Synopsis

‘Did you ever ponder the sheer absurdity of the story told in the New Testament? That humanity’s redemption lay in the execution of God’s only son?’

Elliot Ambrose is one of the few souls on Earth who knows the truth about Yeshua of Nazareth. His determination to expose this truth throws him into conflict with an ancient and powerful foe, who will stop at nothing to protect their secrets. A war started in Judea two thousand years ago culminates in a final battle in the twenty-first century.

This dark, gripping, time-shift thriller will appeal to fans of Dan Brown, S. J Parris, and Raymond Khoury.

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Excerpt

Pilate’s head was spinning. The auditorium floor, far beneath him, was as a choppy sea. The faces in the audience swayed. He sat, and felt physical relief wash over him.

‘We shall resume,’ Evandrus announced in a voice that pounded at Pilate’s fragile head, ‘with the defence.’

Yossef of Arimathea stood. Even at distance, and through the vinous fog, Pilate could sense the man’s fear.

This really matters to the man. Why?

‘Prefect, Boaz Ben-Jada has painted a picture for you of a violent agitator. I do not intend to waste your time counteracting the ridiculous claims put forward. I have too much respect for your intellect to consider such an approach necessary. The Sanhedrin are as transparent as they are false.’

There was a collective animal reaction from the Sanhedrin, hissing, snarling and muttering. Pilate did not bother to steel himself against the flattery. He enjoyed flattery, perhaps even encouraged it from time to time, but he was practised in ensuring that it would not avail petitioners too much.

‘Instead I hope to show you the type of man Yeshua is.’

Was Tavarius speaking truly? Does the advocate mean to prove that a god stands before me, awaiting my judgement? Well, good luck, advocate.

Pilate looked at Yeshua, whose hands worried over each other, while his eyes darted about the auditorium. Nothing could seem less powerful, less divine. And then, the man was transformed. His posture became straight, his body and face steel. It was a look Pilate associated with his strongest military commanders. Men who would not bend, and would die before they broke, men who would use their very corpses as obstacles to Rome’s many enemies. Yeshua stared directly at Pilate then, and the Prefect of Judea wilted beneath the man’s gaze.

Fire. This man is fire, and he has come to burn me.

About the Author

Francis Chapman, author of the thriller Book of Yeshua, was born in 1988 in Portsmouth, England. However, that would not have been his first choice of birthplace, and you certainly shouldn’t hold that against him.

He currently lives in Surrey, with his partner (and editor), three children, and a menagerie of badly behaved animals (six cats, three chickens, and a tortoise). He has had many jobs, including being a bartender, a copywriter, a magazine editor, and a Historic Property Steward at Stone Henge.

Francis studied Philosophy, which he greatly enjoyed, but he is most passionate about his writing. Most of his ideas come to him in the shower, or whilst walking his daughters to school.

During those brief moments when Francis isn’t writing, reading, or attempting to parent his children, he enjoys American football, learning Japanese, and is more than a little bit obsessed with the American reality TV show Survivor.

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