Customer Reviews

THE JUDAS TESTAMENT

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
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Daniel Easterman's expertise on Religion and Middle Eastern affairs is very apparent in this intense book. What happens when the Roman Catholic church discovers the existence of a letter purported to have been written by Jesus Christ? This is the crux of this well researched and totally believable book. The battle between good and evil is portrayed well here while not being tedious or slow moving. The most intriguing aspect of The Judas Testament is that with the exception of most obvious character, Dr. Jack Gould, the motives of the other's are often murky and the alliances are not quite apparent until almost three-quarters of the story. Nazis, Roman Catholic priests, British Intelligence and the former KGB are all thrown together in this quietly frightning book. The bottomline? The Catholic Church will not allow the world to see a different Jesus than the one who exists in the Bible and they will do anything, ally themselves with anyone to ensure that.

Easterman's book brings a new angle on an old subject, the lost books of the bible. The interesting twist is a secret organization called Crux Orientalis that is tied in to the remnants of the Third Reich with a goal to resurrect the Holy Roman Empire. The other interesting thing to note in the story is the Church's role in covering up and or destroying critical scrolls of scripture. It's not as far-fetched as you think. The whole story makes you wonder what the Church is capable of for the sake of maintaining itself. Easterman's book is a good read as are most of his novels

A very fine adventure thriller of the well-made type, everything sewn up, the ending reflecting back to the beginning. Kind of old-fashioned, I guess, which is what I like, as a fan of John Buchan and Duncan Kyle, among others. Easterman, who also uses the name Jonathan Aycliffe for eight supernatural novels, is a master of an extraordinary range of esoteric detail in this book alone. I have only read three other Easterman titles (and this was heard, with a splendid narration by Graham Padden).
If The Judas Testament had been published 7-8 years later, and given a big publicity push, he might have given Dan Brown a run for his money. It's a shame that although Aycliffe or Denis McEoin (seems to be some confusion about his real name) keeps turning out novels that probably are equally as good, he apparently is given next to no promotion by his publisher(s). I haven't checked to see how many have been published in the USA, but I doubt many.
He must have scared his publisher on this book. I do not believe the phrase "Judas Testament" is found in the novel. It's all about the Jesus Testament, of course. I suppose the publisher felt it just could not use such a title for the book so Judas, who has absolutely nothing to do with it, is brought in from far left field.

A curator of rare and ancient documents, books and scripts, Jack Gould, is offered a reading of an unearthed parchment which turns out to be written by Jesus himself and which brings very different views on religion and Jesus himself and is completely different from the Bible and everything the church has been teaching. Soon he is caught in a deadly game of those who want the Biblical text and what else it holds. Thrilling and exciting, full of action and mystery. A great read from ever-great Daniel Easterman.

Easterman does an outstanding job with this book. His hints are succinct enough for the reader to know to remember them for later. He tied everything together in the end with an interesting finish. The protagonist is a bit clueless, but the ancient script was tied into the story very well. Enjoy this one!

This book starts off well enough, and is a bit more high-brow than most books with this theme, but I found it a little long and by the end was struggling to finish it. But to any fans of Biblical thrillers I certainly recommend it.

Daniel Easterman is the Nom de Plume of Denis McEoin, professor at Univ. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, an embittered ex-Baha'i.