The Rozabal Line [Paperback]

Shawn Haigins (Author), Ashwin Sanghi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 24, 2007

On a lazy day in London, a cardboard box is found on a shelf of the SOAS library where a copy of Mahabharata should have been. When the mystified librarian opens it, she screams before she falls unconscious to the floor.
An elite group calling itself the Lashkar-e-Talatashar, the army of thirteen, has scattered around the globe. The fate of its members curiously resembles that of Christ and his Apostles in the first century AD. Their leader is not even a blip on the radar of intelligence agencies, yet their agenda is Armageddon.
Somewhere in the labyrinthine recesses of the Vatican, a beautiful assassin swears she will eliminate all who do not believe in her twisted credo. She loves to kill-again and again.
A Hindu Astrologer spots an approaching conjunction of the stars and nods to himself in grim agreement. It will happen on the very date he had seen as the end of the world. And it's not far off.
In Tibet, a group of Buddhist monks search for a reincarnation, much in the way their ancestors searched Judea for the son of God.
In strife-torn Kashmir, a tomb called Rozabal holds the key to a riddle that arises in Jerusalem and gets answered at Vaishno Devi.
An American priest, Father Vincent Sinclair, has disturbing visions of himself and of people familiar to him, except that they seem located in other worlds, other ages. Induced into past -life regression, he goes to India to piece together the violent images burnt onto his mind.
Shadowing his every move is the Crux Decussata Permuta, a clandestine society which would rather wipe out creation than allow an ancient secret to be disclosed.
In The Rozabal Line, a thriller swirling between continents and centuries, Ashwin Sanghi traces a pattern that curls backward to the violent birth of religion itself.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A provocative, clever and radiant line of theology, Sanghi suggests that the cult of Mary Magdalene has its inspiration in the trinity of the Indian sacred feminine, thereby out thinking and out-conspiring Dan Brown.'
--The Hindu, Chennai, India

'Sanghi's flair for religion, history and politics is clearly visible... a mixture of comparative religion, dangerous secrets and a thrilling plot makes for an esoteric read.' --The Statesman, Calcutta, India

'...a must-read for all those who enjoyed Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. A fine combination of history, religion, spirituality and mystery, the book is thought-provoking and definitely not for the faint-hearted.' --Deccan Herald, Bangalore, India

'Though Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code may still be the uncrowned king in conspiracy theory fiction, he has an Indian challenger in Ashwin Sanghi.' --The Week, India

'The ultimate reward that The Rozabal Line holds for the reader is the treasure-house of surprises that lie in store, as history gets presented ... as delightful, jaw-dropping trivia.' --Indian Express

"Haigins' ideologically provocative outcome is every bit earned... philosophers, conspiracy believers, and fans of Mary Magdalene tales will find Rozabal to be worthy..." -- ForeWord Clarion Reviews, November 7, 2007

"Taking The Da Vinci Code a step further, The Rozabal Line triples the intrigue ante..." -- Kirkus Discoveries, November 5, 2007

From the Author

The notion that Jesus may have indeed spawned a bloodline came to my attention in late 1999 when I read "Holy Blood Holy Grail" by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln. A few years later, I read Holger Kersten's "Jesus Lived in India" and was fascinated with the idea that Jesus could have been inspired by Buddhism and that he may have drawn much of his spiritual learning from India. The research was meticulous, and I was soon hooked! I followed it up by reading Margaret Starbird's "The Woman with the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail" and was convinced that the persona of Mary Magdalene closely resembled the trinity of the Indian sacred feminine. The release of Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" was what eventually prompted me to write "The Rozabal Line".

I realized that it was much more interesting to learn history through the format of a fiction thriller than to read a non-fiction hypothesis/theory about Jesus having lived in India. "The Rozabal Line" is a work of fiction and should be read as such. Religion, history and factual narrative have been liberally interspersed with the fictional narrative in order to give context and color to the plot.

