordinary conspiracy thriller debuts in many years. 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.

Book Synopsis

"If a thriller has to be one thing it's thrilling, and Simon Toyne's Sanctus is thrilling with bells on....A roller coaster ride through a dark world of conspiracy and betrayal."
--Paul Christopher, author of The Templar Conspiracy

If you are a fan of top-notch conspiracy fiction that keeps you up late nights turning pages--if the bestselling novels of Steve Berry, James Rollins, Dan Brown, Raymond Khoury, and Chris Kuzneski make your heart race faster--then remember the name Simon Toyne! Already a smash instant bestseller in the United Kingdom ("Intriguing and engaging...[with a] relentless pace" The Sun) Toyne's Sanctus is, quite simply, one of the most extraordinary conspiracy thriller debuts in many years. 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.

From the Back Cover

A man climbs to the summit of the oldest inhabited place on earth, a mountain called the Citadel, a Vatican-like state that towers above the city of Ruin in Turkey. But this is no ordinary ascent. It is a symbolic act--and one that is witnessed by the world.

Few understand its consequence. But for Kathryn Mann, it's evidence that a revolution is coming. For the Sancti, the secretive monks who live inside the Citadel, it could mean the end of everything they have built. They will stop at nothing to keep what is theirs--even kill if they have to. For reporter Liv Adamsen, it spurs the memory of the brother she lost, setting her on a journey across the world and into the heart of her own identity.

There, she will make a discovery so shocking it will change everything . . .

Review Quotes

"[A] cool, confident debut. A talented new writer who instinctively grasps the broad rules of superior action thrillers and adapts them with pace, grace, humour and a keen eye for cinematic effect." - Daily Telegraph (London)
"A huge, bold thriller, Sanctus is a bloody, twistedly perverse story about a battle against a secretive group of heretical, conspiring monks . . . . the most engaging writing I've read in months." - San Jose Mercury News
"Hard to think of it as a debut, better to think of it as the beginning of a massive new adventure, and a so-long to Dan Brown. . . ." - The Daily Mirror (UK)
"This is a big, bold thriller, so big that it needs to create its own mythology . . . Elegantly written and imaginatively plotted, with a smart heroine and an appropriately evil villain, this is a must-read for fans of high-concept thrillers involving grand conspiracies." - Booklist (starred review)
"In British author Toyne's stellar first in a projected trilogy, a thriller in the Dan Brown tradition . . . The truly mind-boggling revelation will leave astounded readers eager for the next installment." - Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Sanctus
"Remarkable . . . Its 'just one more page, one more chapter' urgency keeps you reading into the night, and the final revelation of the Citadel's secret is haunting." - Library Journal (starred review) on Sanctus
"When you read Sanctus, you'll see just how frightening, ruthless and relentlessly entertaining an order of monks can be. Haunting in the best way." - Brad Meltzer, New York Times bestselling author of The Inner Circle
"[Sanctus] might turn out to be the next great cliffhanger conspiracy thriller." - Fort Worth Star-Telegram
"A wickedly clever call to adventure from beyond the grave. A bloody confrontation against a heretical Church in a fallen, alternate universe. A tale as theologically twisted and perverse as the snake in the Garden of Eden. Lies, lies and more lies. In other words, damn good fiction." - Thomas Greanias, author of The 34th Degree
"Remarkable . . . intrigue befitting an action thriller . . . . Toyne has written a well-developed, exciting debut, the first volume of a projected trilogy, that doesn't tip off the ending midnovel like so many of its kind. Its 'just one more page, one more chapter' urgency keeps you reading into the night, and the final revelation of the Citadel's secret is haunting." - Library Journal (starred review)
"This is a big, bold thriller, so big that it needs to create its own mythology . . . But at the heart of the book is the story of a woman risking everything, including her own life, to find out what happened to a man who disappeared from her life eight years ago, and who now lies dead on a coroner's table. Elegantly written and imaginatively plotted, with a smart heroine and an appropriately evil villain, this is a must-read for fans of high-concept thrillers involving grand conspiracies. Yes, it will appeal to Da Vinci Code fans, but the prose is much more textured." - Booklist (starred review) on SANCTUS
"In British author Toyne's stellar first in a projected trilogy, a thriller in the Dan Brown tradition, an ancient sect of monks . . . have been protecting a secret, "the Sacrament," since before the Christian era . . . . The truly mind-boggling revelation will leave astounded readers eager for the next installment." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)