Earthly Remains

by Peter Hernon

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1559720107
• ISBN13: 9781559720106
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Carol Publishing Corporation
• Length: 315 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Earthly Remains

I enjoyed this book for its labyrinthine plot, despite several anachronisms it contains. I also believe that the writer could do a better job at getting inside the mind of his female characters. The reactions of his female protagonist seemed stilted in several places. Despite these criticisms, it was plot heavy with a strong and highly entertaining plotline and kept my interest piqued. It left me wondering at its conclusion just where the author got the idea for his intriguing storyline ...

I Liked it

This book is so rich in what we know about the Dead Sea Scrolls and how they were found and how they are being deciphered today. It adds the intrigue of finding a crucified skeleton. This skeleton makes certain Christians cringe because if it is what they suspect, they must question their own religion. Those Christians will stop at nothing to have all evidenced destroyed and those who know of it, silenced.I wouldn't be surprised if the Church tried to have this book silenced. I guess this book came out about the time of the Godfather III which had its own hints of the Church using murder to silence those that stand in its way.

Earthly Remains

I am writing this review because I believe Mr.Hernon wrote an outstanding story which was well-researched and thought-provoking. Since it was read a while ago, and I don't have the book in hand I will do my best to relate the story as I recall it. The characters are believable, and the strong plot moves the story along quickly. It takes place in the Holy Land in the late 1940's and is written in first person, through the eyes of an American journalist who has been sent by his newspaper to cover the fighting which broke out when the U.N. decided to divide Palestine into two states: Jewish & Arab,which became the war which created Israel as a nation. The journalist meets an attractive archaeology student and becomes interested in covering the project she is working on for the American School of Archaeology Division of the Oriental Institue of Chicago in Jerusalem. He also becomes very interested in her. Amidst the fighting throughout the Holy Land there were black market murmurings from the bedouin about a honeycomb of caves in the cliffs around the Dead Sea which contained mysterious ancient scrolls in clay jars.It had been discovered early on that these scrolls were of great interest to the archaeologists and scholars. Relying on black market tips purchased through an antiquities dealer, the archaeology student gathers enough information to justify an expedition to the Qumran Caves, by the Dead Sea. The journalist accompanies her,along with the project benefactor who provides financial backing for everything necessary,i.e. jeeps, armed guards, and guides.They find a scroll in cave tucked into a cliff which, when translated, tells of a "Teacher of Enlightenment"who died a terrible death at the hands of others. Enough of the crumbling script is deciphered to point them toward an ancient cemetery,where two unusual tombs are found. One contains a headless skeleton interred with a mysterious cup, the other the surprisingly well-preserved remains of a man who appeared to have been crucified. Threading their way back across the desert,through the fighting,the small party is able to remove the bodies to the American School in Jerusalem.Realizing the "earthly remains" are not safe in the war-torn old city, they employ a private commerical pilot with an old bomber to fly them to the United States, to the safety of Chicago's Oriental Institute. However, the incredulous professor there contacts knowledeable colleagues from the Archdiocese about the mysterious remains. Word rapidly travels to the Vatican and a chain of events follows which makes the lives of everyone involved into a nightmare. Currently this book is only available in select libraries. It think it would do well if reprinted.