The Second Messiah
Read The Second Messiah Online
Authors: Glenn Meade
Tags: #Fiction, #Thrillers, #Suspense, #Mystery & Detective, #General
Part Two: The Present: Twenty Years Later
About the Book
Some secrets are never meant to be revealed…
For two thousand years, wars have been fought, dynasties founded and great empires built on the message at the heart of Christianity – that Jesus Christ is the one true messiah.
But in modern-day Jerusalem, archaeologist Jack Cane makes a shocking discovery. A discovery that not only threatens to destroy the charismatic new Pope, but one that could shatter two thousand years of faith and challenge the very foundations of the western world.
About the Author
Glenn Meade was born in Ireland. He has lived in New Hampshire and worked in the field of pilot training and as a journalist before becoming a full-time writer. His novels to date –
Snow Wolf
,
Brandenburg
,
The Sands of Sakkara, Resurrection Day, Web of Deceit
and
The Devil’s Disciple
– have been international bestsellers, translated into twenty-seven languages, enjoyed critical and commercial success, and earned rave reviews. During his free time, Meade travels in the American South anywhere below the Mason-Dixon line, where he loves the scenery and the courtesy and kindness of the people, garnished with just a genteel touch of rebel wackiness. To find out more visit his website at
www.glennmeadeauthor.com
and find him on Facebook.
Also by Glenn Meade
Snow Wolf
Brandenburg
The Sands of Sakkara
Resurrection Day
Web of Deceit
The Devil’s Disciple
GLENN MEADE
FOR MY SON, NEAL,
WHO ALREADY KNOWS THAT
LOVE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT
PART OF LIFE’S STORY
As always, there are people to thank. In Israel, archaeologist, author, and scholar Hanan Eshel.
In the United States, John Wood, in Knoxville, who patiently answered my many questions and always pointed me in the right directions. Aramaist and author Douglas Stuart. Jeff Fisher for kindly sharing his memories of his time at Qumran. Author Bart Ehrman. Claudia Cross, my agent at Sterling Lord Literistic in New York. And not to forget Elizabeth Lacy and Marion McDonald—a promise kept.
In Italy, the Vatican Press Office. And a list too long to set down here of experts who gave of their time and help. My sincere thanks.
I’d love to be able to continue that great authorial tradition of buck-passing by saying that all errors that may appear are theirs, not mine, but that’s not so. However, I’ll try to cover myself by saying that some may be theirs, and some mine.
Ancient Rome’s remains and underground passageways mentioned in this book exist, as do the biblical settlement at Qumran and the town of Maloula. The Atbash code is a real cipher. It was discovered in a number of the Dead Sea scrolls by one of their most eminent translators, who believed from the coded evidence he had unearthed that the material would one day bring to light a prophecy or revelation of immense significance to humankind.
Sometimes the past is best left buried. For with the bones of the dead can lay some dark and very dangerous secrets.
—JEAN PAUL CADE
What we have found in these Aladdin’s caves is a true treasure trove. It appears that a large number of the scrolls may date from the time of Jesus. We will carefully translate all that we can but the work will be painstaking. For who knows what important messages are hidden within these ancient parchments? Who knows if their contents may some day astonish the world?
—FATHER ROLAND DE VAUX, INTERNATIONAL TEAM LEADER WORKING ON THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS, DISCOVERED AT QUMRAN, ISRAEL, 1947
THE PAST
EAST OF JERUSALEM
ISRAEL
LEON GOLD DIDN’T
know that he had two minutes left to live and he was grinning. “Did anyone ever tell you that you’ve got terrific legs?” he asked the drop-dead gorgeous woman seated next to him.