Book excerpt: Four men of the Knights Templar gather in secret at Avignon in 1314. The leader, Jacques De Molay, knows he faces certain death when he is denounced by Louis IV and seeks to guard the secrets of the Knights Templar. They agree that Guy Du Busson should flee to Scotland, carrying with him the heir to the Jesus blood line; Charles De Chevalier should carry the Holy Grail to Newfoundland; and Francois Marriott should seek protection in Switzerland. Guy Du Busson finds a new life in Scotland and, using his skills as a soldier, fights the English at Bannockburn with Robert the Bruce. Charles de Chevalier finds Newfoundland, hides the Holy Grail in a complex and booby-trapped shaft over which they hold guard, and joins the Beothucks Indian tribe. Francois Marriott seeks shelter in Switzerland and founds the first bank; he also helps Leopold defeat the Hapsburgs and converts to the Jewish faith. The three men and their followers form The Sect, a secret organization that protects the true origins of Christianity. Seven hundred years later, a young girl named Mary is ritually raped and disappears. The wife and daughter of police sergeant Sam Brooker are killed, and Sam seeks the help of his past commander in the Special Air Services, David York. As Sam and David try to unravel the secrets of The Sect, they discover they are being hunted by The Sect's assassin, Crusader-a deadly killer. David seeks help from his father, John McCallister, a professor of theology, and his ex bosses from MI6. He discovers that another organization, called The Cult, is also seeking their death. Vivian Goldsmith, the daughter of the financier Roland Goldsmith, becomes involved with David, and he finds his emotions tested like never before as the circumstances throw the pair together in an epic adventure.