An old World War II diary filled with cryptic clues launches two friends on an adventure around the world . . . but their path is fraught with danger and deception . . . and the treasure they seek can change everything for goodâor evil.
Father Michael Dominic and his journalist friend Hana Sinclair are off to follow a tantalizing lead: a Nazi journal revealing a holy relicâs hiding place. The pair believes the book could lead them to a sacred cloth Christ used to cleanse his face, which according to legend now bears his image â a living record of the Son of Godâs true appearance.
The diary propels them on a whirlwind adventure from Jerusalem, to Rome, to Buenos Aires. But as they unravel an ancient mystery, they run afoul of a nefarious sect determined to use the Magdalene veil for its own ends. Can Michael and Hana outsmart their ruthless adversaries and bring the artifact home to the Church, or will the revival of Aryan ambition destroy the long-lost relic of Christ?
An old World War II diary filled with cryptic clues launches two friends on an adventure around the world . . . but their path is fraught with danger and deception . . . and the treasure they seek can change everything for goodâor evil.
Father Michael Dominic and his journalist friend Hana Sinclair are off to follow a tantalizing lead: a Nazi journal revealing a holy relicâs hiding place. The pair believes the book could lead them to a sacred cloth Christ used to cleanse his face, which according to legend now bears his image â a living record of the Son of Godâs true appearance.
The diary propels them on a whirlwind adventure from Jerusalem, to Rome, to Buenos Aires. But as they unravel an ancient mystery, they run afoul of a nefarious sect determined to use the Magdalene veil for its own ends. Can Michael and Hana outsmart their ruthless adversaries and bring the artifact home to the Church, or will the revival of Aryan ambition destroy the long-lost relic of Christ?
Jerusalem â circa 33 CE
The unruly crowds lined both sides of the Via Dolorosa, most shouting, some spitting and heckling, many crying and wailing for the condemned Jew from Nazareth carrying a large wooden cross on his back. He would soon arrive at the hills of Golgotha, a section in the northwestern corner of Jerusalem outside the walls of the city, where his journey would end.
As he moved through the crush of onlookers, his face bloody and swollen from the beatings by Roman soldiers at his tribunal just moments earlier, one young woman took pity on the man, someone she knew. Stepping forward, she removed her byssus veil and offered it to him, so he could wipe away the blood and sweat of his burdens.
He held the veil to his face, taking in the soft, sheer, aromatic fabric smelling of myrrh, and after a moment of respite, handed the soiled veil, known as a sudar, back to the kind woman. Looking at it, she was astonished to find an imprint of his face had been imparted in vivid detail: the shape of his head, his tortured facial features, the stains of his bloodâit was as if looking at a delicate painting. She took it to be a miracle.
As the man continued on his way, the woman followed along, outside the horde of onlookers, until she came to someone she knew, someone she had been seeking, whom she knew to be the manâs closest disciple. The woman was weeping uncontrollably.
âMiriam,â she said gently, âI, too, grieve for Jesus. Look upon my veil, you will see his visage passed onto the sudar when he held it to his face. I want you to have this.â
Miriam of Magdala gratefully accepted the veil, thanking her. âSas efcharistĂł, BerenikÄ, for this gesture of kindness. I will place it in my Lordâs tomb.â
Three days after the Crucifixion, Miriam of Magdala was the first to discover that the tomb was now empty. Soon, the apostles Simon Peter and John also came to see that Jesusâ body was not there (John 20:3). They also observed two cloths where the body had lain: one was a large cloth which had been placed over their Lordâs body. The other blood-soaked cloth was balled up and laying next to a rock.
Seeing this sudar, and knowing it to be the one given to her by her friend BerenikÄ, Miriam removed the cloth from the tomb and took it away, its facial image her only memento of her beloved Jesus.
Rennes-le-Château, France â 1937
Ominous rumblings of an impending world war galvanized much of Europe as Nazi Germany grew restless under Adolf Hitlerâs unquenchable lust for expansion and domination.
Among the FĂźhrerâs goals was the broad establishment of an Aryan race, one with, in Hitlerâs mind, historical roots that went back to the ancient Israelitesâdescendants of Abraham, Jacob, and Isaacâeven identifying Jesus Christ as an âAryan fighterâ who fought against "the power and pretensions of the corrupt Pharisees" and Jewish materialism over spiritual values.
