The Third Scroll

Description for THE THIRD SCROLL by William Newby:

Could John Albert, former CIA operative and current head of Stonybrook University’s Ancient Language Studies Department, actually have received a communication from the first century A.D.?

That’s what he believes after he opens a package of antique scrolls with an introduction that personally addresses him in ancient Greek. He is further intrigued when he realizes that the rest of the text is written in the same Qumran-Hebrew language as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Wasting little time, John takes a sabbatical so that he can go to England to utilize Oxford’s reference library in translating the mysterious writings. There he meets beautiful Emma Ferry, who will become not only his partner in deciphering the origins and meaning of the scrolls, but his romantic partner as well. Together, they will soon discover that there are other, decidedly ruthless, individuals who are also interested in the scrolls - more for their potential monetary value in the antiquities market than the message they might contain.

Meanwhile, back in New York City, Sister Lily Elizabeth Alberti – blessed with the mystical ability to heal – applies her gift to the critically ill from her home with a secret order of nuns housed at The Cloisters. What is the connection between John Albert and Sister Lily Elizabeth? They are brother and sister and Lily, who has unearthed the scrolls from the darkest depths of the papal archives, while researching the healing arts at the Vatican, knows that the only way to get her brother to help her translate the documents is to shroud them in an irresistible mystery. There is one more faction with particular interest in the scrolls – members of the clandestine sect known only as The Guild, descendants of the legendary Knights Templar, whose mission is to prepare for the Second Coming. Though they are not privy to the specific content of the scrolls, they know that they contain a sacred message for mankind.

As the different pieces of this mystical thriller come together, ancient mysteries begin to reveal themselves and other provocative questions come to light. Could Jesus himself have been the author of the scrolls? How will the hierarchy of the contemporary Roman Catholic Church reconcile with the monumentally powerful information that Sister Lily Elizabeth has brought to them and continues to struggle to not only understand but master. And will John Albert be ready emotionally and spiritually for the challenges that he has been predestined to face? The reader is taken on a magical journey, from Long Island, New York to ancient Greece, through the halls of academia and behind the walls of the Roman Catholic Church in Rome, as the author tells this tale of intrigue, romance and faith.