Sign of the Cross by Glenn Cooper

A young Catholic seminarian, Giovanni Beradino, and a classmate are visiting a forgotten monastery in Croatia. One of the remaining monks asks the soon-to-be Father Gio, but not his friend, to join him in a crypt where he is exposed to what appears to be a relic of the Crucifixion.

Father Gio gets assigned to a tiny parish in Italy with the goal of being a simple priest tending to his flock. But he becomes the focus of the media and religious pilgrims when he develops stigmata – bleeding from the wrists, ankles, the same locations of the nails to Christ’s hand and feet, and in his side where the Centurian’s spear pierced the side of Jesus on the cross.

When such miracles occur, the Vatican must investigate. Normally, they convene a council that eventually debunks the story. Because of the publicity, the Pope requests the help of an author of religious antiquities to be an objective 3^rd party. The author is Dr. Cal Donovan (no relation to Fitz Donovan of the Jane Street book just reviewed) of the Harvard Divinity School. He goes to Italy for a preliminary investigation and finds Father Gio an earnest young priest thrust into a caldron he doesn’t understand.

Father Gio also grabs the attention of a couple well-heeled Germans who present themselves as simply idle rich treasure hunters, but in reality, they are descended from a line of former SS commanders. During the war, their parents or grandparents were charged with finding Christian relics from the Crucifixion. The belief was that whomever held those artifacts would possess unmatched power. They were to find some of the Crucifixion nails, pieces of the Cross of Christ, and the head of the Centurian’s spear. Some were found and secured in a bunker in Antarctica. They believe this priest holds the key to power denied, but more importantly, a resurrection of the Third Reich.

Sound like Raiders of the Lost Ark? Or The Last Crusade? Or The Da Vinci Code? You’d be right. I’ll admit it’s an entertaining read and the main characters are well developed. Many might say it’s a good summer beach diversion. The story is well-paced and presents enough clues that this is the beginning of a series of books about Dr. Cal Donovan. Just couldn’t get over the feeling that we’ve been down this road before.

ECD