In support of Hitlerâs Aryan mission, SS ReichsfĂźhrer Heinrich Himmler, the architect of the Holocaust, commissioned large-scale archaeological expeditions for years, predominantly throughout France but also in such disparate places as Iceland, for Nordic races were deemed Aryan as well.
A man obsessed by the occult, Himmler was consumed with acquiring the two most legendary sacred objects in historyâthe Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail. To this end he enlisted the aid of Otto Rahn, a writer of some fame whose book, Crusade Against the Grail, Himmler had embraced with a passion reserved for those of like minds.
Rahn was an avid student of the Cathar mythosâlegends of a small and peaceful yet influential order whose beliefs and traditions rejected those of the Church of Rome. Rahnâs own guiding principles in his search for the Grail were derived from Wolfram von Eschenbachâs epic poem Parzival, from which Rahn had identified the last surviving Cathar fortressâperched strategically on the majestic peak of MontsĂŠgur in the French Pyreneesâas the most likely resting place for the Holy Grail.
Funded by Himmlerâs think tank known as the Ahnenerbeâand in league with a mysterious Nazi occult group called the Thule SocietyâRahn spent years searching the areaâits churches, villages, even the labyrinth of caves snaking throughout the Languedoc regionâto no avail. He never found the Holy Grail.
But while excavating a hidden room buried beneath the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene in Rennes-le-Château, Franceâa church that just two decades earlier had been overseen by a mysterious Catholic abbĂŠ named BĂŠrenger SaunièreâRahn did find something of profound importance. It was a particular artifact contained in a small white alabaster box secured with an antique bronze hasp. Inside the box was a delicate ancient veil finely woven of rare byssusâalso known as sea silkâon which appeared the full facial image of a man whose features clearly showed he had been beaten, whose cheeks and forehead suggested fresh wounds, and whose peyesâthe side curls at the temples of Jewish men in the first centuryâwere clearly visible. The image on the opposite side was identical, though in reverse to the image on the obverse.
Rahn was convinced he had discovered the legendary Veil of Veronica, which oral tradition claimed had been given to Mary Magdalene while Jesus walked the road to Calvary, where he would be crucified moments later.
Ecstatic over his discovery and certain he had something of acute historical value to present to his master, he returned to Himmlerâs Wewelsburg Castle fortress in BĂźren, Germany, and handed the alabaster box over to Himmlerâs deputy, SS Colonel Walther Rausch, who promptly gave it to Himmler, who secretly placed the object in the castleâs hidden vault. Outside of ceremonial use by the mysterious Thule Society, it has never been seen since.
First and foremost, a large thank you to Reedsy Discovery and Gary McAvoy for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.
Always eager to get my hands on anything penned by Gary McAvoy, I was pleased to be handed an ARC of his latest novel, the final in the electrifying Magdalene Chronicles trilogy. While Father Michael Dominic and Hana Sinclair have been busy uncovering old biblical-era mysteries, there are some who want the secrets and possessions all for themselves. In this last piece, an old relic appears to have fallen into the hands of the Nazis, stowed away for decades. Now, a group seeking to revive old Aryan roots wants to utilise the artifact to create new and impactful change to the world. In a piece that spans two continents, McAvoy takes readers on his most intense journey yet. Perfect for those who have devoured the previous two novels, as well as the reader who needs a book that is unputdownable!
On his way to his execution, Jesus was stopped by a woman who helped wipe away his blood and sweat with a veil from around her head. Thankful for the act, Christ does so before being led to Calvary for his crucifixion. The woman, a devout follower, passes the veil along to Mary Magdalene, who ensures it is placed within the tomb where Christ is buried. When his disciples find the tomb empty three days later, there is the veil, complete with a facial outline of Jesus.
During the era of the Nazis, this veil was touted to be exactly what they needed to push forward and seek to vilify the Jews even more. When the veil was obtained by Heinrich Himmler, he made sure to stow it away in a secret location and left a riddle so that the next generation would be able to find it, though not with any ease. His plan was surely to revive the Aryan race through its most prominent member, Christ himself.
