Harriet Klausner's Review Archive
In 1209, seventeen years old Alais suffers from a bad nightmare that frightens her. She leaves her spouse sleeping to visit her father Bertrand Pelletier, Intendent to Viscount Trencavel. He gives her a stone ring and a sacred tome that references the true grail much older than the Christian myth for her to keep safe; he joins the fight against the Crusaders sent by Pope Innocent III and French King Phillip to eradicate the Albigensian Heresy. With her foes in pursuit, Alais hides in a cave in the Sabarthes Mountains.
In 2005, some see the discovery as a means to gain global power and will kill anyone including Alice who stands in their way of achieving supremacy. Others fear what the discovery will do to Christianity and will kill anyone including Alice who stands in their way of preventing the revealing of the secret of the cave. Alice wants her friends safe while honoring her pledge she made to Alais in the cave.
LABYRINTH is an exhilarating conspiracy thriller that smoothly rotates between the two eras. Each subplot contains a courageous female in trouble and powerful adversaries who want to prevent secrets from being revealed. The action-packed story line grips readers from the moment the cave calls to Alice and never slows down as the audience wonders what will happen to her and to Alais. Though somewhat out of the Brownian Christian conspiratorial thriller, perhaps it’s as simple as having female lead protagonists or the depth into French medieval history, but Kate Mosse provides a fresh take.