Sacred Bones
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
At the crossroads of Christian, Islamic, and Jewish faiths, an ancient artifact is stolen from a long-hidden vault located directly beneath Jerusalem's Temple Mount . . .
So begins The Sacred Bones by Michael Byrnes, a page-turning novel from a new voice on the thriller scene. With the violent theft leaving thirteen Israeli soldiers and policemen dead, and the Palestinians up in arms over the desecration of sacred grounds, the tension between the two groups is dangerously high. Jerusalem is a stick of dynamite and the fuse has been lit. . . .
Across the Mediterranean in Italy, American forensic scientist Charlotte Hennesey has been hired by the Vatican to examine the contents of a newly discovered archeological treasure: a two-thousand-year-old ossuary containing the bones of an unidentified, crucified man—the first complete skeleton of a crucifixion victim ever found. Together with Italian anthropologist Giovanni Bersei, Charlotte makes startling forensic and genetic discoveries that lead her to wonder—could these be the bones of Jesus Christ?
With the situation in Jerusalem veering out of control and the malevolent eye of Vatican security expert Salvatore Conte watching her every step, Charlotte puts two and two together. She knows that if the mortal remains of Christ are indeed in the burial box, the implications—for history and science, for religion and the Church—are frighteningly vast. And even more immediate is the question of whether the Vatican will allow the information—and Charlotte—to see the light of day.
Fast-paced and intelligent, blending historical fact with persuasive fiction, The Sacred Bones reads like a CSI episode penned by The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown. From a conspiracy stretching back to the days of the Templar Knights to the shifting alliances of contemporary Middle Eastern politics, The Sacred Bones is an addictively compelling thriller that calls into question many of modern religion's deepest-held beliefs about Judaism, Jesus Christ and early Christianity, and Islam . . . with stunning results.
Michael Byrnes
Michael Byrnes attended Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey, and earned his graduate degree in business administration at Rutgers. Byrnes lives in Florida with his wife, Caroline, and daughters, Vivian and Camille.
Read more from Michael Byrnes
The Sacred Bones: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Sacred Blood: A Novel Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5
Related to Sacred Bones
Related ebooks
The Promised War: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sanctus: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bone Chamber Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Second Messiah: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist’s Secret Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Thieves of Darkness: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Relics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hope Vendetta: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil's Gospel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lost Codex Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Solomon's Gold: The Project, #15 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hunters: Books 1-3 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dark Temple Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Tower: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Altar of Bones Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Blood Gospel: The Order of the Sanguines Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Searcher: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Malta Exchange: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Judgement Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Trade-Off Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 4th Secret Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Graveyard of Empires Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Shroud Key: A Chase Baker Thriller Series No. 1, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Rome Prophecy: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Humans Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJames Rollins: Series Reading Order - with Checklist & Summaries Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThree Marys Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Heretic’s Treasure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stonehenge Legacy Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Cairo Code: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
General Fiction For You
Life of Pi: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Priory of the Orange Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Man Called Ove: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Covenant of Water (Oprah's Book Club) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dante's Divine Comedy: Inferno Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The City of Dreaming Books Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Shantaram: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Other Black Girl: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Meditations: Complete and Unabridged Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unhoneymooners Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It Ends with Us: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jackal, Jackal: Tales of the Dark and Fantastic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Outsider: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Candy House: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ulysses: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cabin at the End of the World: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Canterbury Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The King James Version of the Bible Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Persuasion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Sister's Keeper: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Sacred Bones
10 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Would make an exciting movie,full of surprises, and suspense, can’t wait till the next historical novel appears
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm a sucker for these books. I always love a blend of real history and fiction with a touch of secret conspiracies. This one fits the bill nicely.
With a good cast and, for once, very little romance getting in the way the book rolls smoothly along keeping me wanting to know more. The two sides of the story were well entwined with neither side getting boring before switching keeping them both fresh.
