'The Fifth Gospel' - a Vatican thriller novel

VATICAN CITY, Rome, Italy - Welcome to the modern Vatican, where political intrigue and modern technology collide to produce a thriller that mixes religion, family, church history and politics into a neat, very readable package.

Oh, and there is a murder in the pages of The Fifth Gospel (Simon & Shuster, 2015).

Or is there?

The Fifth Gospel uses the history of the Shroud of Turin as a backdrop. And like any good novel, the book takes a small thread and pulls it, dragging the reader along with it.

It doesn't take much dragging. In fact, once the story launches and the reader realizes that history is being made - and revealed - it's a page turner just like something written by David Baldacci.

Baldacci, coincidently, endorsed the book and said "It will change the way you look at organized religion."

He hit the mark there. It's a book of revelations not only about the Roman Catholic Church, but what happened when the church split - east and west - a thousand years ago. And how the Shroud fits in to the schism that developed.

Ian Caldwell

Author Ian Caldwell has set the novel in the Vatican City, offering a glimpse into the life that goes on behind the walls of the tiny city-nation, home to the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. The Fifth Gospel doesn't hammer religion. It uses historical incidents to weave the mystery.

The book was 10 years in the writing and publishing process. Its attention to detail and plot shows it.

Recommended reading for everyone. But one caution. This is no airplane book - unless you are flying from New York to Australia.

The book is on the bookshelves of the Watkins Glen Public Library.