30 Pieces of Silver

If you're looking for an action packed thriller from the Dan Brown school of mystery mash ups with more than a smattering of Indiana Jones thrown in - this is for you.
It's a wild ride that I thoroughly enjoyed: a lot of stuff is blown sky high, but the stakes are even higher in an archeological cat and mouse that spans most of Europe and even a bit of Asia. Exotic locations, colourfully described, sinister opponents, dynamic heroes, mysteries hidden at the roots of Christianity and spanning the millennia as well as the occasional thought provoking twist giving a fresh look at the life of our savior make for an absolutely riveting read that will keep you glued to the reading device of your choice.
Enjoy! I did.

"30 Pieces of Silver" is an action-packed thriller of a controversial nature. A real page turner, it incorporates history, geography, and religion in a book reminiscent of Dan Brown, Steve Berry, and James Rollins.

The story begins with a Christian suicide bomber at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. The bombing uncovers a cache of skeletons, and it is determined that one of them is the remains of John the Baptist. Written on the bones is a story in ancient Greek that will lead to more remains. The State Department's Anti-terrorism division sends Sergeant Vincent Brandt and his four man special ops team to the Ecuadorian jungle to extract genetic anthropologist Dr. Rebecca Monroe, who is participating in a ritual involving her being tied show more to a stake with a anaconda wrapped around her. She was trying to prove herself worthy in order to obtain DNA samples to test a hypothesis she had developed. Sergeant Brandt's team rescues her right before the end of the ritual, angering Dr. Monroe. She was resisting the extraction until sergeant Brandt mentioned the name of her ex-professor/lover, Dr. Archibald Lochum. Dr. Lochum is trying to find the remains of Jesus to prove his hypothesis that Jesus was not resurrected as the bible states. But a secret organization known as the Knot has been tasked with preserving the remains of thirty people who were buried with silver coins over their eyes. These thirty were supposedly in on a secret that was fabricated at the base of the cross, and the Knot was formed at the same time.

The remains found in Paris lead the team to Budapest, where more skeletons lead the team to Istanbul and finally to Rome. They were constantly harassed by the Knot, lead by the unique team of Tok and Petir. Sergeant Brandt suspects one of his team is a double agent, as the Knot seems to know his every move. Along with the action, a romance begins between sergeant Brandt and Rebecca, adding more difficulties to Brandt's mission. The climax takes place in Rome where the member of Brandt's team working for the Knot is revealed and Rebecca finds the secret the Knot had been trying to keep.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was full of action and plot twists, making it hard to put down. I do not agree with the secret revealed at the end, but the story was excellent and makes the reader think. If you enjoyed "The Da Vinci Code," you will enjoy "30 Pieces of Silver." As stated earlier, the book is highly controversial and speculates an alternate view of the main premise of Christianity. If you do not like alternate views of Christianity, then steer clear of this book. show less

30 Pieces of Silver is a fun over-the-top thriller in the vein of 24 - you know, that terrorist/spy show that ran for several years with the hero who just could.not.be. killed? Electrocute the guy and he comes back to life? That kind of over-the-top. If you keep that in mind and ignore the historical inaccuracies (like the name Kyle being a Scottish name, not a mideastern one and none of the 12 being named Paul) you have a fun, rollercoaster-esque kind of read. True, the majority of the book's events are fantastical and could not happen - especially not with survivors. But sometimes it's fun to read a completely over-the-top book - and this is one of them

"30 Pieces of Silver" by Carolyn McCray was a Kindle book I picked up because it was on sale at Amazon. Usually the freebies and low cost books are hit or miss and this one turned out to be a hit. Rebecca Monroe is a scientist with a goal. But her goal becomes secondary as she is drawn into the search to find the bones of the disciples of Jesus. Hoping the discovery will aid her in her mission to confirm what she calls the "smart gene" she reunites with an old mentor and lover. In the course of her adventure she is protected by a group of soldiers led by Brandt who gets her scientist blood boiling to a fever pitch. Among the soldiers there is a mole who is seemingly working with the mysterious "Knot" to prevent Rebecca from learning show more more about Jesus and the crucifixion. The Knot adversaries led by the strange Tok and Petir seem well organised; not surprising since the group has been around for a very long time. The characters are actually well developed considering there are a lot of them. Some of the action seems somewhat improbable but once I was drawn into the story I couldn't put it down. However if you are a staunch Christian you might find the surprise ending unsettling. It has a Dan Brown flavor so if you enjoyed any of his books you will probably like this. This is apparently a book in a series. I liked it well enough that I now reading the next one. show less

Loved it!! Think.. DaVinci Code meets Bad Boys (movie.. Will Smith? You know..) Packed with action, history, a little flirting, science and lots of pokes at religious controversy that would make my super-religious grandma disown me for suggesting it. Loved it..

This book started off very poorly and it was only the ancient Jesus day timeline that bumped the rating up to two stars.

The characters were all insufferable (though the bad guys were a little enjoyable as bad guys at least). The two women characters we saw of course hated each other instantly and one was depicted as being a big-boobed ditz whose main purpose was to warm the bed of the professor. The main woman (Monroe) was kind of ok at first, if a little bitchy, but she quickly grew to being the "woman distracted by/obsessing over a man" kind of female character.

The men themselves (aside from the bad guys really) were generally depicted as dick headed assholes who only really cared about fighting and killing and the military ones were show more expected to be dimwitted as well.

All that being said, I did enjoy the ancient day a great deal and would have preferred a whole book set during that time over the modern day stuff we got. However, the endings of both the Jesus timeline and the modern day timeline, were a bit enjoyable. show less

I just couldn't get into this book. I started it months ago and simply can not force myself to pick it back up. From the title I was expecting something with historical fiction with a current mystery worked in. I guess that is what it is about, but the story lacks what it takes to get me to pick it back up. So after months of it being on my "currently reading" list, it is time to give it up as a bad job. I may try again another time.