An enjoyable book with a little twist near the end I liked I look forward to reading the next book which is already sitting on my shelf. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I read this fast-paced thriller in one day. Once you begin, hold onto your hat and be prepared to adjust your schedule to grab more reading time. It's an impressive first novel.What would happen if the Templars secret hiding place for the bones of Jesus Christ were discovered today in Jerusalem under the Temple Mount? That's the central story which takes twists and turns through the over heated religious atmosphere of today's Jerusalem, the gilded and secretive splendor of the Vatican and a trip or three back to the 12 th century and the ignominious end of the Templar Knights. Not perfect, but great fun. I'll be looking for his next book, The Sacred Blood.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5There is a special circle of Hell so terrible Dante did not dare write about it, and it is reserved especially for Dan Brown and all the scribblers who have climbed onto the Brown bandwagon. Discerning readers know if ‘Dan Brown’ or ‘Da Vinci Code’ is mentioned anywhere on the book or in anything promoting the book – possible exceptions might be ‘If you like Dan brown, you’ll hate this – don’t bother reading it. Sacred Blood is actually less offensive than most as well as being slightly better written: although it is a follow up to Sacred Bones, published a few years ago, the back story is easy to pick up and the book works as a stand alone. A couple of years ago a sarcophagus containing a skeleton was found in a previously undiscovered tomb under Temple Mount: before the bones could be properly examined, they were seized in a ruthless and daring raid in which many were killed. Could these have been the bones of Jesus Christ? The indications were all there but the public would never know the truth thanks to the ungodly machinations of an ancient evil, an all-powerful international gang of immoral killers, one of the richest, most corrupt and oldest institutions on Earth – the Catholic Church. Like all the really big-shot baddies, the Catholics have a luxurious and heavily fortified hangout – theirs is in the heart of Rome and called Vatican City: it was to this sinister and secretive enclave that the stolen bones were delivered…Charlotte Hennessey, an American scientist brought into the Vatican to examine the bones, is miraculously cured of cancer when she in injected with their DNA: obviously, this was no ordinary skeleton. But now a few years have passed and the Evil Empire is quiet and Temple Mount has licked its wounds. Husky Israeli archaeologist Amit Mizrachi makes a bewildering discovery at Qumran and asks his friend Julie LeRoux, a renowned French archaeologist, to help him decipher it but before long they are running for their lives and the Qumran site has been destroyed. Then there is Aaron Cohen, an American-born ultra-Orthodox Jew who returned to Israel to raise a family and lead a covert sect called The Sons of Light: on the other hand we have the Muslim rulers of Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock, hard-line fundamentalists, hell-bent on the rewards they will garner in Paradise for mass slaughter of the unsuspecting in cold blood. And let’s not forget the Catholic Church and the treachery existing deep in the heart of the Holy See. A rollicking read with plenty of thrills, spills and romance, involving everything from the sacred gift of healing to the Arc of the Covenant: this is Dan brown lite, a book that does not take itself too seriously, and is all the better for it.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A "Da Vinci Code" imitation, set in Rome and Jerusalem, with flashbacks to the fiery end of the Knights Templar in Paris. The plot is a standard thriller, and the chapter ends often leave you hanging, as the next chapter changes location.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Title: THE SACRED BONESAuthor: Michael ByrnesPublisher: Simon & SchusterEdition released: June 2007ISBN: 978-1-8473-7011-2438 pagesReview by: Karen ChisholmTHE SACRED BONES is another entry in the recently well-populated field of confrontational religious themed thrillers. When a well armed, well organised small group break through the walls of the mosque in the Temple Mount in Jerusalem they appear to have been very well informed. Blowing a hole in the wall in exactly the right place to reveal an unknown burial crypt, they move straight past a number of ossuaries taking only the one deepest in the chamber. Their escape, facilitated by a stolen Israeli helicopter, leaves Palestinians outraged over the desecration of sacred ground and Israeli's equally outraged over the deaths of thirteen soldiers during the resulting fire-fight.In the meantime Italian anthropologist Giovanni Bersei and American geneticist Charlotte Hennesey have been summoned to Vatican City to analyse a mysterious archaeological treasure that could prove to be one of the greatest secrets, the ossuary contains a human skeleton, approximately 2,000 years old, obvious speared, obviously crucified. Forces within Vatican City are very troubled over the existence of the skeleton and the implications to the very foundations of belief.Starting out reading THE SACRED BONES it was very very hard to shake the feeling that if you can manage to offend 3 major worldwide religions then you've got the possibility of a run away best seller. Fortunately the story helps a little in dispelling that fear as, frankly, there's some points of supposed scientific revelation in here that were impossible for this reader (no doctor / geneticist granted) to swallow. Maybe part of the reason for that was some credibility gaps for the main "experts", who seemed to ask questions and make statements that just didn't stack up, maybe part of the reason was that the story had elements that were just too way out to be feasible and hence, the book read as an outrageous over the top thriller.And as an over the top thriller there were some really funny elements - two of the main characters in severe danger of dying in a hail of sniper bullets, and the scenes around the destruction of the car they were driving were laid out in such detail it was hilarious. The time it takes for the two experts to eventually have the discussion about "whose bones do you think they could be" - the reader can have a wonderful time playing "go on ... say it .. I dare you" games. The sinister security consultant for the Vatican "lurking" around in the shadows everywhere that Charlotte goes, who then conveniently leaves doors open for discoveries to be made. The much commented on loveliness of Charlotte - more homely geneticists obviously would not qualify for this particular task. The Irish (yes Irish) priest, with the murderous background who manages to kill a lurking, dangerous killer in the middle of Rome with seemingly nobody noticing. All great over the top stuff.THE SACRED BONES might not make it as an entrant in the encouraging controversy stakes but for a totally over the top, really silly bit of light entertainment, it was good fun to play spot the cliché in.