March 19, 2018
This derivative series launch from Cooper (Near Death) features yet another two-fisted academic on the trail of a religious relic with the power to change history. Cal Donovan, a Harvard Divinity School professor of religious history and archeology who’s known in the boxing ring as “The Reaper,” is approached by his Boston friend Cardinal Da Silva with a request from the pope. The pontiff, impressed with Cal’s book Holy Wounds: A History of Stigmata from the Middle Ages to the Present, wants Cal to investigate a current claim that a young Italian priest, Giovanni Berardino, has such wounds on his wrists. Cal travels to Italy, where he examines the priest, who doesn’t appear to be a fraud. Meanwhile, Lambret Schneider, the leader of a neo-Nazi group whose members call themselves the Knights of Longinus, has designs on the Holy Lance, the weapon used by a Roman centurion to stab Jesus, as well as on Berardino. Even Dan Brown devotees are likely to consider this old hat.
May 1, 2018
Cooper, author of the Will Piper and John Camp Down series, introduces a new run of religious-conspiracy thrillers featuring Cal Donovan, Harvard professor of religion and archaeology. After Donovan is summoned to the Vatican to investigate the case of a young priest who has seemingly developed the stigmata of the crucifixion, his inquiry intensifies when Father Giovanni is kidnapped. Donovan and Giovanni's sister, Irene, race against the clock to rescue Gio and unravel a mystery that reaches back to antiquity and involves Nazi treasure hunters and a contemporary political cataclysm. Cooper's intelligent, heart-pounding homage to Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and The Da Vinci Code (2003) will appeal to fans of action, thriller, and conspiracy genres.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)
October 1, 2018
The pope once again calls on Cal Donovan, Harvard professor of religious history and biblical archeology, to investigate a series of possible miracles in this fanciful sequel to Sign of the Cross. Three teenagers, each named Maria or Mary, all virgins, have become pregnant. Word of these events has caused what might be “the greatest schism in the
history of the Catholic Church,” with George Pole, an American cardinal, threatening an “open display of opposition if the Church doesn’t affirm them as miraculous.” Cal flies to the Philippines to visit the first candidate, and then heads to Peru to question the second. He sends Irish priest Joseph Murphy, who’s also on the Harvard faculty, to visit the Irish Mary. All three describe similar experiences: a bright light, a voice saying “you have been chosen,” followed by a state of confusion. The investigation spins out of control when Murphy is kidnapped, and the three Marys go missing. Fans of Da Vince Code knockoffs will have fun. Agent: Sarah Perillo, Curtis Brown (U.S.).
October 1, 2018
Three virgin pregnancies lead to a schism in the Catholic Church, but it's nothing a Harvard professor can't tackle.Pope Celestine IV isn't sure what to think when he hears that a Blessed Virgin Mary is once again on Earth--and not just one, but three different teenage Marys in geographically disparate locations, each preparing to have a baby without ever having done the deed. Is it a miracle or some sort of modern science? Celestine calls on his longtime friend Cal Donovan, a prominent scholar of religion and archaeology, to help plumb the miracle. Cal is the answer to the question, "What if being a Harvard professor made you a superhero, and you were also as appealing to women as, say, Shaft?" So he's more than ready to ditch his romantic getaway with his ladylove to visit two of the Marys (Marias, really) in their hometowns. Because he can't be literally everywhere at once, he enlists the help of his colleague Joseph Murphy to visit Ireland Mary and share his thoughts on the matter. While Cal confirms the Marys' virginities and pregnancies, he doesn't have much insight into the mystery, and he's preparing to return to his daily routine when the world is shaken by the news that all three Marys have disappeared. The Marys are in fact housed in a large mansion somewhere in the U.S., not exactly against their will but certainly not with their blessing. Not even caretaker Sue Gibney, who's responsible for the girls' everyday lives, is clear about the greater plan. When cardinal George Pole tenders his resignation to the Vatican, Celestine senses there's another change coming, but even Cal can't save the Catholic Church from a wave of believers focused on this modern apparent miracle--or can he? This virgin-birth thriller from Cooper (Sign of the Cross, 2018, etc.) is lighter and funnier than you might think, whether intentionally so or not, from the reams of hymen talk to the alma mater the author coincidentally shares with his hero.
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