“[A] cool, confident debut. A talented new writer who instinctively grasps the broad rules of superior action thrillers and adapts them with pace, grace, humour and a keen eye for cinematic effect.” - Daily Telegraph (London)
“A huge, bold thriller, Sanctus is a bloody, twistedly perverse story about a battle against a secretive group of heretical, conspiring monks . . . . the most engaging writing I’ve read in months.” - San Jose Mercury News
“Hard to think of it as a debut, better to think of it as the beginning of a massive new adventure, and a so-long to Dan Brown. . . .” - The Daily Mirror (UK)
“This is a big, bold thriller, so big that it needs to create its own mythology . . . Elegantly written and imaginatively plotted, with a smart heroine and an appropriately evil villain, this is a must-read for fans of high-concept thrillers involving grand conspiracies.” - Booklist (starred review)
“In British author Toyne’s stellar first in a projected trilogy, a thriller in the Dan Brown tradition . . . The truly mind-boggling revelation will leave astounded readers eager for the next installment.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Sanctus
“Remarkable . . . Its ‘just one more page, one more chapter’ urgency keeps you reading into the night, and the final revelation of the Citadel’s secret is haunting.” - Library Journal (starred review) on Sanctus
“When you read Sanctus, you’ll see just how frightening, ruthless and relentlessly entertaining an order of monks can be. Haunting in the best way.” - Brad Meltzer, New York Times bestselling author of The Inner Circle
“[Sanctus] might turn out to be the next great cliffhanger conspiracy thriller.” - Fort Worth Star-Telegram
“A wickedly clever call to adventure from beyond the grave. A bloody confrontation against a heretical Church in a fallen, alternate universe. A tale as theologically twisted and perverse as the snake in the Garden of Eden. Lies, lies and more lies. In other words, damn good fiction.” - Thomas Greanias, author of The 34th Degree
“Remarkable . . . intrigue befitting an action thriller . . . . Toyne has written a well-developed, exciting debut, the first volume of a projected trilogy, that doesn’t tip off the ending midnovel like so many of its kind. Its ‘just one more page, one more chapter’ urgency keeps you reading into the night, and the final revelation of the Citadel’s secret is haunting.” - Library Journal (starred review)
“This is a big, bold thriller, so big that it needs to create its own mythology . . . But at the heart of the book is the story of a woman risking everything, including her own life, to find out what happened to a man who disappeared from her life eight years ago, and who now lies dead on a coroner’s table. Elegantly written and imaginatively plotted, with a smart heroine and an appropriately evil villain, this is a must-read for fans of high-concept thrillers involving grand conspiracies. Yes, it will appeal to Da Vinci Code fans, but the prose is much more textured.” - Booklist (starred review) on SANCTUS
“In British author Toyne’s stellar first in a projected trilogy, a thriller in the Dan Brown tradition, an ancient sect of monks . . . have been protecting a secret, “the Sacrament,” since before the Christian era . . . . The truly mind-boggling revelation will leave astounded readers eager for the next installment.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review)