Tom Sagan was an award winning journalist. He had covered stories from all the world's hot spots and was always in demand, until he was accused of fabricating a story and his career ended in disgrace. Eeking out a living ghost writing, he is suicidal and his surviving family has shunned him. That all abruptly changes when he receives a picture of his estranged daughter (Alle) bound and gagged. He is told to cooperate in finding some information or his daughter will die.
Alle is a history scholar concentrating on post Columbus America. She has become friends with Zachariah Simon, a billionaire interested in Jewish causes and possessing the money to fund them. His current search is for the temple treasure from the second Jewish temple. He is looking for, the golden table of Divine Presence, the silver trumpets and the seven branched menorah. The man called the "Levite" knows where the items are. Sagan's father wass a part of this group and was the last Levite. Alle has told Simon she buried her grandfather with several documents. Simon wants to exhume the body to see what was buried with him - he believes it is the route to the lost treasure. Simon is the one who gave Sagan the picture of Alle.
The story moves from Jamacia to Europe and back again. Simon believes that Columbus was really a "converso" ( a Jew who converted to escape the Inquisition) and smuggled the items to the new world on his ships. It is a fact that he took a Hebrew translator with him on his voyages. There are clues that support Simon's theory but he can't find the actual treasure. Simon's thugs are following Alle and Sagan as they follow the leads they piece together from the documents found in the coffin. Sagan's problem is that he doesn't know whom to trust - everyone has betrayed him.
Once again Steve Berry has written a book filled with poor good guys, rich bad guys, political intrigue, lost religious treasures and double crosses ad family problems. The story moves at a torrid pace even though it is constantly shifting between threads. Not to worry though, it all comes together in the end. This book is a good choice for a fall read.
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