The Fire Gospel - Tapa dura

Theo Gripenkerl is a modest academic wtih an Olympian ego. When he visits a looted museum in Iraq, looking for treasures he can ship back to Canada, he finds nine papyrus scrolls that have lain hidden for 2000 years. Once translated from Aramaic, these prove to be the fifth gospel, written by an eye-witness of Jesus Christ's last days.

MICHEL FABER is the author of the highly acclaimed The Crimson Petal and the White, The Fahrenheit Twins and the Whitbread-shortlisted novel Under the Skin. The Apple, based on characters in The Crimson Petal and the White, was published in 2006. He has also written two novellas, The Hundred and Ninety-Nine Steps (2001) and The Courage Consort (2002), and has won several short-story awards, including the Neil Gunn, Ian St James and Macallan. Born in Holland and brought up in Australia, he now lives in the Scottish Highlands.