The Lance

Book excerpt: It is April 2004 and Mehmet Yakis is an archaeology student in Istanbul. After an earthquake fractures a wall of the Aya Sofya, he unearths a lance engraved with the words, Longinus and Dominus, along with the Roman execution record of Jesus of Nazareth. Is it possible he has found the true Lance of Longinus? After Yakis shows his find to a disillusioned French archaeologist, he has no idea that Albert Boucher intends to claim it as his own. But Yakis and Boucher have competition that includes a billionaire, the Grand Master of the Knights Templar, two SS officers vying to smuggle the relic out of Turkey, and two unsuspecting tourists who turn up at the wrong place at the wrong time. As new questions arise and a race over land, sea, and in the air begins, the ancient relic becomes an obsession for everyone involved as they are left to contemplate whether it truly has miraculous power, and if so, if it is worth dying for. In this historical thriller, a diverse group of relic hunters each embark on their own dangerous journeyto possess the Roman lance that pierced Jesus’ side.