The Psalter by Galen Watson

A Vatican priest sneaks off with a manuscript of incredible age, gets run down by a guy on the FBI watch list who ends up dying in a car wreck while fleeing the cops. Father Romano, a Vatican archivist, takes possession of the scroll and sneaks off to Paris to enlist the help of an expert in ancient texts and her linguistics professor father to interpret what's in this book that got a priest killed.

In ancient days, the 'paper' was hard to come by so it was reused over and over. With careful chemical techniques, one can drill deep into its history. What he learns is that the original writing may date back to the first century - one of the original works of Christianity. And some people don't want it coming out because what it says could shake the foundations of the Church. 

In the 9th century, the Catholic church is reeling from corruption and politics. Father Johnnes, a Brit, has but one life and wants to live it by archiving as many of the old texts as possible, saving the originals as is rather than recycling the 'paper' for newer translations and interpretations. 

Got this book as a Kindle freebie. My brother-in-law told me of a subscription service called BookBub.com that complies book deals (from free to $1.99) and sends out daily alerts based on your profile. This was my first. Watson's 2012 book is told in two parts; one part current and one part from the 900s, mostly the latter. We follow Father Johannes from his early days as a dirt poor parish priest to his rise to become an unwilling Pope. The current day story is about Father Romano's search for clues about not only what's in (or under) the book as well as who wants to suppress its contents. Sort of a Da Vinci Code's Robert Langdon in a cleric's collar. If you liked Da Vinci Code, this is right up your alley. I was at best so-so for that line of Dan Brown's work so I liked this better. For free, it was a reasonable diversion while I wait for the new Olen Steinhauer book this spring. But be warned, the content of the ancient writings might not be well received by some Christians much like the story line of Da Vinci Code didn't sit well either. Or just accept that this is fiction and the product of a fertile imagination and don't take the lessons too seriously.

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