While in France for some educational purposes, Father Michael Dominic is approached by a young man purporting to be in possession of some significant information that could be of interest to the Vatican. Dominic soon learns that there is a diary of Heinrich Himmler that could reveal something significant. The young man, who admits his grandfather was a high-ranking Nazi who fled to Argentina, wishes to learn the secrets in the diary and perhaps uncover what is said to be a relic from the time of Christ.
Never one to turn down a historical mystery, Father Dominic broaches the subject with his friend, Hana Sinclair, whose job as a journalist is rooted in uncovering mysteries of all kinds. Working together, they locate the diary, which leads them to Argentina. They learn of a group, the Ahnenerbe, who pose as a social group, but have strong ties to Nazi-era membership. Whispers about possible neo-Nazi revival cannot be dismissed either. When Dominic and Sinclair are able to piece together the riddle left by Himmler, they learn that the secret, the Magdalene Veil, is hidden in an old German castle that was once a Nazi training ground.Â
Keen to retrieve the article for the Vatican, Dominic and Sinclair make arrangements to have it removed and brought to the Holy See. However, there are some who want it for themselves and will stop at nothing to retrieve it. When it falls into the hands of the Ahnenerbe, they hope to use it for their own means, as they develop a Kinderklinik, a place to foster a new era of neo-Nazis under the radar, while also using new techniques to begin genetic experiments. With the Veil in their possession, this group has plans to extract something and turn the Church on its head, while reviving old sentiments that will surely tear the post-War world apart anew.
While Father Dominic and Hana Sinclair are held captive, they learn that a high-ranking Vatican member might be pulling the strings to allow this power play, which could only ruin centuries of Church control of the message. It will take much determination and some key messaging to foil the plot and key the Magdalene Veil safely in the hands of those who cherish it, and wish to keep it secret once again. An explosive end to the series, but which direction will it take and how will the world change when all is revealed?
I stumbled upon the first book in this series last summer and could not put it down. When Gary McAvoy reached out to me to read the next two novels, I pushed all my other reading commitments to the side so that I could dive right in. I was thrilled and devoured the stories, as they tell such an alluring tale, so much so that I was up well into the night to flip pages and discover what was to come of the protagonists. It is that sort of story and a series not to be missed by those who love biblical mysteries of a kind.
Father Michael Dominic reprises his role as protagonist and does a masterful job. While his backstory is left mostly in the previous novels, the reader can see great development of his character throughout this piece. There is a gritty determination throughout, as he mixes his archivist past with a penchant for being a sleuth. His connections serve him well throughout this piece, though it is a sense of wanting to protect the Vatican that shines through, pitting secrets against keeping the peace for the Church.
McAvoy creates strong supporting characters throughout, using many of those who grace the pages of the book to connect the dots in history, as well as the revival of the neo-Nazi movement. There is a richness, not only in the characters, but also the history of which they speak, which flavours the narrative effectively and conveys the seriousness of the mission at hand. Spanning three eras, these characters tell a story that will pull the reader deeper into the plot as all is revealed in a timely manner.
The story was perhaps the more electrifying of the three novels, putting a sense of urgency front and centre. McAvoyâs ability to spin a tale is second to none and there were times I wished I had binge-read all three books back to back, if only to reconnect with all the nuances that appear in the text. However, this book packs enough punch and history to have kept me intrigued throughout. McAvoy uses short chapters to keep the reader propelling forward, peppering in history and anecdotes throughout to assuage the curious while still keeping a degree of mystery. The narrative moved at breakneck speed and there is little time for the reader to relax, as the story is not one that meanders at any point. McAvoyâs use of local language (Spanish, German, etc) helps to inject a sense of realism to the story, leaving the reader to feel as though they were right there. While things do come together in the end, it is the sense of panic and âwhat could beâ that keeps the reader wondering well after closing the bookâs cover. McAvoy does ensure that those who wonder where fiction and fact come together are calmed with an Authorâs Note to discuss it all. I can only hope that McAvoy has something similar for his next writing assignment, as I am hooked and want more of this sort of novel.
Kudos, Mr. McAvoy, for another stunning piece. With the trilogy done, I can only hope people will hear of these books and discover Father Michael Dominic for themselves. I am sure your fan base is about to swell very soon!