The Sacred Blood
"A wonderfully complex and layered thriller…"
Synopsis:
Archaeologists discover a secret room in a Judean desert cave. The room's walls are covered with hieroglyphics and various other symbols including a dolphin entwined around a trident. In the room is a clay amphora which houses an ancient scroll.
This discovery follows after a raid on the Holy Land's Temple Mount left the area once again as the centre of dispute between different religious bodies.
The secretive sect known as The Sons of Light are meanwhile planning to turn the world on its head using the contents of their secret safe and the DNA from a human skeleton exhumed beneath the Temple Mount. Upon discovering that American scientist Charlotte Hennesey Shares this rare DNA they plot to kidnap her and use her DNA for their own misguided agenda.
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Review:
A wonderfully complex and layered thriller that is excellently researched. Having not read the prequel to this book The Sacred Bones at times I felt that reading the 2 books in correct order would be much more gratifying than reading this book as a standalone. Having said that I must stress that the book was a fine read, and does not have to be read as the sequel to The Sacred Bones. Byrnes has created a masterpiece of modern religious fiction with his depiction of events at the Temple Mount and the carefully crafted circumstances and characters who inhabit this novel. Hennesy is well balanced and her counterparts in this book are all depicted with consummate skill. This book is not a quick read, it is an intelligent read which shows a writer with a serious story to tell about subjects that most of us would not consider.