Unlike most novels, wherever possible, notes have been provided at the end of the book to explain, justify, attribute or acknowledge although it is unnecessary to read these as part of the overall plot.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 332 pages
• Publisher: Lulu Enterprises, Inc.; 1st edition (September 24, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1430327545
• ISBN-13: 978-1430327547
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #833,232 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than the Da vinci code, December 11, 2007

By 

Steve Burns (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Rozabal Line (Paperback)

This is a must have for fans of religious conspiracy thrillers like Dan Brown's best sellers. This book is a much more fast paced thriller than others like it. The novel takes you traveling through human history as the story comes to a climax on December 21st 2012. It is a show down between Islamist terrorists, a corrupt Catholic Church, and the Illuminati. Through out you will learn about many theories about Jesus and Christianity. Like how Rome created Catholicism by turning Jesus into a God and giving him many attributes of Pagan Gods so he would be accepted. (In Koine Greek Kathlicos means universal, that is where the word Catholic comes from). Constantine created a univeral church to unite the empire. You will also see the theory that Jesus survived the cross and traveled to India where he died. The main characters are a Catholic Priest, a new age pychic (his aunt), and a Japanese assasin. What is different about this book is the flashbacks to these characters past lives where their Karma is explained through what they did in past lives. I have never heard of this kind of story line and found it very thought provoking. This is an exiting and thrilling read and you might learn several things as you make your way through to the end. If you are looking for a great conspiracy theory thrill ride, it does not get better than this.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I Never Thought of it Like This; A Pleasant Surprise!, November 28, 2007

By 

Suzanne Olsson "Author 'Jesus in Kashmir, The... (New York and India) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Rozabal Line (Paperback)

I have just finished reading 'The Roza Bal Line' and smiled through many passages and ideas in the book because they ringed true for me. Although I lived in Kashmir specifically to investigate the claims about the tomb, and although I met often with Muslims who claim they are descended from Yuz Asaf (the name for Jesus in Kashmir) it never occured to me to connect ideas the way Shawn Haigins has in this book. Jesus descendents in the east, where the world least expects them? Jesus descendents as modern day fundamentalists and terrorists? Of course! Why not? Why hadn't I thought of that! Haigins did a terrific job with this fictional account. The world would benefit more if he put his obvious investigative reporting-writing style and energies into writing non-fiction. I did find some historical errors in the book, but I attribute these to the fiction premise and not to any lack of ability on the author's part. He is a lucid thinker and writer, and Roza Bal can definately benefit from his continued contributions on the subject. Thanks Shawn, for an awesome task splendidly accomplished.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fast Paced Multi-Century Intrigue, December 2, 2007

By 

John D. Cofield - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Rozabal Line (Paperback)

The Rozabal Line is a tale of secrets and conspiracies, adventure and romance, power and glory stretching back to the ancient world and forward to the near future. It encompasses many tantalizing elements, any one of which would make for a fascinating novel: revisionist religious history, mysterious organizations which exert their influence over many centuries, modern technological marvels,and modern political/social issues like terrorism. To be his first novel, Shawn Haigins has done a commendable job of tying the many disparate parts together in a cohesive whole. It speaks well for his future as a novelist.

The Rozabal Line refers to a mysterious tomb in India and a bloodline which may, or may not, descend from Jesus Christ. Despite this seeming similarity to a well known novel by Dan Brown, The Rozabal Line manages to outdo its rival by chronicling several different story lines which run parallel through the book, some taking place in the near future (2012) while others date to the first years of the great religions of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. There is much to ponder here, as Haigins does a superb job of chronicling many intriguing similarities between the foundation stories of Christianity and other, now extinct, faiths. He provides copious notes directing the interested reader to many books and websites which provide more details for these ideas. (The story can be enjoyed even if the reader does not accept some or all of these claims, by the way.) By the final chapters, Haigins ties the many loose ends up neatly with a satisfying conclusion.