Archaeologist Dr. Erin Granger is working on a dig in Caesarea, Israel when an explosion rocks the Masada. The explosion splits Masada and emits a gas that kills all the visitors The explosion reveals an unknown underground chamber. Soon Sergent Jordan Stone is sent to bring Erin to the site to help and try to discover what happened!
While a crew of soldiers and Dr. Granger are exploring the chamber where they find a young child impaled on the wall using silver spikes and an open sarcophagus. A priest Rhun Korza mysteriously appears by their side in the chamber. The group is attacked by monsters of some kind and many on both sides are killed. But Father Korza saves Erin and Jordon. As the pair watch Father Korza’s actions, it becomes obvious this is no ordinary Priest!! What was buried in the chamber was a Gospel of the Bible written by Christ in his own blood – The Blood Gospel. After another attack this by a grimwwolf minion of the Belial in charge of recovering the book, Bathory, Rhun revels that while he is a priest, he is of the Order of the Sanguines a secret order within the Catholic Church composed of vampire like beings that do not feed on the blood of humans but are fortified and blessed through the drinking of consecrated wine, aka, The Blood of Christ. The attacks at Masada came from the Belial an order of vampires that the Sanguines battle. They unlike the Sanguines are not blessed and are a mean bunch! Erin and Jordon soon learn that they are to be paired with Father Korza to fulfill a prophesy to find and open the book before it falls into the hands of the Belial.
The race to find the Blood Gospel takes them to Germany and then Russia (where they meet, no I’m not telling) along the way Erin and Jordon find out more about both the Order of the Sanguines and the Belial. Throughout the book Father Korza must face not only the Belial but his own sinful past!
The Blood Gospel is Book No 13 for the year and was a typical page-turning thriller from James Rollins. Rollins collaborated with another talented author Rebecca Cantrell on this book. The best thing about the book is that there are so many questions remaining at the end of the book that you know that there will be more books!! And I’ll look forward to them like I am looking forward to James Rollins new Sigma Force novel The Eye of God to be released June 25!! But back to The Blood Gospel, Stephen King says:
“Pure genius…The pairing of Rollins and Cantrell has brought the best out of both authors. The Blood Gospel is not just a must-read, it would be a sin not to read it”
I whole-heartedly agree now I need to go find some of Rebecca Cantrell’s novels, hum a good place to start may be her website. Oh no, her books sure look good! So many books, so little time!
