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Instant New York Times Bestseller MasterfulThe Fifth Gospel is that rare story erudite and a page-turner literary but compulsively readable It will change the way you look at organized religion humanity and perhaps yourself David Baldacci A gripping thriller rich with human drama and forbidden knowledge Lev Grossman A lost gospel a contentious relic and a dying popes final wish converge to send two brothersboth Vatican priestson an intellectual quest to untangle Christianitys greatest historical mysteryTen years ago Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomasons The Rule of Four became a literary phenomenon that sold nearly two million copies in North America and was hailed by critics as ingeniousprofoundly erudite The New York Times compulsively readable People and an exceptional piece of scholarship San Francisco Chronicle Now after a decade of painstaking primary research Ian Caldwell returns with a masterful new thriller that confirms his place among the most ambitious popular storytellers working today In as Pope John Paul IIs reign enters its twilight a mysterious exhibit is under construction at the Vatican Museums A week before it is scheduled to open its curator is murdered at a clandestine meeting on the outskirts of Rome That same night a violent break-in rocks the home of the curators research partner Father Alex Andreou a Greek Catholic priest who lives inside the Vatican with his five-year-old son When the papal police fail to identify a suspect in either crime Father Alex desperate to keep his family safe undertakes his own investigation To find the killer he must reconstruct the dead curators secret what the four Christian gospelsand a little-known true-to-life fifth gospel known as the Diatessaronreveal about the Churchs most controversial holy relic But just as he begins to understand the truth about his friends death and its consequences for the future of the worlds two largest Christian Churches Father Alex finds himself hunted down by someone with a vested stake in the exhibitsomeone he must outwit to survive At once a riveting intellectual thriller a feast of biblical history and scholarship and a moving family drama The Fifth Gospel is a story of sacrifice forgiveness and redemption Peppered with references to real-life people places and events the narrative rings true taking the reader on an emotional journey nearly two thousand years in the making Library Journal starred review.