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Will Shakespeare and the Ships of Solomon
Author: Christopher Grey
Release Date: February 3, 2014
Description:
In the fall of 1947,
Will Shakespeare saw the world collapse around him. Shakespeare, a
secret soldier for the Knights Templar, barely escapes the slaughter of
his entire knighthood at the hands of a rogue militant arm of the
Vatican in a small Montreal church. With orders to escort Templar
business associate Dorothy Wilkinson back to her home in Bermuda, Will
must locate and rescue the most important secret treasure in human
history before it is devoured by a hurricane in the watery caves beneath
her father's property. The spiraling quest sends Will and Dorothy into
uncovering dark secrets that make up the origins of the knighthood as
they confront the traps and puzzles that masterfully protect the world's
most coveted treasure.
TALKING POINTS: WILL SHAKESPEARE AND THE SHIPS OF SOLOMON
AUTHOR: CHRISTOPHER GREY
About the Book:
This synopsis from a book review by Feathered Quill sums it up nicely:
Will Shakespeare knew when he was accepted into the Knights Templar that danger could be lurking around every corner but he faced that danger head on and became a dedicated soldier of the secret group. However, nothing could prepare him for the betrayal he faces as men he trusted with his whole being murder all of the masters and commanders who Will had come to respect and look up to.
Will is now the only one left alive and is charged with a most sacred mission, to protect Dorothy Wilkinson no matter what it costs. This task is not an easy one as there are enemies lurking everywhere from other secret brotherhoods that are on their own missions, to back stabbing traitors who can’t see past their own greed. Even without knowing the full extent of why this woman is so important, Will decides he will carry out this mission even at the cost of his life, for everything he has trained for, and believes in, is at stake. Before he knows it, Will realizes that his objective is not only to protect Dorothy but to protect the Holy Grail itself!
It was not uncommon for Dorothy Wilkinson to be sent on business trips to represent her father but it was still surprising that he would send her on an international trip, even if he was becoming ill. Pushing her fears aside, Dorothy does her best to deal with the group of men gathered in a cathedral, of all places, as they ask questions about her father’s property in Bermuda. With every passing moment Dorothy continues to fear that this deal may be something she wants nothing to do with and her fears are justified when gunfire suddenly breaks out and the men she was just talking to fall dead right beside her. Trying desperately not to panic, Dorothy suddenly finds herself fleeing with a man named Will who she hardly knows. At the same time, she can’t help but realize that he is probably her only ally and hope for survival. As Will reveals to her about the Knights of the Templar and the importance of her safety she can’t help but be skeptical, as she has seen nothing but danger since Will dragged her from the cathedral. With each passing danger however, she comes to realize that Will is not in this for greed or personal gain, he is here to protect her and against all odds they become a team with a common purpose, find and protect the Holy Grail.
The Conspiracies Addressed in the Book (Many of these are embellished versions of actual historical theories and conspiracy theories surrounding these topics):
- Knights Templar and Freemasons: beyond the public face of Freemasonry, there is a higher order of Masonic Knights Templar that operate above society and government in defense of society. Created when the Knights Templar went into hiding, the book follows the story of the secret knighthood as it touched major people in history including the likes of Francis Drake and Francis Bacon and ultimately lead to the establishment of the U.S. as a Utopian Masonic state.
- After the Vatican tried to eliminate the Templars in the 14th century, they went underground and found safe haven in Scotland where they were integrated into the Scottish Rite. They then set out to establish a secular state free from the Vatican and colonized near what is now Montreal long before Columbus set sail.
- Columbus was also a secret Masonic Knight Templar and was looking for different places to colonize, even holding a map of the world—knowing full well he was not reaching India.
- Many American Knights Templar became the “pirates of the Caribbean” and much of the Templar treasure and holy relics were hidden in the Caribbean as they waged a secret war against the Vatican through the navies of the world.
- One of the more notable Templars was Sir Francis Drake, who protected some of the orders most prized relics and he buried the treasure Nova Scotia, at the notorious “Money Pit” of Oak Island.
