A Touch of God - Gold & Betrayal

Michael A Kelly

Description

History, Religion, facts, faith, truth consequences - They all weave a mosaic of intrigue in this international thriller, that starts from America to Europe and even Tasmania Australia. Jack is an ex-military man and a highly ranked scholar in the fields of theology and ancient languages. Though he is frequently at odds with many of the Catholic Church's teachings, he accepts an invitation by the Vatican to examine ancient texts that may or may not provide important information about the New Devotion. A secret society that has long fascinated him. Soon with his brilliant assistant Zoe they become involved in brain deep dusty research, murder attempts, torture and more. Hidden agendas proliferate as do potentially lethal interlopers, such as the CIA, an American Senator's henchmen, includingt terrorists and even the mafia. If you want to follow our Hero in one of the greatests treasure hunts ever....KEEP READING.

Sujets

• Catholicisme
• Fiction
• Thrillers

Informations

• Publié par: Xlibris AU
• Date de parution: 22 février 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669889595
• Langue: English

Extrait

A Touch of God - Gold & Betrayal











MICHAEL A KELLY



Copyright © 2023 by Michael A Kelly.

Library of Congress Control Number:
2023902206
ISBN:
Hardcover
978-1-6698-8961-8
Softcover
978-1-6698-8960-1
eBook
978-1-6698-8959-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.






Rev. date: 02/07/2023





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CONTENTS
Chapter 1 The Final and Edited Copy of Manuscript Comm…11 th Nov 2022
Chapter 2 A Journey of Intrigue
Chapter 3 Enter Uncle Sam
Chapter 4 Enter the Sacrificial Lamb
Chapter 5 Decisions to be Made
Chapter 6 A Seed is Sown
Chapter 7 And So the Story Goes
Chapter 8 An Opportunity Arises
Chapter 9 Cometh a Soulmate
Chapter 10 An Insight into an Enquiring Mind
Chapter 11 An Offer Too Good to Refuse
Chapter 12 An Obligation to the Mother Church
Chapter 13 A Hidden Life
Chapter 14 A Game of Cat and Mouse
Chapter 15 A Flight Towards Discovery
Chapter 16 The Roman Uptake
Chapter 17 Holding Back the Past
Chapter 18 The Conspiracy Begins
Chapter 19 The Inquisition Starts
Chapter 20 What’s it All About?
Chapter 21 A Believer Meets His Maker
Chapter 22 Inquisition of a Holy Man
Chapter 23 Goodbye to an Old Friend
Chapter 24 Unexpected Revelations
Chapter 25 A Soul’s Journey
Chapter 26 The Fellowship Within
Chapter 27 The Pressure for Answers
Chapter 28 Sour Grapes
Chapter 29 Research Within Hallowed Ground
Chapter 30 A Time for Reflection
Chapter 31 A Moment of Bonding
Chapter 32 A Taste Of Bitter Wine
Chapter 33 The Battle of Ok Corral
Chapter 34 Unhappy Locals
Chapter 35 A Time for Reflection
Chapter 36 Finding a Rare Vintage
Chapter 37 The Quest for Answers Begins
Chapter 38 A Fall to Remember
Chapter 39 A Lead Discovered
Chapter 40 A Small Breakthrough
Chapter 41 The Grim Reaper Gives a Call
Chapter 42 A Sad Homecoming
Chapter 43 A Feeling of Hopelessness
Chapter 44 A Treasure Map Found – Challenge Offered
Chapter 45 An Interesting Bit of Cloak and Dagger
Chapter 46 An Unfathomable Let-Down
Chapter 47 A Strange Intervention With an Unusual Twist
Chapter 48 A Request for Answers
Chapter 49 More Questions, Less Answers
Chapter 50 The Mystery of the Cross Grows Deeper
Chapter 51 Has Zoe Got It, Right?
Chapter 52 Fun Time With Jason
Chapter 53 The Handover
Chapter 54 And So Endeth the Lesson



