The Judas Papers (novel)

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The Judas Papers is a history thriller by Rainer M. Schröder , which was published in 2008 by Arena-Verlag .

action

The action begins in England at the end of the 19th century . Scholar Byron Bourke gets into financial difficulties through an intrigue. When the aristocrat Arthur Pembroke offers to replace the lost sum, Byron has no choice but to visit Pembroke Manor. There Pembroke sends him along with the art forger Horatio Slade, the card player Alistair McLean and the artist Harriet Chamberlain on a search for the mysterious Gospel of Judas. Pembroke's crazy brother Mortimer hid this in a secret place and left encrypted messages in his notebook. The cryptology expert Byron is supposed to solve these puzzles. They drive to Vienna, where they discover the first clue in the sewer system and a member of the dualistic secret society Ordo Novi Templi ambushes them and almost steals their notebook. You will receive a letter from the Secret Brotherhood of Guardians to beware of the Ordo Novi Templi and continue to Transylvania . There they end up in the castle of Count Dracula , where the next clue is supposed to be hidden, are captured by Dracula together with Aurelius van Helsing, but are able to free themselves. They kill Dracula, find the clue and narrowly escape the castle that van Helsing blew up. Van Helsing dies in the process.

They travel to Constantinople with the Orient Express . There Harriet saves the life of the arms dealer Basil Sahar, and they become friends with him. In order to get to the third clue unnoticed, they first want to organize a performance of Harriet, but they can acquire the clue before the planned performance. They clash with the Ordo Novi Templi again , escape, leave the city headlong with the third clue and take a ship to the Greek peninsula of Athos . On the way there, Byron and Harriet confess their love. Harriet says she's been plagued by nightmares since she accidentally shot her uncle when he woke her up. She suspected, however, that she had done it on purpose, because she hated this uncle from the bottom of her heart.

In Greece they break into a monastery to get the last clue that leads them to Egypt in the ruins of the Simeon monastery , where the gospel they are looking for is supposed to be. When they have found it, Arthur Pembroke surprises them, who takes the Judas scriptures from them and tries to lock the companions in the grotto in order to let them die. Pembroke's butler , who at that moment turns out to be a member of the Secret Brotherhood of Guardians , tries to prevent this, and is ultimately also trapped. Alistair is fatally shot in an attempt by Alistair McLean to overpower Pembroke. Before he dies, he accidentally discovers a secret exit through which the others can escape. Meanwhile, Arthur Pembroke has been involved in a shootout with Graham Baynard, the leading member of the Ordo Novi Templi , that ends in their deaths for both of them. The Judas scriptures are blown away by the wind and destroyed.

The comment

Schröder has provided his book with a rich bibliography and a detailed afterword, in which he separates fiction and historically proven facts. The extensive list of sources is divided into the areas of theology, religion, cities, regional studies, history, Orient Express and miscellaneous.

Further information

The so-called Gospel of Judas , an apocryphal script that was probably written by Gnostics , was discovered in 1976.

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