Customer Reviews

St. Peter's Bones

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St. Peter's Bones is an absorbing, gripping book that I simply could not put down. It is a riveting thriller, but it is much more than that. It has been extensivley researched by the author in Iraq and Jordan and through the author's own historical research, and sheds sunlight on one of the most ignored tales of our times- the flight of the Christian community in Iraq and the persecution of Christians and ther religious minorities throughout most of the Muslim and Arab world. This powerful book provides a unique insight into a highly overlooked problem that is occuring as we speak that has its roots in ancient times. Timmerman masterfully weaves together the ancient anticedents with contemporary issues, through the tale of one family, in this important and riveting read. I would highy recommend it to anyone.

In his recently published book "St. Peter's Bones", Mr. Timmerman has shown the process of a silent massacre of the world's most ancient and forgotten nation, The Assyrians, who have survived many Genocides and Massacres. They are the oldest Christians of the world who still speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ. Assyrian Christians have always been easy targets for Anti-Christian Islamic Jihad groups, Sunni and Shiite Arabs as well as Sunni and Shiite Kurds. Their churches were bombed, their houses were burned and destroyed. Thousands of them were killed, kidnapped, raped and forced to leave their ancient land Mesopotamia. More than half a million of them are refugees in Jordan, Syria and other countries now. As a member of this nation I was astonished with the level of Mr. Timmerman's knowledge about this nation and his braveness to express their pain and struggle in their homeland. I wish there were more writers and researchers like Mr. Timmerman to fill the empty space of today's Silent and Ignorant Media.

"Will there be a place for us in the new Iraq?" That is the question haunting Christians today. Since the liberation of Iraq, Christians (Assyrians/Chaldeans) have been targeted by Muslim extremists. Since 2003, one half of Christians have fled, been murdered or are internally displaced. In one Baghdad neighborhood, Anti-Christian violence was so intense from 2005 - 2007 that it forced nearly 20,000 families to leave their homes.

Many western readers are surprised that there is a sizeable Christian presence in the Middle East. U. S. policy makers distributing development and security funds continue to act as if there are only three players, Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds. The Assyrians who are the indigenous ancient population of Iraq are treated as interlopers rather than stakeholders. They are the "inconvenient minority" in the eyes of those shaping Iraq policy.

In St. Peter's Bones, Kenneth Timmerman does more than share with us an intriguing mystery rooted deep in the lore of Assyrian history. It provides insight into how Christians wrestle with their place in Iraq. One of his characters, Burhan Salahuddin, an Islamist but a potential ally of Christians, observes that, "There are no secrets in Iraq......There are only stories that don't get told." One of the stories not told is of the burden that Christians in Iraq bear. On a daily basis they are torn between whether it is better to leave or to stay. The struggle to belong, for Iraq to be as much Assyrian as it any of the other three communities, is woven through the novel. Hope is the weight anchoring Christians to the future of Iraq.

Ken Timmerman has created a thriller with a vitally important message about Islamic Jihad pogroms against the only reliable American allies in Iraq - the ancient Assyrian Chaldean Christian community. It is a powerful indictment of mainstream Christian indifference to the plight of embattled Christian minorities in the Middle East. Every Member of Congress should read this book.

As an Assyrian from Iraq, I read this book with special interest. Mr. Timmerman writes a suspense/thriller that is very authentic, right down to the colloquial Assyrian used in the dialog. The story itself builds up to a nice climax, and offers a glimmer of hope at the end (I hope Muslim readers of this will get the message) -- though it does not in any way mitigate or whitewash the genocide against Assyrians that has been ongoing since June, 2004. It calls to task Muslims and challenges them to rethink what their religion is or what it stands for.

As someone who is very close to the struggles of Christians in Iraq, I am encouraged that someone as extraordinary as Ken Timmerman has found it his calling to introduce the world to the current dire situation of the Christians in Iraq. This is a brilliant fact-filled novel which should be read by all those who call themselves Christian, Jewish, or Muslim, and by all those who bear the title 'Human Rights Advocate'. In a crafty way, Ken walks the reader through the life of an Assyrian Christian struggling to live in a war-torn country called Iraq. The readers will find themselves awestruck with the brutal truth stated in the story. At times, tears will flow at the injustice inflicted on a nation which accepted Christ 2000 years ago. It is time for the world to realize the struggles of Christianity in Iraq, and this book brings it to the forefront eloquently.
Juliana Taimoorazy
[...]

"There are no secrets in Iraq, my dear Colonel. There are only stories that don't get told."

With St. Peter's Bones, novelist and journalist Kenneth Timmerman tells the sort of tale that rarely makes it to the radar screen of most American readers: a tale of anguish and heroism among Iraq's beleaguered Christian minority.

Named a recipient of the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award, Timmerman sets his story in the tumultuous Iraq of right now - after the fall of Saddam Hussein, at a moment when the final withdrawal of U.S. troops is widely discussed, but not yet completed.

The setting of the novel spans the history of Syrian ("Nestorian") Christians back to the time of the apostles. It springs from questions such as:

What if, in 595 AD, a Nestorian monk named Bahira had composed a secret manuscript recounting his encounters with -- and his unsuccessful struggles to educate and make a Christian leader of -- a gifted, illiterate, seizure-afflicted young camel-caravan driver named Ubul Kassim, none other than the future Prophet Mohammed?

And, what if, around the year 846, when the Saracens (that is, Muslims) laid siege to Rome, the Pope had ordered Hormizd IV Abouna to carry St. Peter's remains to safety and to protect them through his descendants -- the bones ending up in the monastery of Mar Hormizd, in present day Kurdistan?

And, bringing the story up to the present moment, what if a young Syrian Christian "terp" (interpreter) named Yohannes Yohanna, working for U.S. forces, stumbles across these ancient mysteries and thereby becomes a target of the militant Baathist Abu Hassan, who would kill to prevent the release of documents illustrating Christian influence on the young Mohammed? (Read more at [...])

Great book. It was highly recommended by someone who works with the Iraqi Christian refugees now living in Jordan.