Asia Menor, siglo VI. La secta maniqueísta desaparece.
Bosnia, 1992. Pearse, un estudiante de teología, mantiene una intensa relación con una joven croata.
Roma, hoy. Un manuscrito codificado llega a manos de Pearse. Llevado por su curiosidad, hace traducir el documento: el manuscrito contiene una oración maniquea. El maniqueísmo ha perdurado con el claro objetivo de eliminar al catolicismo e imponer una nueva fe.

This is a really tough read. Way too much information and not enough story. ( )

et vinden van een oeroud document voert een Amerikaans-Vaticaans geestelijke op een wanhopige reis door Bosnië, Italië en Griekenland om een dreiging voor de katholieke kerk af te wenden. In 'Angels and Demons' van D. Brown* wordt hetzelfde thema beschouwd vanuit wetenschappelijk oogpunt. Hier gaat het om de zuiverheid van het Woord, wat de thriller religieus getint maakt. Filosofisch-religieuze beschouwingen en het oplossen van ingenieuze woordspellen overschaduwen het zeker aanwezige thrillerelement wat. Namen en gebeurtenissen (Blair, Kosovo) situeren de gebeurtenissen in het nu. De verteltrant is vlot, de zinsbouw niet steeds helder. Psychologisch goede karaktertekeningen, boeiende couleur locale en intrigerende gebeurtenissen houden de aandacht vast.

I struggled through this book. There were some good, exciting parts and characters. But there was an equal number of confusing, boring descriptions and shallow characters. The story is about a young priest who comes into possession of an ancient scroll from a heretical sect called the Manichaeans. It follows the priest through a test of faith to the catholic church and his personal alliances as he decodes the clues of the "Perfect Light" to an alternate history conspiracy. ( )

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery novels involving secret texts, conspiracies, and a story where you have to think. This is not a passive novel...you have to take some time with it! Also, it is not a cookie-cutter type of mystery -- it is way way way above average & will provide you with some fodder for thought. I found myself looking up a LOT of stuff on the Internet that came out of this book and was amazed.

Anyway, let me try to briefly provide a synopsis here:

Ian Pearse is the main character in this book, an American priest at the Vatican. We first meet Ian in Bosnia during the heyday of the conflicts there. He meets a woman, Petra, while he is there, and as human nature would have it (this is before he actually took the collar), they fall in love & yada yada yada. But while in Bosnia, Pearse and Petra encounter a man who is carrying a strange looking set of documents, with symbols on them that Pearse, who has studied ancient languages and classics, cannot recognize.

Move forward in time 8 or so years; Ian has become a full-fledged priest, is living in apartments at the Vatican. A friend of his, Cesare, comes to Ian in fear; he has discovered something buried in the scavi under a church at the Vatican. It turns out to be a scroll in a language that Ian cannot make out - Cesare tells him that there are people chasing him and that his life is in danger. Ian takes the scroll to a friend, a professor, who has the capability to decipher the scroll, and the information takes him on a quest to Greece, then to Bosnia (where he meets Petra again) and back to Rome. Underlying all of this is a plot that is so nasty and with such evil people in high levels that it has the potential to bring down the entire Catholic Church...and they are after Ian.

A fun mystery story that will keep you entertained for quite a while. ( )