On the Third Day

Archaeologists in Jerusalem make a revolutionary discovery in this "beautifully written" thriller from a #1 New York Times-bestselling author (Ruth Rendell). John Lambert, Catholic priest and professor of biblical archaeology, returns to London from an archaeological dig in Israel--and not long after, he's found dead, hanged in his room. It's only the first shocking discovery for his assistant, Andrew Nash, a young friar. The second is the reason for the spiritual disillusionment that led his mentor to such a desperate act: irrefutable evidence of the skeletal remains of Jesus Christ excavated under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City. The find could shake the core doctrine of the Catholic Church and destroy the very foundation of the Christian faith. But it also poses a grave threat to Nash and his associate, Israeli archaeologist Michael Dagan--because they're not the only ones scrambling to piece together the clues to this ancient mystery. In their shadow are the KGB, the Israeli Secret Service, and an ambitious American cardinal. But are they collaborators in a diabolical hoax or coconspirators in a cover-up of the most damning discovery in history? The answer "chills the blood and makes the hair stand on end . . . confirming Read as one of our strongest novelists" (The Independent). "It's hard to imagine a more provocative thesis," said the New York Times of this forerunner to the biblical conspiracy thrillers of Dan Brown and Kate Mosse. On the Third Day is "an enthralling read--touch[ing] upon a number of current theological controversies" (Kirkus Reviews).

About the Author :
Piers Paul Read, third son of poet and art critic Sir Herbert Read, was born in 1941, raised in North Yorkshire, and educated by Benedictine monks at Ampleforth College. After studying history at Cambridge University, he spent two years in Germany, and on his return to London, worked as a subeditor on the Times Literary Supplement. His first novel, Game in Heaven with Tussy Marx, was published in 1966. His fiction has won the Hawthornden Prize, the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, the Somerset Maugham Award, and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. Two of his novels, A Married Man and The Free Frenchman, have been adapted for television and a third, Monk Dawson, as a feature film. In 1974, Read wrote his first work of reportage, Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, which has since sold five million copies worldwide. A film of Alive was released in 1993, directed by Frank Marshall and starring Ethan Hawke. His other works of nonfiction include Ablaze, an account of the nuclear accident at Chernobyl; The Templars, a history of the crusading military order; Alec Guinness: The Authorised Biography, and The Dreyfus Affair. Read is a fellow and member of the Council of the Royal Society of Literature and a member of the Council of the Society of Authors. He lives in London.

Review :
"Wheels within wheels are kept well oiled and moving swiftly." --The Times Literary Supplement