The Shroud

by John Coyne

Discovered on the steps of the church as a baby, young Father Jamie Ignatius, raised by nuns, now preaches in his only home since birth. Lately, in prayer, asking the burning question of his life, "Who am I, Father?" he has experienced horrifying visions of murdering the people he loves.

Soon Jamie begins to have waking visions of a tall figure wrapped in burial linens -- its face an image of his own! Fearing for his sanity, he seeks help from beautiful Maureen Sullivan, a woman he feels strangely, erotically drawn to. A student of parapsychology, she hypnotizes Jamie and guides him back to his past lives. They discover that she is his love and that Jamie is Judas Thomas, the main believed to be the twin brother of Jesus, who betrayed him to the authorities before his crucifixion. Jamie believes he has been reborn again and again to atone for his crime, and Maureen must agree when she sees a photograph of the Shroud of Turin, believed to be Jesus' burial cloth, and the face of the crucified man is Jamie's!

In a shattering climax, the shrouded figure leads the entranced Jamie deep into the cathedral's crypt and toward his only chance to redeem his soul....

Genres: Horror, Fiction

276 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

John Coyne (born 1937) is an American writer. He is the author of more than twenty-five nonfiction and fiction books, including a number of horror novels, while his short stories have been collected in "best of" anthologies such as Modern Masters of Horror and The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror. A former Peace Corps Volunteer and a life-long lover of golf, Coyne has edited and written a number of books dealing with both subjects, the most recent two novels areThe Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan and "The Caddie Who Played With Hickory".

Reviews

[Tome Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely not as bad as the reviews on here make it out to be. And the back synopsis of the book gives you nothing. This was a fun novel about an orphan priest who has lived multiple lives but can't seem to stop making the same mistakes. With the help of meditation and a beautiful homeless center leader/parapsychologist student he learns the truth of his past lives. Also someone is going around killing the homeless dressed in priest attire! The climax at the end of this one was perfect in my opinion! Lost one star because some of back story into the past lives was kinda...boring. But once we get to his first life, the it starts tiring into a real page turner. So definitely worth a read if you have it. Dont let these bad reviews on Goodreads make you think twice. Solid 4 stars

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a well-written or well-plotted book. Pedestrian, boring, heavy with the author's biases.

Plus it ends badly.

There are, however, a few scattered moments that are *almost* creepy, and every now and again the better writer slips out for a sentence or two, saving it from the dreaded single star.

But Charles -- the shroud a source of evil? Did you even read the book to the end?

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good, thought provoking. Imagine, what if the shroud of Turin was a source of evil rather than good. Or at least indifference to humanity.

[Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Flutboekje

[Johanna Schmidt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I paid about $2 for this book in a thrift store, and I think that was a very fair price. It’s not particularly scary, though it has its moments. The characters are pretty one-dimensional, and its points on religion are heavy-handed and not particularly original. Still, I give it some points for the plot going in a wild direction. I guarantee you won’t be expecting the explanation. If you stumble across it, I won’t tell you not to read it, but I also don’t recommend going out of your way trying to find it.

[Rebecca Rogers · Rating 1 out of 5]

not very good. full of fluff and not enough story. it's difficult to review because the book didn't really go into detail and didn't explain a lot. mostly it's about a priest and a woman who want to sleep together but can't because he's a priest. whatever!

[Bethany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh, I should have guessed that this was going to end with a weird Jesus-y plot. Not bad, not overly horror either.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A strange little story intertwining Catholicism, Gnosticism, and reincarnation for what basically amounts to a red herring supernatural aspect to a ho-hum murder mystery.