Dan Brown’s religious conspiracy genre series has resulted in many knock-offs but none of them offer the insight and depth of Weber’s novel, Solomon’s Key. While unbelievable, the reader will find Weber’s novel even meatier than Brown’s as they experience the novel way in which he blends the Vatican, movie star cult icons, spies, and even a steamy love triangle into a complex recipe for a spy thriller. Additionally, the reader will enjoy the way that Weber provides a history lesson that introduces them to the secret rituals used by secret societies to bridge the gap between this world and the next. Weber uses mentor character, Professor Giovanni, to explain the secret of the divine feminine by saying “They believed that sex was the key or bridge to God or the cosmos and that the Old Testament’s Song of Solomon is a path-working guide to the hidden corridor.” Giovanni is then portrayed to explain how Mary Magdalene was the opener of the way — the “sexual initiatrix.” The book’s originality lies in its unflinching examination of religious history in which the true motivating factors of men rest in their willingness to build empires on the ruins of the sacred feminine goddess.

With this as his premise, R. Douglas Weber dives fearlessly into previously uncharted feminine mysteries as he probes the sacred potential of sexuality, of secrets kept hidden from the unworthy and of truths hidden in plain sight. By using CODIS — the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System a link is found between the past and present. Between a royal bloodline and the world’s foremost terrorist. This link is used to bring in the Knights Templar who has vowed revenge over the downfall of their kind at the hands of the papacy.In a subplot, reunited lovers, Italian Secret Service agent Nick Rossi and beautiful Mossad agent, Josie Schulman, battle an al-Qaeda orchestrated wave of terrorist attacks directed against the Vatican and the newly elected Pope. However, the investigation means plunging into Rossi’s own past and into the arms of Basha, the alluring stranger, who may be his downfall. The ancient scroll they seek unlocks the Holy See’s brutally suppressed truth concerning the divine feminine and her role as Gatekeeper and is located beneath the Dome of the Rock, in Solomon’s Temple.

The ultimate deception occurs as world leaders converge on Rome for the Pope’s funeral, while Rossi and Josie race against time following a trail of cryptic symbols hidden within Albert Durer’s German Renaissance engravings. The keys to the mystery itself points to a secret Masonic nexus of power and will reveal the secrets of the Widow’s Son.

While the action-filled intriguing plot of Solomon’s key will hold men’s attention, women are sure to find the main truth, of the Divine Mother, empowering.

I found Solomon’s Key to be far more advanced in the religious and secret society genre than The DaVinci Code and I would recommend it for readers who desire a real in religious history, as well as, an opportunity for a marvelous read.

Tags: religious thriller, solomon’s key the codis project, conspiracy thriller, r. douglas weber, fbi, divine mother, fiction, historical, vatican, rome, albert durer, masonic symbols, mossad, italian secret service, book review