Raymond Khoury’s The Sanctuary was intriguing to say the least. The idea that the aging process can be cured like any common disease is interesting. In The Sanctuary, Raymond hypothesizes that cellular degeneration (aging) is caused by external forces, such as free radicals and wear and tear. In essence, if he could find a way to stop that from happening, humans would be virtually immortal.
The plot is very well done and the characters are interesting, although quite predictable. I think Raymond tries to have the same writing style as Dan Brown, but IMHO he doesn’t do as good a job as Dan.
The worst thing about The Sanctuary is that it takes a long, long time to get to the point. There’s an excessive amount of chase scenes and gunfights, which kind of messed me up a bit. I don’t mind a little violence, but when a man can shoot more than 6, I find that a bit ridiculous. When they can get past that many people more than once, it becomes even more ridiculous.
When I started reading the book, I thought it was going to be just another book about the pursuit of a mysterious relic of unusual divine power. While in a sense, that’s what this book is about, it goes deeper than that.
If you like historical fiction packed with car chases, diabolical villains, shootouts, and action, then you could do worse than buy The Sanctuary.
My comprehensive rating for The Sanctuary
Plot-4/5
Writing Style-3/5
Characters-3/5
Overall, I would personally give it three and a half stars out of five. Raymond Khoury is certainly here to stay, and by reading this book, I can see why.
