Thorsday Book Review

Warning:  Those of you who hold deep religious convictions should not read this book.  It is a "controversial religious/historical thriller."

30 PIECES OF SILVER
by Carolyn McCrae
copyright 2010

Dr. Rebecca Monroe is researching what she calls "the smart gene", her premise being that some unknown prehistoric person/group settled at different points around the world, creating various pyramids and other ancient wonders, and that they were genetically different than other groups throughout the ancient world.  For her research, she's currently in an Amazonian jungle, undertaking a tribal ritual involving a big constricting type snake, when a US Special Forces team headed by Sgt. Brandt swoops in to rescue her and haul her to Paris.  Just before they arrive, there's a bombing at the Eiffel Tower, revealing a set of bones she believes belongs to a Biblical figure.

Rebecca leads Brandt and his crew through various European cities, chased by a shadowy organization known as "The Knot" in search of the ultimate Biblical scholar's quest: the final resting place of Jesus.  Of course, during this venture, The Knot is trying to kill off Rebecca, Brandt and his team, and recover from them the bones she's brought along from Paris.  Lopez, Brandt's go-to escape driver, interjects a great deal of levity into this book; he can fly or drive anything, and loves to travel at Indy-500 worthy speeds.  (At one point, he announced that he just invented "tunnel surfing", for example.  Gotta love the guy.)

Interspersed between these chapters are periodic chapters from 2000 years earlier, telling the story of the friendship between Jesus and Judas.  These chapters in particular may be offensive depending upon one's religious beliefs, and the conclusion at the end would be mind blowing if such a thing were discovered.

I really enjoyed this book.  Some of the action sequences seemed a mite over the top, but on the whole, the book worked well.  I liked it well enough that I'm reading its sequel, Havoc, right now.  4.5/5

(This is what Thor would be doing this week, in our yard).


Happy Thorsday, everyone!