Scroll Back

by Jay Stamatis, Steven Stamatis

"I shall give you what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, what no hand has touched and what has never occurred to the human mind." -Gospel of Thomas
Struggling to find his calling, Peter Mandes meets a determined researcher Alex Mostovolov, who becomes his mentor. Peter joins him on the final leg of a 20-year hunt to Mexico’s pyramids in pursuit of an ancient key scroll that reveals Biblical Time Travel secrets.
Trapped between the rising tension for the priceless secret and his own spiritual struggle to discover God, Peter shifts the focus from finding scrolls to a more profound to validate his faith and reconnect humanity to their Creator.
A historical thriller, ScrollBack dares to explore scriptural alternatives with bold insights into Christian beliefs in a setting of ruthless power brokers determined to
snatch the scroll for their own evil purpose.
Steeped with intrigue, betrayal, deception, murder and a relentless search for God, the story delivers a heart-stopping succession of riveting scenes that takes the reader on an enlightening journey through Time, blending the unimagined with the real.

ebook

First published October 28, 2014

Reviews

[William Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw a few mentions of this book on Facebook and the blurb sounded cool, so I checked it out. Read on to find out more!

Synopsis (from the author): Scroll Back dares to explore scriptural alternatives providing bold insights into Christian beliefs. Alex, an anthropologist, comes upon a folio from the Thomas Gospel in an excavation site in Nag Hammadi, Egypt in 1945. Hidden coordinates lead him to the Dead Sea where he finds another scroll wrapped in animal skin. The painful deciphering process ultimately reveals Biblical Time Travel secrets imbedded in a Key Scroll hidden in Mexican pyramids.
The 20-year search culminates with a final journey to Mexico’s Pyramid of the Sun with Alex’s protégé Peter Mandes. Aware of the historic nature of Alex’s research, an agent of a global brotherhood bent on acquiring the Scroll, Nick Parseconis funds the research but tracks their activity. He reports his progress to the brotherhood, while he shapes his own agenda.
Steeped with intrigue, cruelty, deception and murder, the story delivers a heart-stopping succession of riveting scenes that cry out for a broader outcome: to reconnect people with their Creator.
Trapped between the unfolding tension for the priceless Scroll and his own spiritual struggle to discover God, Peter focuses on validating his faith as he uncovers the path to Time Travel. He launches a journey through Time that blends the unimagined with the real.

What I liked: The story concept was amazing. The ideas put forth in the novel were most definitely thought provoking, and the characters had a nice reality to them. The connection between the various events in various time-periods was well done, especially the Tower of Babel and the language confusion that followed. I did find myself cheering on the good guys and hoping Nick (the main bad guy) would fail. I also liked the way Peter had to make his way to faith.

What I didn’t like: The story jumped about between events, characters, and time periods, making it a challenge to follow at times. The connection between the Dead Sea Scrolls and time travel was a bit of a stretch for me, too.

Overall impression: Scroll Back was a very interesting read. Filled with great concepts, intriguing mysteries, and the search for faith, the book moved along and kept me interested. Overall, a good read that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys Dan Brown type thrillers.

My rating: 4 Stars

[Julian Barritt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scroll Back – well-named, as ancient Egyptian scrolls and time travel feature prominently - is a nicely crafted piece of sci fi. Although quite a long book, the pace moves fast, thanks to a present tense narrative and interesting viewpoints from different characters. The Dead Sea Scrolls; the Turin Shroud; the Bermuda Triangle – you name it, this book’s got it, and part of it’s appeal is the hunt for clues and the lengths various characters go to to try and decipher these clues. There’s even what I believe to be an homage to the cult UK TV series The Prisoner in the form of a mysterious brotherhood of hooded figures with numbers, not names! I was not hugely convinced by the science and theology which were portrayed, but as with all fiction, the suspension of disbelief is the thing, and in Scroll Back this was easy to run with and crack on with a very enjoyable read. I liked the way the individual travellers were disoriented and suffered memory lapses as a result of this novel form of time travel, and the disjointed way these excursions were reported made the who work convincing. Compulsive reading right up to the end.

[Lauren Lynch · Rating 4 out of 5]

If anthropology, archaeology, antiquities and conspiracy appeal to you, Scroll Back won’t fail to entertain. In the tradition of The Da Vinci Code, National Treasure or Raiders of the Lost Ark, this novel delves into controversial territory as the characters search for hidden knowledge in the Nag Hammadi Gnostic texts. Written in third person present tense, Scroll Back even reads like a screenplay, which I found distracting at first. The scene transitions, chapter ordering and vast cast of characters takes effort to follow, yet these unusual qualities seem to work for this time travel novel.

I was especially intrigued by the way that early human migration and language confusion at Babel were weaved into the story. The themes of connectedness are fascinating. Whether or not you choose to connect the dots as the authors have, the ancient relics and history behind the story captivate. The characters’ conclusions are intriguing when approached as a work of fiction.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[P.S. Winn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This amazing story begins with Peter Mandes telling a story to Nelson Stone jr. The son of a past colleague. the reader is taken on a time traveling adventure that heads back to biblical times. In fact the means to time travel is found in hidden scrolls. The story is well written and enables the reader to see not only back in time but what potential life shattering ideas may have been hidden, just like some of the important bible scrolls were. Great job on a novel that tells a interesting and compelling story of a subject that we have only begun to scratch the surface of.

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clever narrative really makes it for me and Scroll Back has one. It whips along at a cracking pace and draws you into the book. The historical references in the book and the tie in with well-known artefacts is an added bonus which makes it all seem very plausible. An easy 5 stars.

[June · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an easy book to put down. I am indifferent to the topic of the Dead Sea Scrolls and a story about time travel. Another possibility is my lack of background knowledge of Bible stories.