Temple

Format:	Paperback 784 pages

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Synopsis

Deep in the jungles of Peru the contest of the century is underway. It's a race to locate a legendary Incan idol - one carved out of a strange kind of stone. But a stone which in the present century could be used for a terrifying new purpose. Now rival groups are assembling their teams to hunt the idol down, at any cost. The only clue to the idol's final resting place is to be found in a 400-year-old manuscript. Which introduces Professor William Race, a mild-mannered but brilliant young linguist who is unwillingly recruited to interpret the document that could lead to the idol itself. So begins the mission that will lead Race and his companions to a mysterious temple hidden in the foothills of the Andes. There they find a carefully contrived sanctuary seething with menace and unexpected dangers. But it is not until the silence of the temple is breached that Race and his team discover they have broken a golden rule ...Some doors are meant to remain unopened.

Book details

Published
21/12/2000

Publisher
Pan Books

ISBN
9780330482486

Publisher and industry reviews

UK Kirkus review

Reilly's self-published first novel, Contest, is due to be made into a Hollywood blockbuster film. His second novel was the best-selling thriller, Ice Station. If you imagine Die Hard meets Indiana Jones via James Bond with the stakes raised and tons more advanced, sophisticated technology and weaponry, you'll have some idea of his racing, high-energy style. Temple is an adventure story that careers along the same erratic lines. William Race, meek mannered professor of Ancient Languages at New York University is by the US government sent to Peru to decipher an ancient manuscript that holds clues to the whereabouts of an ancient idol that is made of unprecedented mass destruction. From this opening it's all go. Others, including a few with evil intentions, have interest in finding the thyrium. On his quest to save the planet and prove his manhood Race encounters mad resurgent Nazis, power-crazed Americans, a lost tribe, crocodiles, and some, supposedly mythical, panther-like giant cats. Added to this are the hostile laws of the jungle, and more than one enemy within. Though at times testing the reader's suspension of disbelief, Reilly manages to balance the action with a faint love story and the heroic tale within the ancient manuscript that unfolds as Race deciphers it. Written in an immediate, uncluttered style, for those who enjoy a fantastic adventure, this is elaborately plotted, escapist, madcap fun. (Kirkus UK)