NESFA Members' Reviews

The Apocalypse Door

by James D. Macdonald

Tor, 2002, ISBN 0-312-86988-6

A book review by Elisabeth Carey.

Peter Crossman is a Templar, a Knight of the Inner Temple, defending modern America against ancient evil. You thought the Templars were wiped out by Philip the Fair in the fourteenth century? No, they just went underground, and continued the good work. They now mainly handle threats to world safety of a kind that more mundane intelligence agencies can't touch. On a routine mission to find some kidnapped UN peacekeepers, a mission he expects to be mainly a training exercise for a new Temple recruit, Crossman finds himself in the middle of major trouble: the Order's old enemies the Teutonic Knights, an ancient demonic artifact, an unloved figure out of his own past as a more mundane sort of secret agent, and Sister Mary Magdalene, of the Special Action Executive Branch of the Poor Clares. (That Maggie's actually on his side doesn't make Peter Crossman feel much better about her involvement.) This is a fairly light spy romp, but with the time and care taken to get right all the Catholic background that's so important to the plot and the characters. It appears that this is the start of a series, and I look forward to seeing more of both Peter and Maggie.

Recommended.


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