On the Third Day: A Novel

by Piers Paul Read

Archaeologists in Jerusalem make a revolutionary discovery in this “beautifully written” thriller from a #1 New York Times–bestselling author (Ruth Rendell).

John Lambert, Catholic priest and professor of biblical archaeology, returns to London from an archaeological dig in Israel—and not long after, he’s found dead, hanged in his room. It’s only the first shocking discovery for his assistant, Andrew Nash, a young friar. The second is the reason for the spiritual disillusionment that led his mentor to such a desperate irrefutable evidence of the skeletal remains of Jesus Christ excavated under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City.
The find could shake the core doctrine of the Catholic Church and destroy the very foundation of the Christian faith. But it also poses a grave threat to Nash and his associate, Israeli archaeologist Michael Dagan—because they’re not the only ones scrambling to piece together the clues to this ancient mystery.
 
In their shadow are the KGB, the Israeli Secret Service, and an ambitious American cardinal. But are they collaborators in a diabolical hoax or coconspirators in a cover-up of the most damning discovery in history? The answer “chills the blood and makes the hair stand on end . . . confirming Read as one of our strongest novelists” (The Independent).
 
“It’s hard to imagine a more provocative thesis,” said the New York Times of this forerunner to the biblical conspiracy thrillers of Dan Brown and Kate Mosse. On the Third Day is “an enthralling read—touch[ing] upon a number of current theological controversies” (Kirkus Reviews).

 

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Religion, Novels

338 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

British novelist and non-fiction writer. Educated at the Benedictines' Ampleforth College, and subsequently entered St John's College, University of Cambridge where he received his BA and MA (history). Artist-in-Residence at the Ford Foundation in Berlin (1963-4), Harkness Fellow, Commonwealth Fund, New York (1967-8), member of the Council of the Institute of Contemporary Arts (1971-5), member of the Literature Panel at the Arts Council, (1975-7), and Adjunct Professor of Writing, Columbia University, New York (1980). From 1992-7 he was Chairman of the Catholic Writers' Guild. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL).

His most well-known work is the non-fiction Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors (1974), an account of the aftermath of a plane crash in the Andes, later adapted as a film.

Reviews

[Tim Pendry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read created here a mash-up of the catholic novel and the thriller. He did not succeed at either to the degree that his writing talent deserved. Perhaps, as the Cold War was ending and religion became geo-politically important again, he saw an opportunity for a best seller and it just misfired.

The book is centred on a good idea - the shock that would be created if Israeli archaeologists found the physical remains of Christ under the Al-Aqsa Mosque and whether this was a real discovery or a hoax. Unfortunately you can see the end coming half way through the book.

A thriller needs suspense to be maintained right up to the last chapter (as the far better and contemporaneous 'Perestroika Christi' of John Hands manages to do). Here we can guess the baddies and the mechanism of manipulation far too soon. The thrills dissipate.

Similarly as a novel of catholic torment in the tradition of Graham Greene the book also just fails to make the grade. It is worthy enough and Read knows his Catholic theology but the characters slip quickly into cardboard cuts with unnatural reactions just to maintain the fiction.

We are set up with individuals we can believe in who then react in ways that are either totally out of character or ridiculously impulsive just to move the plot along and shoe-horn it into the thriller-driven story-line.

Sexual relations are particularly unbelievable with priests leaping into bed with women at the moment the resurrection ceases to be believed as a fact, thereby probably unintentionally confirming every prejudice about catholicism being a religion of sexual repression.

The idea that anyone changes their sexual behaviour on a shift of ideology in a matter of hours let alone that women are minded to accede to that demand for satisfaction (although priest fetishes are not unknown) as quickly is psychologically absurd, especially when it happens twice.

This is a shame because Read is a very good writer and often shows considerable sensitivity to character and motivation so that one guesses that a fine 'catholic' novel could have been released from its torment if only the thriller aspect had been abandoned.

The trouble is that thrillers sell and catholic novels do not to anything like the same degree. I think we had a little deal with the creative devil here where the devil, as usual, failed to deliver on his promises.

