cover image The Thirteenth Apostle

The Thirteenth Apostle

Michel Benoit, , trans. from the French by Andrew Brown. . Alma, $15.95 (377pp) ISBN 978-1-84688-062-9

Yet another discovery of a centuries-old secret that places “the very existence of the Catholic Church” at stake propels Benoît’s formulaic religious thriller. Sinister Vatican officials, afraid that Father Andrei has stumbled on a truth that will call Jesus’ divinity into question, arrange for Andrei’s demise—on a train headed for Rome, he’s tossed out a window to his death. Andrei leaves behind a clue in the form of some cryptic notes for his close friend, Father Nil, whose pursuit of evidence that there was a 13th apostle puts him in peril. Nil’s foes include an improbable odd couple of assassins, a former Mossad agent and a member of Hamas. Some readers may be irked by the author’s failure to explain such matters as why a key volume that leads Nil in the right direction is not better protected or why the ruthless forces behind Andrei’s killing don’t just eliminate Nil early on. (Sept.)