Sanctus

Seems like an easy category—what's more basic than an Arthurian or Indiana Jonesian search for the Holy Grail? Booker identifies five main parts of the Quest: Hero receives a compulsive Call to Action, undergoes a long, hazardous Journey to get something, Arrives but is immediately frustrated, undergoes Final Ordeals, and then wins the Goal. Ernest Cline's Ready Player One , featuring a main character named Parzival, is an immensely entertaining new Quest story, but I chose to showcase Sanctus . A couple of steps up from an airport novel (shhh, I won't tell), Sanctus has short, cliff-hanger chapters so easy to read it feels selfish. There are these sooooo serious monks who live in an immense, secretive citadel in southern Turkey that's like a giant anthill. It's all mystery and shroud. They protect something called The Sacrament (turns out to be a stash of the best Jamaican Stumpworm you ever...), and they ruthlessly stop at nothing to keep the thing secret. Tell me, do you think a spunky young chick aided by some unlikely companions possessing special skills and knowledge might be able to bring the whole, centuries-old and secure thing down with a reckless, MacGyvered plan using nothing more than a couple of coils of rope and bolt cutters? Do they undertake a hazardous journey to get there, and once they do, do they almost call it quits because it's just so insurmountingly insurmountable? Will Audrey Tautou show up with her lovely neck jeopardized by a scratchy-wool-cloak-wearing monk with a hard-on and freaky ideas about the Fifth Commandment? Nah! If you didn't enjoy The Da Vinci Code, then you won't enjoy this. [Sanctus was featured in our "Fall Fundamentals" first novels feature.—Ed.] — Douglas Lord, "Books for Dudes," Booksmack! 10/6/11