- Drake and Queen Elizabeth had an illegitimate son, Francis Bacon, who after French colonials moved into the New World, moved the Templar treasure from Nova Scotia to the Caribbean.
- Francis Bacon was secretly William Shakespeare and wrote his sonnets as clues to the location of the Templar treasure.
- The Holy Grail is actually the rescued texts from the Library of Alexandria that, among other things, held maps of the world and the secret rites and initiation rituals of ancient civilizations.
- Many of these theories were derived from Pirates and the Lost Templar Fleet by David Hatcher Childress
The Characters:
- An action hero named Will Shakespeare was certainly a fun endeavor—it was more difficult dealing with the realities of being a modern knight. Still bound by reverence, chivalry and duty Will is confronting treason, the modern world, and conspiracies way past his pay grade. He is often out of his element, brash, and makes too many tactical mistakes. But he is honest about knighthood and is driven by doing his duty, no matter the cost.
- Dorothy Wilkinson was not a woman of her time—born and raised in Bermuda and often helping her affluent father with business matters made her a renaissance woman compared to her contemporaries, but even still, she can barely navigate this strange world she is thrown into. Broad-stroked issues of trust and despair go far in nearly sabotaging their path, but in the end she finds that she’s also a part of this world instead of a victim of it.
Why this book?
- Aiming to dispel the hysteria and mistruths that is so prevalent in the conspiracy theory world. It has always baffled me that we are so fearful of and venomous about groups like the Freemasons (and even the Illuminati), that historically have been the backbone behind the ideals that shaped the modern western world. I take the position that if they do have the influence and power that the more radical conspiracy theorists suggest they do, then they would likely be using it to protect the society they built rather than dismantling it. This book is a fictionalized example of how I feel it will play out. I believe that if we are honest about the influences in our societies than we can better address the actual problems and needs we have rather than focusing on disinformation or paranoid perceptions of our world.
- The conspiracies laid out in Childress’ book had to be played out in an action/adventure setting.
- I’d like to attempt to carry to the Indiana Jones torch.
Montreal and Oak Island
- If Childress is to believed, Canada was the original American colony, settled by Scots and established as a secular Utopia. I find that absolutely fascinating, especially with certain evidence that points to it being true, such as the existence of American plants in the artwork of the infamous Rosslyn Chapel as well as archeological evidence found in Canada as well.
- Much of what was presented in the book about Oak Island is true. A system of booby traps in the island have made it virtually impossible to dig on any point of the island and not reach water. There is a fake beach, draining tunnels and all of the tunnels are connected beneath the island. It is also true that millions has been dumped to find what was most certainly buried there. The conspiracies say it is pirate treasure, Templar treasure, or holy relics brought over by Prince Henry Sinclair. It is the perfect place to store the Holy Grail, however there are also conspiracies that say it was moved to the Caribbean after the Templars effectively became pirates and abandoned their settlements in Canada to the French.
What do I believe?
Much of the book was an embellished account of unproven/speculative history and/or outright conspiracy theories. It is difficult to say what specifically I believe and what I don’t. I can say that I think it is all at least plausible. What I do, in fact, believe is that the ideals of the masons helped to spark many of the great thinkers of the enlightenment and we owe a debt to them for confronting monarchies, dismantling the grip of the Vatican on society, and helping to create a secular world in the west.
Grey’s
fascination with the secret world began when he was sixteen after a
chance meeting with a conspiracy theorist in a coffee shop sometime in
the 1990s. The conversation with this man led Grey on a lifelong
scholarly endeavor to learn about secret societies and the occult from a
skeptical and secular point of view.
Over the
past 15 years, he has been involved in various fraternal societies and
has sought to explore the undercurrents of human civilization–to uncover
the hidden histories and the forces and patterns that have designed
what society has become and to demystify the hidden forces in our
society that, for so long, have been vilified and misunderstood.
Website: http://www.greyauthor.com
Buy Links: Amazon / Basilicus Press
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