Hello everyone!
And when I say beloved, I mean it.
I think I read the first six books front to back countless times, loving every single adventure Jack and Kostas ended up in. When I finally got the chance to own the books outright, I LEAPED.
I didn't even double check the landing.
I just did.
Now my mission is to gather them all here on the blog for your reading pleasure, because I understand some might not have the time for the books in full, some might not know about them, and some need reminders before going into the next one.
That's okay, I gotchu!
We won't stall anymore at all, but dive straight down into the depths of this mystery that's about to unfold before us: The Last Gospel.
Our story begins hot on the heels of Crusader Gold, during which adventure Jack Howard, underwater archaeologist extraordinaire, followed the path of a legendary Norse king from Greenland to South America. But at the moment, he and Kostas, his dive buddy and actual, real-life BFF, are diving off the coast of Sicily, chasing one of Jack's first dives more than twenty years ago during which he JUST saw a glimpse of something more right out of reach, but couldn't get to it because equipment wouldn't handle it.
Now, he's got Kostas on stand-by and they get to the Roman ship they want.
Except, it gives them something else. Something ... kinda big.
It gives them the name Paul.
As in SAINT PAUL. You know. THAT Paul.
Jack is like OMG what a find! And just when you think life's pretty great, he gets a call from Herculaneum where another member of the team, Hiebermeyer, has apparently unearthed something from the site that he wants his friend to see.
The problem with this particular site, however, is that someone seems to be pulling strings NOT to get it to properly open and excavate, stonewalling Hiebermeyer at every turn; however, he and Maria (she of Crusader Gold fame) manage to hide the fact they've found a full ass chamber previously hidden from the world, which also survived the volcanic eruption that buried the city.
Our heroes aren't sure what they're looking at, but we as readers know because Gibbins inserts some HELLA cool historical scenes: that's the room of Emperor Claudius.
Or, former emperor. History knows him as someone who was poisoned by his wife, but in actuality, in this book, he escaped, staged his death, and went on to live a hermit's life, with only a few trusted friends knowing who he was and where he lived. He was working on his scrolls and library, and also, as Jack and the team find, on something else extraordinary.
He had written something down that the world may not be prepared to hear even today. Even less than in a book.
The word of Jesus.
The actual, spoken word of the OG, the dude who everyone loves and reveres, but nobody actually seems to want to treat as a human being. THAT Jesus.
Jack is convinced that this is the next big thing - which, IT TOTALLY IS, OBVIOUSLY - and he and Kostas jet to Rome because that's where the clues are all pointing. Claudius gave the scroll to Pliny the Elder, who would keep it safe. And to do so, the dude hid it in the temple of the Vestals, because of course he did.
The Vestals being who they were, their role was important in Rome, and as a bridge from what came before Rome and its deities. The Roman Empire tended to include whatever locals believed in, rather than erase it, so there are remnants of old religions everywhere you look in their own pantheon. But Jack guesses that the Vestals may be the last remnant of a much older conclave, purely female, dating back to even the Sibyls who read the future by breathing in sulfurous smoke.
And if the scroll went to them ...
After diving through Rome's sewers, almost getting shot, and finding nothing really, our heroes nearly give up, until Kostas makes a random comment that gets Jack thinking. Because Pliny left behind - not the scroll - but a bronze casing that looks like it would have come from further north.
As in, Britannia kind of north.
Add in the fact Claudius famously conquered Britannia back in the day and they KNOW he was working on a complete history of it, and the duo is on the next flight out to London.
By this point they're joined by Jeremy, who not only proves himself rather useful, but he also explains that London has a unique history to begin with. Not just from the Blitzkrieg either; prior to that, it was the location of a sacred grove, one that the druids worshiped in, and that it's long been believed that druids were led by women.
Considering we had the Vestals going back to Sibyls, they now go back to druids, and even though Jack's been shadowed since Herculaneum, he's worried about a former flame and classmate Elizabeth, Kostas can't breathe because the rainy weather gets him right down, they dive at a site where they know there are old druid finds.
They hit jackpot.
Alongside a WWII unexploded bomb, because of course, they find the grave the world has been searching for ever since learning she lived. They come face to face with her, too.
Boudica. The Warrior Queen, who razed Londinium and who was buried here on the site of its sacred grove when she passed.
But still no scroll. They do, however, find another cylinder, and while they're chewing on this, they take a trip to the Vatican since they've been invited. Apparently, secret societies are a dime a dozen when you're treasure hunting, and this one warns them about being followed, that they'll help as much as they can, and well, if it's the end of the road, it's the end of the road.
Thankfully, Jeremy comes through yet again with big research about the caretakers of the church under which Boudica's gravesite was found.
Turns out they have an interesting history as well, always guarding the site, until it became too dangerous, and one of their own ditched it for California. At the Getty Villa, they learn more about this World War survivor, more about his beliefs and religion too, and it turns out that the answer to all their questions might just lie in the most hotly disputed spot of all.
The one and only: Jerusalem.
Jack figures out where the guy must have dived down to hide the actual scroll with the help of a local friend, an Ethiopian Christian, who might be the closest thing to what Christians looked to Jesus when he was still walking among the people, but of course it isn't easy. There's got to be a final stand-off - but Jack Howard never goes into battle unprepared.
He's got a whole ass release ready to go live, the story unfolding as it was happening, and naming names of the people opposing him and chasing after his team. He even does an old switcheroo trick with the cylinders, because naturally the cardinal who initially pretended he was helping them (the secret society, remember?) was actually like BISH THE WRITING IS HERESY THERE'S NO WAY JESUS LEFT HIS ACTUAL WORD ANYWHERE.
Going to show the world is NOT ready and probably never will be, because the truth is that Jesus might have had a thing or two different to say about how his Church is organized and led.
The journey ends in Galilee, of course, where Jack reveals the actual scroll - written in Greek, for the then-world to be able to read at large. And on the shore where once Claudius wrote down what his friend spoke, while the friend's pregnant wife Mary made dinner, Jack Howard reads the actual words of Jesus to his friends:
"The Kingdom of Heaven is on earth.
Men shall not stand in the way of the word of God.
And the Kingdom of Heaven shall be the house of the Lord.
There shall be no priests.
And there shall be no temples ... "
DG, TLG, 338
Provocative, beautifully written, and full of both adventure and historical breadcrumbs, The Last Gospel brings to the fore how the world isn't ready to actually believe anything like this. The Church as it stands would have a VERY hard time, if you ask me, and heresy is the word that'd be thrown around a hell of a lot.
But Gibbins does his very best to write as if this is true, as if what is actually known in history COULD have connected to this, and that makes it all the more beautiful to me.
It's both a love letter to Italy and an eye-opener for what could happen at once, and I'm here for it.
Plus it's just some really good writing, too! 10/10 recommend.
xx
*image not mine
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