The Thirteenth Apostle [Paperback]

Michel Benoit (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 25, 2007

The story of an ancient sect detailed within papyrus sheaves hidden in the caves at Qumran ( now known as The Dead Sea Scrolls) forms the foundation of this exhaustively researched novel. The Secret of the 13th Apostle contains lore perhaps more familiar to the Knights Templar than readers of Dan Brown, but will excite similar passions.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Yet another discovery of a centuries-old secret that places the very existence of the Catholic Church at stake propels Benoît's formulaic religious thriller. Sinister Vatican officials, afraid that Father Andrei has stumbled on a truth that will call Jesus' divinity into question, arrange for Andrei's demise—on a train headed for Rome, he's tossed out a window to his death. Andrei leaves behind a clue in the form of some cryptic notes for his close friend, Father Nil, whose pursuit of evidence that there was a 13th apostle puts him in peril. Nil's foes include an improbable odd couple of assassins, a former Mossad agent and a member of Hamas. Some readers may be irked by the author's failure to explain such matters as why a key volume that leads Nil in the right direction is not better protected or why the ruthless forces behind Andrei's killing don't just eliminate Nil early on. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Religious scholar and novelist Michel Benoit was born in Madagascar in 1940 (then a French colony). In 1962, having studied Biochemistry under Nobel Prize winner Jacques Monod and obtained a PhD in Pharmacology, he entered the Benedectine order as an unordained monk, remaining there for twenty-two years. Because of his ideological non-conformity, he eventually quit the Catholic Church and decided to devote himself to research and writing. His first book, Prisoner of God, an account of his life in the monastery, became an instant worldwide bestseller when it was published in 1992. This was followed by two religious essays, a travel book based on a trip to India and, in 2006, the thriller The Secret of the 13th Apostle, which transposes into fictional form his lifetime's research on the life of Jesus.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Alma Books (October 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1846880289
• ISBN-13: 978-1846880285
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,130,678 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars enjoyable read, May 23, 2008

By 

Konrad Baumeister - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Thirteenth Apostle (Paperback)

Of all the hundreds of novels covering conspiracies, secret societies, religious treasure and secrets, this is, well, not the worst by a bit. It is an enjoyable way to spend a few hours at the airport.

Benoit has the background and religious/historical knowledge to at least suggest an interesting premise, and argue it well enough for the reader to buy it for a few hours. The basic characters are all out of central casting (though some key ones are taken from the author's idea of real life, e.g. ex-Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, is mercilessly portrayed in the book as Cardinal Catzinger), and the pacing of the book is pretty predictable. The writing itself, translated from the French, is better than the average pulp stuff put out under this genre, although the dialogue is the usual breathless stuff.

What makes the book worth reading is the underlying premise. I won't spoil it here, but it obviously has to do with a final apostle present at the key events of Jesus' life, and privy to events as they actually occurred along with knowledge of Jesus' true nature, who in fact is cast out and shunned by the twelve of the Bible. How this knowledge is handed down, and why it is clearly important to the Church to keep a lid on it, is well handled and at least momentarily plausible.

If you like this general genre, Benoit's book will not disappoint.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Better than 'The Da Vinci Code', November 19, 2007

By 

Gavin Bradshaw (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Thirteenth Apostle (Paperback)

Which isn't saying a lot, as 'The Da Vinci Code' was dreadfully written nonsense.'The Thirteenth Apostle' is nonsense, but entertaining nonsense. At the heart of the book is the shocking suggestion that Jesus Christ might not have been the Son of God and did not rise from the dead. We have the usual mix of murdered monks, scheming cardinals, sexually perverse priests, secret societies, conspiracies, lost gospels and last, but not least, the templars ... Ideal trash to read on the plane. The translation from the French could be better in places - American readers may be puzzled by "visage" for example, instead of "face" - and Pope Benedict XVI, cruelly parodied as "Cardinal Catzinger" would not be amused, in the unlikely event anyone were to give His Holiness a copy of the book! Three stars is as much as any book in this genre merits.