Fans of Da Vinci Code knockoffs will welcome Byrnes' first novel. When an ancient stone burial box known as an ossuary is stolen from a secret crypt beneath the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, readers will immediately intuit that the bones contained in the box are those of Jesus Christ, even though it takes quite a bit longer for the characters to admit as much. American geneticist Charlotte Hennesey is summoned to the Vatican along with Dr. Giovanni Bersei, an anthropologist, to study the ossuary. Back in Jerusalem, Arabs, Jews and Christians bicker, protest, fight and scheme against one another both within and outside the Temple Mount. A ruthlessly efficient Vatican hit man, Salvatore Conte, hovers over the action. Venal cardinals, contemptuous Israelis, Knights Templar and evil popes round out a familiar cast. Byrnes puts a more contemporary spin on his material than most authors of religious thrillers.

I spent part of my misspent day finishing The Scared Bones by Michael Byrnes. I also have the sequel The Sacred Blood here. I enjoyed the plot and characters much more that the aforementioned Book of Lies. I am looking forward to the sequel but I think I may pick up something a bit lighter first. I like that Byrnes included all sides of the religious war going on in the Middle East and showed respect for each groups thoughts. While I absolutely realize that this is a book of fiction I also know there are many people in this world that are attempting to save their own ideology by undermining someone else's. Truthfulness has become a subjective virtue and I hate to think the opposite of that being practiced by religious leaders but...well, I am just not that naive.