When Fr. Bartholomew begins to show the stigmata of Christ, he becomes a revered individual. The world watches him closely. His story is told over and over.

A near-death experience, and a promise of deciphering the shroud codex, brings Fr. Bartholomew back to this life.

A well written book, full of intrigue and mystery. I read this through in a single day, simply not able to put it down. But then, the Shroud of Turin has always held strong fascination for me, so this fun read held me fast!

It helped that I am a fan of Corsi's investigative writing as well!

I highly recommend this read to anyone who enjoys a good fictional read that is very loosely based on fact.

I give this book five stars and a big thumbs up!

****DISCLOSURE: This book was a private purchase, and as such I was under no obligation for reviewing it. All opinions in this post are my own and under no obligation. ( )

This was a great read. I enjoyed the storyline and house closely referenced the different stages of the Crucifixion. I would recommend this book to others to read. ( )

NCLA Review - After a severe car accident, Father Bartholomew awakes in a hospital bed, convinced he has died and returned to earth in order to decipher a message Jesus encoded in what people now know as the Shroud of Turin. When he starts healing people who come to confession, and then exhibits convincing stigmata, the Pope puts him in the care of an atheist psychiatrist in an attempt to get at the truth. The plot is engaging, albeit rather predictable, and freighted with the author’s researched and seemingly endless details about the Shroud and particle physics. This book targets readers who are fascinated by the Shroud, want the gory details of the crucifixion, and hope for proof of Jesus’ physical existence. It has questionable value for a church library. Rating: 2 —DKW S ( )

A sort of techno-mystery with religious and spiritual overtones, in which a priest returns from a near-death experience convinced that God has given him a mission to reveal to mankind the secret message encrypted in the Shroud of Turin. He begins to manifest the wounds Jesus suffered during the Passion, and even comes to physically resemble the man depicted by the Shroud. There is a fairly intriguing conclusion that reminds me of Arthur C. Clarke's saying, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" (I have always mentally substituted the word "God" here). But the writing is bland, the dialogue reminds me of the two detectives in "Dragnet", and the conclusion lacks any kind of definitive revelation. And I suppose I shouldn't hold this against him, but I found in the author's blurb that he is the author of some pretty far right-wing political books, including the truly slimy Swift Boat Veterans smear of John Kerry. ( )