THE SACRED BONES

Fast-paced and intelligent, blending historical fact with persuasivefiction, The Sacred Bones is an addictively compelling thriller that callsinto question many of modern religion's most deeply-held beliefs. Jerusalemis a ticking time bomb ...An ancient artefact is stolen from beneath TempleMount. With thirteen Israeli soldiers dead, and the Palestinians outragedover the desecration of the sacred ground, tensions are running high.Detectives must work against the clock to identify the stolen relic andthe thieves, before civil unrest escalates to deadly proportions.Meanwhile, in Vatican city, American scientist Charlotte Hennesey andItalian anthropologist Giovanni Bersei have been secretly summoned toanalyse a mysterious artefact, that could prove to be history's darkestsecret: a human skeleton, approximately 2,000 years old, and bearing theunmistakeable marks of crucifixion ...With the malevolent eye of Vaticansecurity expert Salvatore Conte watching her every move, Charlotte mustwork against the clock to uncover an astonishing truth that threatens thevery foundations of belief.And there's a more immediate question to face:whether the Vatican will allow this information - and Charlotte - to seethe light of day . ..