The story of Beringer Sauniere and Rennes le Chateau is one of those stories that grips everyone's imagination.  I'm not sure if its Sauniere's bizarre behavior, or his even more strange accumulation of wealth but either way you look it it Rennes le Chateau is an enduring mystery.  But it is also a mystery with nothing really going on.  Much like Roswell it’s been pretty played out, and aside from the phenomenal success of the DaVinci code / Angels and Demons nothing new is really going on.  Or at least there wasn’t anything new. Ok well we discovered Le Dossier Secrets was a fraud as was the Priory of Zion, but nothing else has really happened right?  Wrong…

Now I gotta say…this is a little bit of a short book running about 114 pages, but contained within it is the first original research on the subject I’ve seen in awhile.  Now there have been some criticisms that this book spends too much time on the back story, and while that is true (only from about page 83 on is about the model.) its still written in an interesting narrative I found engaging. But if you know the story well just skip to the last section (page 83). 

The one thing I would say about this book, and ultimately its failing, is that it does not reach a conclusion. Instead ends the book with questions, which frankly is bad for a book, but on the other hand Rennes le Chateau is an enduring mystery which honestly lacks answers.  But the model is a totally new spin on the story and original information, which to my knowledge cannot be found in any other book. So to that end you should buy it if you’re interested in the subject. But first buy some of the other books to get up to speed.

It’s a good book and the first real new information in about 30 years, and if you are interested in the subject and its idiosyncrasies,  you should buy this book.  If your new to the subject get up to speed first, then you’ll appreciate this book. 

But just for the record, I wish he had come to some conclusions, but then again I bought the book and I enjoyed it.  Douzet is a very good writer and its an engaging read..