At the start of Martin and Carranza's Da Vinci Code
knockoff, members of a secret group known as the Corbel, who worship “the Dark One,” orchestrate Spanish architect Antonio Gaudí's apparently accidental death in 1926. Their purpose, carried out over centuries, is to destroy the Knights of the Moriah, who guard the greatest secret in Christianity. In 2006, 92-year-old Juan Givell, the last grand master of the Moriah, must pass his knowledge on to his attractive 26-year-old granddaughter, who will then, along with her mathematician boyfriend, take up Givell's mission to finish “the Great Work.” Far too often in a plot involving an ancient relic, the Templars, the Vatican, riddles, secret diaries, torture and many brutal murders, the action grinds to a halt as someone stops to deliver a lecture on a historical fact or theory. Ardent fans of Gaudí's work will best appreciate this erratic enterprise. (Aug.)