There is one aspect to a novel of its time (1990), neither good nor bad, that is interesting. The rather honest (rare nowadays) depiction of tensions between Zionism and Catholicism as ideologies (alongside a more cursory depiction of liberal and traditional tensions within the Church).

The book comes across as gently snide towards liberals - 'Perestroika Christi' reminded us as well of non-American resentment of American liberal catholicism - but we also see here the distrust between Jews and Catholics laid out more clearly than is usual.

Catholic distrust is often portrayed as 'antisemitism' and dismissed but there is something far deeper going on here which relates to the issue that the book tries to tease out through the macguffin of Christ's physical remains - what is narratively at stake for both sides.

To secular atheists, the whole thing is a mystery of obfuscation and not worth the candle but to hard-line Zionists and Catholics alike whether Christ resurrected or not relates to two thousand years of story-telling on which their whole structures of power and belief depend.

One of the reasons traditionalist catholics dislike liberal catholics is that the latter do not 'get' this continuity. Their indifference to the resurrection except as powerful metaphor to define faith and conduct suggests to the former that anything may be permissible in the future.

For traditionalists, the resurrection is a powerful instigator of absolute faith, the Kierkegaardian leap into the irrational that justifies the line it drew in history betwen the Old Testament of the Jews (positioned necessarily as inferior) and the new universal dispensation.

We can see that the Zionists with a right-wing bent might resent this enormously and want an entirely different view of history. Liberal Catholicism might be a useful ally in unravelling the 'mysterium tremendum' as fact in the world and equalising Jews and Christians.

In fact, more than equalising. Read is rather good at constructing a cogent right-wing Zionist position that might be unpalatable as machiavellian ethno-nationalism but is based on premises no more or less absurd than the Catholic faith.

From this perspective alone, the book is a success, albeit an unsatisfactory one creatively, in opening up this perspective and being fair to all sides even if we think we know where Read's sympathies may lie. It is not with any alliance of liberal Americans, Jews and Communists.

The latter from their different perspectives all have an interest in weakening the claims to absolute truth of a Church that once defined the terms of existence of all those that these other ideologies now represent. Their collective 'ressentiment' is perhaps justified.

If there was an opportunity to exploit something that pushed Catholicism further away from claims of absolute superiority, they would probably take it - that seems to be the implication of the book. This particular atheist existentialist reviewer wonders why they cannot all live and let live.

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a really intriguing idea. A Jewish archaeologist finds the skeleton of a crucified man beneath the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Is this the body of Jesus? Does this undermine Christianity? The setup is terrific. However, the unraveling of it is mired in Zionism and Byzantine political maneuverings. The main character Andrew Nash is a brother at a monastery who is studying to be a monk and an archaeologist. He is drawn into the discovery by the death of his beloved mentor Father Lambert (not a spoiler since it happens in the first chapter) and this discovery, whether true or not releases him from his vows of chastity very quickly. The writing is pedantic. Each character doesn't really think so much as ask lots and lots of rhetorical questions. I finished it because the plot was interesting, but it's hard to recommend because the writing is so tedious.

[Josephine (Jo) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just suppose that an archaeological dig was to reveal something that would change everything that you ever believed in! A belief that many had fought and died for and that if proved to be untrue would rock the world for billions of people. This is what the author is telling us in this exciting novel set in modern day Jerusalem where the discovery of a skeleton of a crucified man is found: to whom do the bones belong and what will be the ramifications of the discovery if the suspected identy turns out to be correct.

Before the end of this story more lives will be given or taken and faiths questioned, lost and strengthened.
Is it possible that this is a genuine find or is it a ruse to bring about the downfall of the Christian religion?

[Peter · Rating 1 out of 5]

This church conspiracy thriller is marred by obvious anti-Semitism, with a plot of the discovery of a skeleton under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem which appears to be the bones of Jesus (or is it an elaborate Israeli hoax?) Deaths follow and it becomes a monks vs. Israel political thriller with plenty of action from cardboard characters despite some quite profound questions and interesting Biblical archaeology being discussed.

