The Secundus Papyrus (Toby Crime) [Paperback]

Albert Noyer (Author)

Book Description

Series: Toby Crime | Publication Date: September 1, 2003

The "Last Will and Testament of Jesus Christ": Forged or Found?

November, A.D. 439, at Ravenna, Italy, capital of the Western Roman Empire. Surgeon Getorius Asterius and his wife Arcadia are called to examine the body of Behan, a monk seemingly drowned in a penitential rite gone awry. The couple discovers a prophecy text in Behan's hut, suggesting that a document of earth-shaking importance will soon be revealed. Shortly after, during an impromptu visit to the new mausoleum of Galla Placidia, mother of Emperor Valentinian III, a hidden niche violently reveals the "Last Will and Testament of Jesus Christ," purportedly dictated to Pontius Pilate's secretary while the procurator is outside addressing the crowd. The stunning terms of the will are an expression of Christ's supreme love and forgiveness, yet if implemented by the Bishop of Rome, His vicar, they now will bring apocalyptic chaos to the twin Roman Empires. Placidia supresses the papyrus while palace librarian Theokritos tests its authenticity.

After three witnesses are murdered, Getorius suggests to Placidia that Rabbi David ben Zadok, of the Judean community, evaluates the text and predict consequences if the document is made public. His response: empire-wide civil war, with Christians and Judeans pitted against each other.

In the interval of waiting for Theokritos's report, Getorius is arrested, falsely accused of dissecting the body of the monk, leaving Arcadia alone to deal with the papyrus.

Late in December, delayed by winter storms, Brenos, abbot of Behan's monastery, arrives from Gaul, ostensibly to bury his monk, but actually to reveal the will at the Nativity Vigil Mass. Frantic at finding that the papyrus has been prematurely discovered, Brenos meets with "Smyrna," his mysterious contact at Ravenna, in an effort to locate the will.

In the last late hours of December 24, it is still not certain that fanatical members of a religious order will not succeed in establishing a theocracy designed to supplant the dying Western Empire.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Noyer is a novelist with an artist's eye for color and a scholar's passion for accuracy and detail. -- Dr. Ronald Modras, St. Louis University

Well written, serious, and excellently researched...Noyer bring[s] characters and their environment to life and build[s] up a satisfying suspense. -- Roman History Books and more

From the Publisher

A Roman empress, a doctor and his trainee wife, an ambitious senator, a scheming abbot, an old Judean rabbi...these are the prime movers in this gripping mystery set in 5th century Ravenna, Italy. When a group including Getorius and Arcadia are invited to visit the newly built mausoleum of Galla Placidia, they discover an ancient papyrus with explosive contents that would have huge and devastating repercussions on the Empire if it were made public. Could the papyrus possibly be genuine? Who hid it in the mausoleum and why? When are they planning to reveal its contents? How is it connected to the symbol of a rooster that keeps appearing? One by one, those who were present when the papyrus was discovered begin to die under mysterious circumstances. Getorius and his wife must must get to the bottom of the mystery before the plot is unleashed, and before they might be its final victims.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 337 pages
• Publisher: Toby Press (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592640346
• ISBN-13: 978-1592640348
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,859,503 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

ALBERT NOYER was born in Switzerland but raised in Detroit, Michigan. He pursued his interest in art at Wayne State University, then worked as a commercial artist before entering a 30-year Detroit Public Schools career teaching art at the technical/vocational school level, and as part time art history instructor at St. Mary's College, Orchard Lake, MI. In 1986, after retiring in New Mexico with his wife, Jennifer, he has continually exhibited watercolor paintings and woodcut prints in numerous regional exhibits and garnered awards. His artwork and writing were featured in the March 1994 New Mexico Magazine, and the December 2006 Mature Life in New Mexico supplement of the Sunday Journal.
As a writer, Noyer is a member of SouthWest Writers and Croak & Dagger, the local chapter of Sister in Crime. The Toby Press LLC published his 5th century historical mystery novels: The Saint's Day Deaths (2000), The Secundus Papyrus (2003) and The Cybelene Conspiracy (2005 - NM Book Co-op Finalist, 2007.) Yet to be published in the series are Death at Pergamum, set in ancient Turkey, Unholy Sepulcher in which husband/wife protagonists, Getorius and Arcadia, travel the Holy Land of A.D. 440-41. The Kashat Deception, (2008) based on research in Egypt, completes the mystery series.
Alberix the Celt (2009, unpublished) is an epic retelling of Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul, but from the viewpoint of a Celtic youth who survives the war and eventually becomes a Gallo-Roman magistrate in Augusta Raurica, now the Roman ruins at Augst, Switzerland.
The Ghosts of Glorieta / A Fr. Jake Mystery (2011) begins in Michigan and quickly moves to a fictional village in New Mexico's Rio Communities. www.albertnoyer.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and Educational, December 27, 2003

By 

Bruno Manz (Albuquerque, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Secundus Papyrus (Toby Crime) (Paperback)

This is a historical novel playing in the mid-fifth century at Ravenna, the West Roman capital at the time. It was an era of extraordinary upheaval. The Vandals had conquered most of the Roman possessions in North Africa. In 439 AD they conquered Carthage, and in 455 AD they sacked Rome. If this were not enough, the Christian faith, which had been declared state religion roughly a century earlier was still far from being the established religion of Europe.