CHAPTER 1
The Final and Edited Copy of Manuscript Comm…11 th Nov 2022
I ndiana, USA, 9 p.m.: A bleak, rainy night thrust its needles of freezing rain down on the prestigious campus of the Notre Dame University, the very home of everything Catholic. This esteemed institution, considered to be the traditional Ivy League pillar of learning for everything religious outside the Vatican, sometimes harboured dark secrets. The university, internationally recognised as a stalwart pillar of academia, was said to hold within its archives many challenging facts pertaining to all religions by way of contradictions and contradictory statements to current scripture.
Recorded history was said to be held back to keep Christianity stable, making mankind oblivious to the true meaning of walking in the shoes of the Fisherman. Hence, Notre Dame was seen as a leading collective authority on theology, highly respected across all Christian denominations. Pride in its alma mater was a landmark quality set into its scholars, who sought to never compromise their seeking of academic correctness against pressured influences. However, a small pocket of its academics, dedicated as one to maintain their lust for truth, sometimes stirred the pot by questioning some of what they conceived as political interference in the presentation of doctrine.
Overtly on this night within its hallowed walls, it hosted a meeting of strange bedfellows seated in an area off the main library. Two male figures sat facing each other in a semi-darkened office; the subject of their discussion clearly displayed a high level of tension. Expressions charged with visual annoyance were setting on the landscape of their faces like ridges of granite with lips narrowed, eyebrows dancing like angry worms above glaring eyes. It was an atmosphere poised for a scene of combat, it would seem, with each man clearly displaying mutual annoyance with the other. One could consider a common factor as a Palaeolithic reaction to each block of words communicated between them, fluctuating both with volume and intensity.
The younger of the two was a tall man of athletic stature, set just to glare reactively as if desperate to intercept the words flowing towards him, ready, it seemed, to throw back a rebuff not at all necessarily in a polite manner. The other combatant was well into middle age, dressed in a neat tailored black suit sporting a crimson dickey front topped with the familiar white reverse collar – a prebendary sent with a message.
This man of the cloth seemed incensed that the advice he was set to deliver was so easily argued against by the person it was meant to influence. It was obvious that the intensity and stress of what he was delivering lifted his blood pressure as the veins on his nose filled to their capacity, capillaries expanding with the fluid of life, almost making his nose shine luminously in the semi-darkness.
The monsignor’s (as was this person) lips retreated to a thin, clenched line at the end of each sentence as if set in anticipation of another contradictive reply to the proposals he was putting forwards. It was an abnormal situation, one might say, that a senior leader with the potential of an appointment to the ranks of bishop, a true doyen of the church, was agitated, debating vigorously to gain positive reaction. His adversary, a theology professor, was obviously following a different line of thought.
Truly, a strained situation spun its web, lifting annoyance between the two protagonists, each locked in a mental wrestle, trying to gain some capitulating hold on their personal argument on whether the tradition of knowledge of any religious consequence currently discovered should see the Vatican to be first evaluated. The Mother Church had always had a policy to filter its contents in a manner suitable to ensure the faithful were given direction, not confusion.
The monsignor’s combatant in this debate was indeed a theological scholar of high standing, one Jack MacInnes; although a Catholic, he was not prepared to capitulate to the hypotheses being put forward. His opinion was directly opposite to his opponent, firmly defending his position that any knowledge researched and found to be of intellectual importance should be presented for all Christianity to assess its worth. His firm belief was that the archaeological history of Christendom hidden away over the millennia, regardless of its opinions or versions of true history, should be introduced upon its discovery into an open forum. His belief was that, once accuracy and confirmation of its authenticity was confirmed, all should be made available to allow full openness of debate in assessing its true value and meaning for mankind.
There was a strange quirk that sometimes flashed through MacInnes’ mind, precipitated by the mix-up of views across Christianity in general or, in fact, religion by any name. For each continued to present conflicting views on interpretation to suit their brand of elected denomination. ‘We have always been taught about the absolute infallibility of God,’ he would often mention before adding a conclusion that annoyed the monsignor. ‘God probably thought it a good idea at the time to create what he no doubt saw as a simple path leading man to eternity but one which, I see, has fallen slapdab on the seat of its pants when handed over to mankind!’
It was a sarcastic comment, one may assume, for MacInnes, by nature, was never one to hold back to avoid conflict. He had spent just over a decade in the Australian Army with a SAS unit assigned to attend mopping-up operations within the conflicts in Iraq and Iran and the Israeli border with Lebanon.
Obviously not sharing any part of this view was one Monsignor Murray, acting in his role of representing the Vatican. His point of argument, unanimously agreed on by of the College of Bishops, was to drop a code of silence on further research that was contradictory to the current teachings of the Mother Church.
The opinions expressed to MacInnes by Murray were developed as critique on a series of what the college considered to be disruptive paper