James Becker

Very average (NOT "explosive" ) novella relating search by police and poorly defined Russian organized crime and Italian hired thug criminals.

The story was exciting, but for me, it was a little too "cookie-cutter". I will however be reading the second book of this series, but not right away.

Cathars, Albigensian Crusade.

A reasonably competent if predictable romp in the "Da Vinci Code genre". Far from the best I've read but certainly not the worst. The characters are a little wooden (especially the bad guys) and we're treated to fairly clunky expositions more than once.

A fairly decent romp in the "Da Vinci Code genre". Not the best I've ever read, but far from the worst. The story is somewhat predictable if you're familiar with this sort of story, but still enjoyable and plays out well.

Just once, I'd like to read a book of this type where the ancient secret/treasure actually survives the story to become known to the world. Sadly, not this time.