I bought Secret Places, Hidden Sanctuaries by Stephen Klimczuk and Gerald Warner, after reading a review in an old issue of Fortean Times last October. Another one that didn't linger on the to-read-shelf for too long. It's almost as if the number generator is as determined as I seem to have been to keep certain books on my shelf forever.
This non-fiction book is very good. but it didn't always work for me. The early chapters are full of mentions of Dan Brown's 'The Da Vinci Code', so much so that I was beginning to think the authors were only mentioning places that appeared in the novel. Thankfully, about half-way through the book we got a reprieve.
Places that stood out (for me) were Wewelsburg Castle, which was a Nazi base during WWII and became known as one of the most evil places on earth, thanks to Himmler and SS activities there during the war. Chapter 6, which covered grottos and grotesques was interesting, and I enjoyed reading about Nicholas Owen, a Jesuit carpenter, who built many ingenious priest holes during the period pre the gunpowder plot. Mount Weather in Virginia is an interesting underground facility with a proxy US government. Svalbad, which is Norway's Arctic Eden, and something which would be of interest to the Morbid Mortician (who's books the number generator will hopefully pick soon) Oliver Cromwell's Head. Cromwell's Head.
If you have an interest in the Knight's Templars and the Masons, then the early chapters may be of more interest to you.
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