Date first published	1976
ISBN Number	0 586 04651 8
Page Count	382 p/b
h/b= hardback : p/b= paperback

Storyline

Pre war Europe. With the rise of the Fascist state, a small group of Monks entrust a sacred vault to the safe keeping of the Fontini-Cristi. With the vault handed over to Fontini the monk responsible for the exchange kills himself.

The Fontini-Christi family meanwhile have incurred the wrath of Berlin, and a German death squad is sent to make an example of the whole family. The family is duly slaughtered, but the eldest son escapes, and vows revenge.

The British hearing of the transfer of the vault help Vittorio escape the Germans, and he embarks on a new life as a spy in Britain. However he is given every chance to seek the vault, as the British cannot believe that he has no knowledge. After several attempts on his life the British and the Order of Xenope accept that he has no knowledge, but the matter is not forgotten.

Move forward to the 1973, and matters are reawakens as the fanatics are released from prison to resume there search for the vault. Vittorio now an old and broken man realises that the threat will never end and so entrusts his sons to find the vault hidden by his father. It will be a search that claims the life of one of his sons.

Review

This is a typical Ludlum, hidden enemy tracking an elusive prize that is held (or not in this case) by the hero of the story. Unlike some of Ludlums other books the prize is not a vast cache of money, but knowledge. The book is in many ways the Da Vinci Code of its day. Whilst the Code is about the continued bloodline of Jesus of Nazareth. This story and the hidden knowledge based on a confession taken out of the prison where Jesus was held claims that Jesus was smuggled from the jail, and some one crucified in his place. Unlike the code Ludlum makes no claims, and it is all pure fiction.

The story is really about the recovery of the vault, with no-one believing that Vittorio does not know where it is hidden. However the Order of Xenope, could not have anticipated Savarone being executed before the knowledge was shared.

This is an interesting point, was Savarone killed because of the vault or simply because of his position as leading light against Mussolini? Personally I think he was killed because he opposed Mussolini. If the Germans knew of the vault they would have taken an active part in the search. There involvement however seems to end with the massacre. I know in the book Savarone speculates that they have wind of the vault as the raid happens, but I think the Germans if interested would have killed the family but held Savarone for questioning, or used the family as hostages to get the info.

The final chapter in the saga, is the handing over of the mission to recover the vault to the two sons. Both have become successful in their own right but Andrew is a deeply flawed character, who sees the only way forward is to have power. Adrian is a more liberal lawyer determined in his own way to stop injustice, and the two have a final confrontation from which only one will walk away.

I have to say I enjoyed the read. It is a story of power and corruption, and of fanaticism. The Order of Xenope, the Catholic Church, and British Intelligence all want the vault and will stop at nothing to get it. The story is written in a plain forward style, unlike some of Ludlums later works. Reading his earlier books you realise just how bad some of the later books get. It will be interesting to see where the quality drops.

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