NOVEL
Title: The Hidden Keystone
Author: Nathan Burrage
Publisher: IFWG, 2023
The first book of the Salt Lines duology, in which history gets an occult makeover. Set in two timelines, the story imagines a hidden purpose to both the fall of Jerusalem in 1099 and the French destruction of the Templars in 1307. There’s a large cast (blessed be the character list), taking in the two sides competing for an artefact of Biblical proportions, with would-be ruler of Jerusalem Godefroi and newly minted Templar Bertrand at the forefront. Burrage, not unused to this terrain, finds contrast in the heat of the Holy Land and foggy, rainy France, the intersection of the two storylines no doubt to be made in book 2, due out in 2024. Bertrand and his trusty bodyguard make for an engaging duo, being dropped into the conspiracy as they are pursued across France, while driven Godefroi takes the role of hunter in the desert. The supernatural slips easily into the well-drawn historical elements, making this an entertaining read.
NOTE: I’ll have the pleasure of helping Nathan launch The Hidden Keystone at Conflux in Canberra on Sunday 1 October 2023.
