Grand Central, 2023
Agent: Jill Marr
In this action-packed thriller, a Harvard theology professor uncovers religious and papal history—and plenty of conspiracy.
Cal Donovan, a theology professor at Harvard, receives an urgent message from a former graduate student, Samia Tedros. Now a museum conservator in Cairo, Samia has discovered a miraculous fragment of papyrus with three unknown lines from the Gospel of Mary Magdalene so explosive that a wealthy man is willing to kill to ensure no one ever sees it.
At the Vatican, another drama is developing. The new Pope has defied centuries of tradition and appointed a nun, Sister Elisabetta Celestino, as his secretary of state. Powerful insiders are outraged that a woman now sits as the second most influential person at the Vatican, and they plot to destroy her.
When Samia shows up at Cal’s doorstep in the dead of night, he is drawn into a deadly competition to possess a papyrus with the power to rescue Sister Elisabetta and change the course of Christianity.
Reviews:
“Smart and entertaining, every page is pitch perfect. A terrific story, terrifically told.” ?Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author on The Fourth Prophecy
"Cooper's name on a book's cover guarantees two things: an elaborate story with plenty of twists and turns and a swift pace that carries the reader through to the end." ?Booklist on The Debt
"[Cooper] is no ordinary thriller writer, but one who asks big questions." ?Sunday Telegraph (UK)
"The debut of a startling new talent. Here is a story both incandescent and explosive. A seamless blend of modern-day thriller and historical mystery with an ending that left me breathless." ?James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author on Library of the Dead