The Secret of the Thirteenth Apostle

Those who tried to unravel the enigma... ended up silenced forever. Murdered on the Rome-Paris train, Father Andrei was about to discover a secret that could shake the West and that the Church had been determined to conceal since its founding. Before his death, he entrusted the secret to his friend, Father Nil. Continuing his search, Nil follows the trail of an epistle and a companion of Jesus, hidden for centuries. Rome will do everything to stop him, as will Jerusalem and Mecca, for the order of the world is at stake. Murders, lies, manipulations... from the Vatican's backrooms to the Qumran caves, from the Essene mysteries to the Templars, a fascinating religious thriller that follows the lines of The Name of the Rose. Michel Benoît, a great scholar of the origins of Christianity, takes us on a thrilling reinterpretation of the foundations of our civilization. Published in France in 2006, The Secret of the Thirteenth Apostle appeared on major French bestseller lists. It sold over 50,000 copies, was released in 16 countries, and received the Readers' Prize (2008) from the French bookstore Hachette.