The Books

About the books

These books are all about an ordinary man who has an extraordinary job and a restless curiosity about the world. 

The peculiar skills that he picked up through his long career as a crisis manager are the foundation of his ability to research historical mysteries and his lack of formal training in history is as much an advantage is it is a hurdle. 

The first book shows how he became involved in the living world of history and each builds on discoveries he has made.

Every book can be read on its own, but if you follow the full path you can see how Sparke, and his companion Tilly learn to work together and how he changes.

In the shadow of Sparke's modern life we see a small group of Tenplars, led by the Mason as they prepare for the inevitable crisis that comes with the loss of the Order's possessions in the Crusader states.

Sparke understands organizations and he has world class experience in planning for, and managing disasters. It is this combination that drives him in his determination to uncover the final plans of the Templars as hey face enemies at home and abroad. 

The Templar Vault (book 1)

This is the first Peter Sparke book and the first time we meet Professor Matilda (Tilly) Pink.
Sparke lives in a modern business world where he works as a crisis manager specialising in the oil and gas industry. His personal life is not what you would call full and colorful, in fact some book reviewers have termed him "a workaholic". A casual interest in the end days of the Knights Templar leads him to follow one logical step after another until he finds himself on the path to a ground breaking discovery in the heart of the Scottish Highlands.
In a parallel narrative, we see the desperate activities of one of the last troops of Templar Knights as they strive to protect the final treasured possessions of their Order as their world collapses around them.

Buy it on Amazon here:  Amazon.com link to The Templar Vault

The Kaiser's Navigator (book 2)

Sparke has now, very reluctantly, gained a reputation for being able to solve historical problems and he is drafted in by the British Government to unravel a mystery that has huge modern day implications.
At the centre of the mystery is the life and adventures of a young German naval officer and navigator on a German Antarctic Expedition launched on the eve of World War One.
Somehow, this young man's life has become central to an international race against time ans Sparke finds himself racing through Europe, the Falkland Islands and the frozen Antarctic in an attempt to connect the events of over one hundred years ago to today's political power plays.

Buy it on Amazon.com here: Amazon.com link to The Kaiser's Navigator

 The Templar Key (book 3)

In the burning chaos of a city on the Turkish coast, a young man ties a heavy key to his infant son's wrist, then walks in the mob and certain death. On the key is the symbol of the Knights Templar.
Decades later, the great-granddaughter of that man engages Sparke and Tilly Pink to uncover the meaning of the key, to find out why family had it in their possession and what caused the man to give up his life when safety was so close at hand.
Their search takes them from the archives of a Bavarian castle, to the mountains of Anatolia, trying to piece together what the key might mean and why the young man gave up his life.

Buy it on Amazon.com here: Amazon.com link to The Templar Key

The Templar Thief (book 4)

In the dying days of the Crusader states of the Holy Land, the Templars are faced with stark choices. The Grand Master, staring at inevitable defeat at the hands of the victorious Saracens, knows that he must prepare for the worst.
He entrusts a near impossible mission to a Knight known as "The Mason" to recover a secret object, which is so revered in the Christian world, that even its existence is a secret.
Working with Tilly Pink, Sparke begins to trace the story of a simple silver medallion, found in the wreck of a medieval ship of the coast of Scotland which leads them to the heart of the world of the Templars as their world collapses  the face of deadly enemies.

Buy it on Amazon.com here: Amazon.com link to The Templar Thief

The Templar Tower (book 5)

Time is running out for the Templars and new enemies are circling. At the height of their power, with vast possessions across Europe, the Templars begin their preparations for the greatest threat their order has faced.
Under the command of the knight known as The Mason, Salvatore di Radda is tasked with carving out the beginnings of a final Templar redoubt in the Alpine fastness of what is now Switzerland. His greatest danger, and the greatest enemy the order faces is his own brother, Massimo, a leading member of the Inquisition.

In a parallel storyline, Peter Sparke and Professor Tilly Pink find themselves embroiled in the hunt for a long lost document which could establish the truth behind the legend of the Templars in Switzerland. Sparke, now wealthy from his discovery of the Templar treasury in the Scottish Highlands, looks forward to a quite life of amateur research, but finds that harder to attain than he imagines.