The novel begins showing Emperor Valentian III hunting with two Hunnic bodyguards at the outskirts of Ravenna. He was pursuing a boar he had just wounded, but the animal had escaped across a stream. The loss gave the emperor pause for a monologue about the three persons who were making his life difficult, his mother, his wife, and the commander of the West Roman army, all of whom the reader will meet as the story unfolds. While the emperor was still indulging in self-pity, his horse suddenly shied. In the icy waters of the stream bobbed the naked body of a man, striking a grotesque pose with his arms stretched out as if he were crucified. Valentian recognized the man from his tonsured head. "It's that Hibernian monk who comes to the palace library", he cried. With that begins a novel that is as suspenseful as any who-done-it and yet as fascinating as history can be.

There is a host of characters, but if anybody knows how to breathe life into them, it's the novelist. There are Getorius, a physician, and his beautiful wife Arcadia who have been charged with the investigation of the monk's death. The Empress Mother of Valentian invites them and several others to have a look at her newly finished mausoleum. While strolling through the cruciform building, one of them discovers a mysterious papyrus hidden in a wall-niche. As he tries to pull it out, he is struck and mortally wounded by the bolt from a small crossbow concealed in the niche.

Such are the circumstances surrounding the discovery of an ancient papyrus containing a message that could have disastrous consequences for the whole Roman Empire. Is the papyrus a forgery or is it authentic? Who put it there? Is this a conspiracy? Why did they guard it with the murderous crossbow? What are their intentions?

Now the plot thickens. One by one the persons who witnessed the discovery of the papyrus are dying under suspicious circumstances. Getorius and Arcadia wonder when it will be their turn. There are other ominous signs such as a cockerel that appears repeatedly at unexpected places, heightening the suspense.

But this is not an ordinary who-done-it. This is a skillfully designed novel narrated against a masterfully crafted historical background. There is the cast of colorful characters which in itself is no small accomplishment. Then there are the suspects, the intrigues, the false hopes, and the tracks that lead nowhere. It is an intricate web of actors and actions that can be confusing at times, but it is masterfully woven. The solution? You will be surprised.

Read it! When you have finished, you will have learned a lot, not only about history, but also about religion, medicine, food, customs, culture, and politics. Most important you will get a feel for the time.

Bruno and Renate Manz

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spellbinding historical fiction, August 10, 2005

By 

Renate Vanegas (Woodbridge, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Secundus Papyrus (Toby Crime) (Paperback)

Mr. Noyer has written a terrific and intriquing novel. If you ever fantasized of what life was like in mid-5th Century Southern Europe, then this book is a must read. The adventures of a surgeon and his medicine-studying wife, plus all the other interesting characters of the town of Ravenna, in Italy, make up a tightly woven tale of murder, deceit, greed and power. There is always the suspense of what's coming next and the surprises that follow, which kept me reading without wanting to put down the book. A real page turner.

Wonderful details describe (with clarity) the day-to-day existence of people during this era, shortly before the demise of the Roman Empire. The food and drink consumed, the importance people placed on their cultural and religious beliefs, and how the surgeon and his wife treated diseases with herbs, potions and by other more drastic means.

The drawings, in the front of the book, and the identification of its characters by name and title, and the characters recalling periodically of what has happened, gives the reader a feeling of not having missed anything. This book is an enjoyable piece of literature.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Rather unimpressive, August 5, 2005

By 

Wolverine Bibliophile (Tempe, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Secundus Papyrus (Toby Crime) (Paperback)

Sorry to break with the other reviewers, but I was somewhat underwhelmed with the book. There is a balance that every fiction writer must strike between character development and pace. Noyer does not succeed well at either. His main characters, Getorius and Arcadia, are not developed fully enough to cause the reader to identify positively with either; both of them (Getorius especially) seem rather weak. Yet he also throws in numerous extraneous details and characters (some of whom are introduced and then quickly killed off) and various items that add nothing to the story and cause it to drag unnecessarily. Too much of the mystery is simply left unexplained, and too many characters get bumped off with little or no explanation of who or how. To top it off, the (presumed) murderer is not apprehended in the end, and, as was stated by another reviewer, the conclusion is very flat and unsatisfying. Some of the historical details are interesting, but he makes an embarrassing (and completely unnecessary) flub in having a character (who presumably speaks in Latin) make a pun about "son" and "sun" - the words are not even remotely similar in Latin (filius and sol). I'd recommend that Mr. Noyer spend some time learning how to write more realistic dialogue, develop his characters (especially the main characters) more thoroughly, and generally work on his style a bit before releasing his next work.