The subtitle on the cover says, 'A Lost Past, A Hidden Gospel, A Monumental Discovery.' This introduction places the reader into the correct frame of mind to expect a story that takes itself seriously. This novel purports to be about a discovery that can change human history.

The novel Resurrection provides the reader with a primer on the subject of finding, translation, trading and selling of early Christian manuscripts. The novel is written around the historical events surrounding the finding of the Nag Hammadi manuscripts in Egypt in December 1945. However, the events in this story take place in 1947. As the story progresses the reader is dragged through a melodrama of relationship entanglements worthy of a soap opera before the book brings its plot to a conclusion.

The Nag Hammadi texts are copies of manuscripts originally written by Gnostics of the 2nd Century A.D. It's my observation that 'new age' adherents of today think they see kindred spirits among the 2nd Century Gnostics. Therefore, readers who agree with the following three statements are likely to enjoy this novel:
(1) Jesus was an advocate of a decentralized social and spiritual movement for seeking universal truth and the attainment of the highest individual human potential.
(2) This message from Jesus was suppressed, outlawed and changed by early orthodox Christian church leaders (who were all men) because they wanted to be in control of the new religion.
(3) The truth was finally uncovered when the Nag Hammadi codices were found in Egypt in 1945. (But access to them was restricted for 30 more years.)

I'm trying to decide whether to tag the book Resurrection as a historical novel or a murder mystery. Its interweaving of a fictional plot with actual historical events is what makes the book most interesting. However, the fictional plot makes it more of a murder mystery. Probably a better tag is 'Da Vinci Code knockoff,' except that this book has a plot that makes more sense than The Da Vinci Code. However, this book falls short in the 'thriller' aspect when compared to The Da Vinci Code. I recommend reading the nonfiction account of the finding of the Nag Hammadi texts to fully appreciate this novel. http://www.nag-hammadi.com/history.ht...

The following is the review of the book by PageADay Book Lover's Calendar. I have inserted it here because it is a more concise description of the book than my above review:
Gemma Bastian goes to Egypt, near Nag Hammadi, to investigate the mysterious death of her archaeologist father, and becomes entangled in his studies: the role of women in early Christianity and translations of apocryphal gospels of Philip, Thomas, and Mary Magdalen. A cast of interesting characters who deal in antiquities and these provocative texts, as well as two brothers who become romantically involved with her, and great period details make this a fun addition to the ever-growing Da Vinci Code knockoffs. ( )

http://www.bookpage.com/0609bp/fictio... ( )

Tucker Malarkey's second book, 'Resurrection', tells the tale of the discovery of the Gnostic gospels in the Egyptian desert near Nag Hammadi. Here are the ancient texts written in Coptic that belie the narrative of the twelve disciples and add the gospels of Thomas and Philip.

Malarkey's book is thickly peopled with the actual historical actors in the discovery of these potentially explosive texts. Here we find Togo Mina, head of the then-new Coptic Museum, the antiquities dealers of questionable veracity Phocion Tano and Albert Eid, and Carl Schmidt, who purchased the Gospel of Mary Magdalene after it was found in 1896.

Malarkey's protagonist, Gemma Bastian, leaves post-war London when words arrives that her archaeologist father has died suddenly in Cairo. A scholar of early Chrisitainity, just what was Bastian seraching for - or more importantly, what did he find and was that discovery the cause of his death?

The 'explosiveness' of these texts is open to doubt, in my opinion. The established churches did not, after all, implode upon their discovery - which did indeed present a radically different view of Christianity. Nonetheless, the story of the texts is fascinating and Malarkey intertwines the historical with the fiction giving the reader a true sense of time and place.

Check out the Nag Hammadi Library web site for some excellent historical background.

Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction, early Christian mysteries, and, yes, the Da Vinci Code. ( )

Growing up in an Irish Catholic family in the 1960s and 70s was an experience steeped in church-every-Sunday, frilly white communion dresses, tiny silver crucifixes on delicate little chains, nuns enveloped in billowing habits, and don’t-you-dare-lean-your-behind-on-the-pew-when-you’re-kneeling instructions from Mom & Dad. I can tell you with much certainty that the Catholic Catechism I used in Sr. Paul Regina’s religion class sure didn’t have anything in it about the Gnostic Gospels.

As I’ve aged, I, like many of my contemporaries, have lost a little faith in the teachings of the Catholic Church. It’s not so much a loss of faith but a real questioning of the things I was taught so many years ago. So I naturally gravitate to books that deal with themes that question the same things I question. In this case, that questioning involves the authority of the four gospels of the New Testament, and the place in history and faith of the Gnostic Gospels, or New Testament apocrypha.

Resurrection is a fictionalized account of the discovery of the Nag Hammadi gospels in post World War II Egypt. Gemma Bastian, our intrepid heroine, is a war-damaged nurse who lived through the Blitz in London which killed her mother and destroyed her home. Shortly after the war ends, her father, a Biblical archaeologist, is found in his Cairo office, dead of an apparent heart attack. Shortly after being informed of his death, Gemma receives a mysterious letter from him that sends her to Cairo on a mission. As she discovers more about her father’s work, it becomes clear that he had discovered something that would rewrite the history of Christianity. The story follows Gemma as she slowly pieces together the last days of her father’s life and culminates in her possession of the Nag Hammadi gospels.

This reminded me very much of early Elizabeth Peters fiction, which owes a lot to the gothic romances so popular in the 1960s and 70s, and which evolved into the inimitable Amelia Peabody series. The three primary characters — Gemma, Michael and Anthony (the two brothers who vie for her attention) are colorful and well drawn, but the real action in the story involves the discovery of the gospels, what they contain, and what happens to them. Malarkey’s story whet my appetite enough that I’m currently reading the scholarly works on the Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels. I realize that my father, who spent the first part of his young adulthood in the seminary, is probably spinning in his grave, but I have to say that what I’m reading is making me re-connect with the basis of my Christian belief. And that’s not a bad thing. ( )

http://www.amazon.com/Resurrection-Tu... ( )

Library Journal Review: In her second novel (after An Obvious Enchantment), Tin House founding editor Malarkey offers an absorbing fictional account of the discovery, history, and repression of the "lost gospels" found at Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in the 1940s. Although Malarkey draws heavily on Elaine Pagels' respected historical study, The Gnostic Gospels, for subject matter and structure, the fictional world she creates is all her own. When Gemma Bastian's archaeologist father dies unexpectedly, she leaves World War II, torn London for Cairo to see the place he loved and learn more about his work. Charles Bastian knew that additional gospels outside of the four in the Bible existed and thought they should be distributed for public consumption. These gospels, including one by Mary Magdalene, illuminate an alternative picture of the life and teaching of Christ, especially in regards to his relationship with Mary. Sound familiar? Unlike The Da Vinci Code, however, Malarkey's book is more novel than thriller; she focuses in equal parts on the character of Gemma and the finer details of the Gnostic Gospels. Readers who enjoyed Kate Mosse's Labyrinth or Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian will find Resurrection a good read. Recommended for most public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 4/1/06.]???Andrea Y. Griffith, Loma Linda Univ. Lib., CA --Andrea Y. Griffith (Reviewed July 15, 2006) (Library Journal, vol 131, issue 12, p68) ( )