Right from the outset of THE SECRET SCROLL the protagonist, Josh Cohan, an archeologist on vacation in Israel to recharge his body and soul, discovers, with what might be called spiritual guidance, one of the most significant religious artifacts since the Dead Sea Scrolls if proven to be real and not a fake. I don’t want to give away what the discovered object is in order for you, the reader, to enjoy the discovery and the meaning, other than it is a scroll as the title of the book indicates.

Cohan in good conscience negotiates the surrendering of the artifact to the Israeli Department of Antiquities, and begins to help the governmental agency determine the authenticity of the object. But there are those in Israel who do not want the scroll to see the light of day and prove that certain biblical teachings may be wrong after all these millennia. Hence, the thriller of THE SECRET SCROLL. Cohan involuntarily finds himself helping to try and protect the artifact from being stolen. Cohan must also discover who is behind the conspiracy in order to stop the continuing murders of certain members of the team who are examining the artifact, and save the woman of his dreams from her captors.

Cutler is quite accurate with the conflicts, politically and religiously, in Israel , while providing the reader with a wonderful history lesson and a sightseeing tour of various locations throughout the country. Accepting certain leaps of faith, no pun intended, and certain reservations that I had, the author keeps the pace of the story moving at lightening speed to the final and realistic conclusion. A commendable debut effort by Ronald Cutler, and I look forward to his next adventure.

Josh Cohan, a disillusioned Professor of Archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania, takes a much-needed sabbatical from the politics of the university museum hierarchy where he is employed and travels to Israel where he has been many times before. While he is driving through the hills of Masada where there is so much history, he feels he is meant to go to find a hidden cave. When he finds the cave, he unearths an ancient cylinder containing a scroll that he could tell has been buried for many years. Although it is a requirement of the law to present any archaeological find to the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA), Josh decides to take it to his hotel for his own expert examination. After all, it had been buried for at least 2000 years; a few more days wouldn’t hurt. With surgical gloved hands he removes the scroll and sees that the words are written in Aramaic, a language he had studied at the university. He translates a few sentences and it becomes aware that these words were written by the man known today as Jesus Christ.

Josh turns over the scroll to the IAA which consists of seven men of different faiths. It is their responsibility to investigate the find, and when finished attest to its authenticity or declare it a fraud. Because of the nature of the scroll, the men decide it would be best to keep the discovery a secret. Even if it was a fraud, much unwelcome chaos could be brought to bear. If it proved to be true, it would change the beliefs of many churches and synagogues around the world. Everyone agreed, including Josh. There was one among them, however, who though he agreed did not keep the secret. This man was a member of a secret, very prejudiced religious cult dating back at least 200 years. The cult hated Jews, Catholics, Muslims, Protestants, and any other sect that did not believe as they taught. They had already killed, and now they were willing to kill again to get their hands on the scroll and destroy it. As Josh tries to discover the man in the IAA who had betrayed them, their leader (the “Master”) kidnaps the woman Josh loves, whose safe return is guaranteed in exchange for the scroll.

Cutler cleverly weaves history, scholarly writings, and a fictional story with (admittedly) a fair amount of speculation into a very suspenseful novel that races toward a thrilling conclusion. The “damsel in distress” aspect is a bit overdone, but otherwise the plot is well reasoned with believable characters.

The Secret Scroll is not only very well written and inventive, it is a thought-provoking novel that is both enthralling and entertaining.

The book is The Secret Scroll, by Ronald Cutler (Beaufort Books, 2008, $24.95), a book that will certainly attract much attention, partly for its sheer readability, partly for its examination of the concept of religious faith.

The Secret Scroll is set in and around Jerusalem at the present time. Its central character is an American archaeologist taking a long sabbatical to explore some of the caves around the Dead Sea , hoping to make another miraculous discovery like the Dead Sea Scrolls. He is Josh Cohan, something of a loner who dreams of rewriting history.

His chance comes when, working alone, he finds in a hidden cave a jar containing a scroll with a mysterious text written in Aramaic, the long-forgotten language of the region. The scroll is signed by Yehoshua ben Yosef – the man known in history as Jesus Christ.

If it is authentic, it will be the single most important find in Christian history. Believing the world would welcome such a discovery, Josh seeks the help of the Israel Antiquities Authority. They soon attest to its authenticity – and bring about a storm of controversy.

What Josh expected to be a welcome discovery turns out to be just the opposite in many quarters. Many religious groups do not want their long-standing tenets upset. One such group is The Guardians, an extremist religious sect that will resort to any brutality to suppress opposition to their views. They vow to destroy Josh. As a student of history, we are told, Josh “knew more examples of intentional human atrocities then he cared to remember.” Still, he is shaken by the ferocity directed against him, and he takes action to defend himself.

Cutler’s novel proceeds at a rapid pace, and involves kidnappings, assassinations, and murders. Josh remains an affable, level-headed hero through all these events as he tries to bring reason to these competing religions. He takes as his code a line he finds in the secret scroll: “Faith is not an excuse to kill or do harm to your fellow man or woman.”

The Secret Scroll is highly recommended. A good read!