[Muhammad Bin khalid · Rating 4 out of 5]

"No one asks a question when they suspect that the answer would be what they do not wanna hear"

There are books in which you feel that the writer KNOWS something, and instead of writing an article, (s)he writes a story around the facts.
Then there are books, in which a writer wants to give a message regarding something they FEEL, and writes a story about it.

This book has got both these qualities.

The body of a crucified person is found beneath the lands in Israel and dates back to the first century, and it is suspected that it may belong to Jesus himself. What happens next, well, that's the story. It was my first book that takes the reader into the state of Israel. It has a lot of history and also gives us a clear view as to what the Christians, and the Jews believe regarding Christ, and its link with celibacy.

Of course, one may not agree with many things written in it, but it was a real page-turner. Short, simple and solid!

[Petra Willemse · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful. Truly. Was like a character treatment without development. Where was the editor for this? A good idea just flushed away in a sea of useless words with unnecessary details and still an appalling lack of vividness despite all the words. Just no.

[Audrey Lenahan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plodding, heavy on imaginary political intrigue. If I'm going to read something this politics-heavy, I'd at least like it to be true. Also, none of the characters were particularly likable.

[Marguerite Czajka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concept, but the characters were a little flat.

[SusanS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Could all religions co-exist if the bones of Jesus Christ were discovered and the Resurrection was relegated to myth? Interesting read.

[Gypsikrys · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somewhat surprising!

I was prepared sort of for one scenario to play out, but instead it went in a different direction. Interesting use of biblical archeology in the story.

[Celina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fue el primer libro que me recomendó mi papá. Y fue cuando empecé a preguntarme sobre la religión ( ya no soy católica)

[Mary Garback · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like the way I thought the plot was heading and stopped reading.

[Kryštof Selucký · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are books which get better over time. This one went from intriguing and thrilling to absurd and preachy. The idea of someone finding the body of Jesus is in itself interesting and at the beginning the novel seems to promise an interesting account of the affect such a find could have on conservative monks.

However, in the second half of the book, the author tries to write a thriller instead but fails miserably. The plot is completely unbelievable, the behavior of the secret services nonsensical and the characters' motives become absurd. Moreover, the fact that the writer is catholic himself quickly shows in turning what at the beginning seemed to be a rational and impartial account of the characters to a orthodox, heavily conservative and preachy "happy ending". Finally, even from a purely literary point of view, the resolution of the plot is boring and absurd. The build up of the drama collapses in a few pages only to be resolved by a deus-ex-machina-like action of one of the characters.

I give 2 stars out of 5 because the writing itself was not too bad (even though often very descriptive, explicit and repetitive) and the idea itself is interesting.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Piers Paul Read is very Catholic, very conservative, and this book is perfect for that audience. It's an intellectual, theological thriller, set in London and Jerusalem. It begins with archaeologists discovering the bones of Jesus in Jerusalem, and then moves to the crises of faith resulting from that - or was it a hoax?
It's also the love story between the nonobservant daughter of the Jewish archaeologist who discovered the bones, and - well. That would give too much of the plot away.
Behind the plot is a well formed discussion of why conservative Christians need for there to be an actual, physical resurrection.
Read of course puts a lot of his own religious beliefs into the book; they're the structure behind the plot, and if they don't match your own beliefs they might get in the way here are there. Still, it's a good, smart plot with a very satisfying ending. Recommended.

[Cat. · Rating 3 out of 5]

About an Israeli archaeologist who finds a body that may be that of Jesus. What next for all the Christians of the world? He calls a friend, an archaeologist who is also a monk. The monk is then found hanging in his cell. So far, a fascinating foundation for all kinds of questions, but a bit shaky as far as believable plotline...and then it turns into a political thriller. Actually very interesting if somewhat formulaic.

[Cris]

Not a novel but a piece of journalism.....

[Peter Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well worth a read .Interesting,supplying lots of biblical scholarship and Middle East information.Plot built up better than the resolution but still quite a satisfying read.An intellectual thriller.

[E. B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting to read the debates among Christian, Jewish, and atheist philosophies. It is a story of how a paradigm shift in long held beliefs can rattle one's life.

[Robb · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story was character driven. I didn't like any of the characters.