J. G. Sandom

November 2009

NEW AND NOTEWORTHY

Thanks to you, THE GOD MACHINE has gone back for a third printing.  That's right -- a 3^rd printing!

And, soon it will be in Rite Aid, Duane Reade and Costco outlets, plus in US Army PXs, all along the East Coast!

If you live in Philly (home of the National League Championship Series winners!), go to your nearest Rite Aid and buy a book!

If you live in New York (home of the American League Championship Series winners!), go to your nearest Duane Reade and...yes, that's right...buy a book!

(If they don't have them yet, ask them when they're coming in.)

Books will be in a dozen Costcos in New Jersey starting in January.

Meanwhile, the theo-thriller continues to climb up the charts, this month ranking in the top 0.04 percentile at Amazon!

 

Thanks for your support!

 

Spread the good news.  Email a friend.  Click here for THE GOD MACHINE postcards. 

 

 

The Church insisted it didn't exist.

They lied.

They said it was just a Masonic legend.

It wasn't.

A two thousand year old secret...

Revealed.

 

The coded journal of Benjamin Franklin. A hidden map. A legendary gospel. These are the first pieces to an ancient puzzle so powerful it could destroy the very foundation of Christianity.

Once before, Joseph Koster unearthed one of the Church's most deeply buried secrets, and it almost cost him his life. But some treasures are too hard to resist. And as Koster puts the pieces of Franklin's puzzle together, he discovers something even more startling, and infinitely more deadly.

Now, along with beautiful Indian electrical engineer Savita Sajan, Koster must race to decode Franklin's journal before it falls into the hands of those who would do anything, kill anyone to suppress it. But in a world of secret societies, ancient conspiracies and Masonic puzzles, locating the prize is one thing...staying alive, another.

For as Koster and Sajan are about the learn, the same key that unlocks the doorway to Heaven...could open the portals of Hell.

 

For this month's excerpt from THE GOD MACHINE, click here.

To purchase your copy of THE GOD MACHINE, click here.

 

MOST RECENT REVIEWS

THE GOD MACHINE -- Editorial Reviews

Historical Novels Review
"History galore, violence, and intrigue fill the pages of this tightly plotted, twisting and turning adventure story, reminding one of a multilayered Russian matryoshka doll. The reader will also learn a great deal about da Vinci, Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, and many more historical geniuses...Those who love numbers, physics, and a truly unpredictable, suspenseful mystery will relish the facts and ponderings replete in this well-written, mysterious spin-off of The Da Vinci Code. The God Machine is a very impressive historical thriller!"

Books By Mail (BBM)
"I learned a valuable lesson this weekend. Don't start a J.G. Sandom book at 11:00 at night with the intention of reading a few chapters before bed. When I finally finished the book it was 2:34 in the morning and I had to get up in 4 hours. It was definitely worth the loss of sleep. The book is a non-stop suspense ride that takes the reader from past to present...on a journey that is filled with excitement, love, danger, and murder. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for thrilling read and a thought-provoking story."

bookpage.com
"Sandom has a knack for combining legendary gospels, ancient secrets, star-crossed lovers and Masonic puzzles to create a simmering stew of conspiracy, intrigue and danger that keeps the plot pot boiling until the very end."

bookideas.com
"The author of Gospel Truths, J.G. Sandom has already shown he intends to give Dan Brown some competition. Fortunately, he has the talent to make this a serious challenge. Brown would be well advised to check his rear view mirror because there's someone closing fast and about to overtake the famous author of The Da Vinci Code!"

ArmchairInterviews
Armchair Interviews says: A 5-star thriller
"J.G. Sandom creates a thriller that compares in suspense to Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code."

Book Passage
"A thrilling tale of secret societies, ancient cover-ups, intellectual puzzles, and nonstop action...Original."

 

GOSPEL TRUTHS -- Editorial Reviews

Crystal Reviews
"J. G. Sandom, like Dan Brown and other writers covering similar conflicts, offers each reader a thrilling adventure ride but also some fascinating knowledge about Masons, the Founding Fathers of America, architecture, cathedrals, and so much more...Gospel Truths is a dynamic, exciting, intelligent read that will thrill every reader and, for true seekers, may even send you searching for the real 'gospel truth.' A notable novel that will gain fresh attention and interest of new readers! Move over, Dan Brown!"

To purchase your copy of GOSPEL TRUTHS, click here.

 

THE GOD MACHINE -- Reader Reviews

Caroline Thompson (author of Edward Scissorhands) @ Small & Creepy Films
"Move over, Dan Brown...All hail J.G. Sandom...(The God Machine) is a thrilling and breathless, rapturously-written and mind-blowing read. It’ll keep you up all night, turning pages as fast as your little fingers can manage."

George Smith @ Amazon.com
"This is the best religious thriller I've ever read...Part historical fiction, I loved the way it brought Benjamin Franklin to life...The God Machine is perfect summer reading, a beach book that will shake you like a rag doll while you sizzle...The book is also a keen exploration of the relationship between science and religion, proof and faith, and how our culture has turned technology into a kind of 21st century deity...As well-researched and historically fascinating as Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, as relentless and fast-paced as James Rollins's Doomsday Key, and as well-written as Paul Sussman's The Last Secret of the Temple, The God Machine has it all!"

E.M.S. Cohen @ jgsandom.com
"Just read you for the first time.  Thrilled!  Enjoyed it."

David Lincoln Ross @ Amazon.com
"Sandom is a born story-teller...(THE GOD MACHINE) is a well-oiled and humming mystery, whose pages fly by in a flurry of action and suspense."

James Wynbrandt @ Amazon.com
"An illuminating, intelligent and gripping thriller...as relentless in its pace as it is rigorous in its plotting and satisfying in its payoff...Propelled by a gallery of unforgettable supporting characters drawn not so much from imagination as from a twisted parallel universe...Sandom has managed to make both the machine and his story as real, palpable, and alternately beautiful and terrifying as what we expect to find at the heart of the eternal battle between good and evil."

Mandi @ Entertainment Weekly (under The Lost Symbol review)
"Just finished reading another book The God Machine by JG Sandom that also has the masons. That one was good too."

A.G. (Gavin) Williams @ Amazon.co.uk
"The cross that anyone writing a book such as The God Machine must bear is the horrendous oversaturation of the thriller genre at the moment with Da Vinci Code similarities. (Note:  Da Vinci Code was not the first of this type of book, but was the one most easily recognised.)  So, it was with a lot of caution I started reading this book, and was fully prepared to go into "airport-lounge-rapid-page-flick" mode.  I surprised myself by actually enjoying this. Good job by J.G. Sandom to keep some elements fresh.  If you like that type of genre, it's a good book to buy."

Bonnie Brooks @ Amazon.com
"This gripping historic adventure mystery weaves through the past to the present and will keep you turning the pages."

Ted Gramkow @ Amazon.com
"The DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons were made possible by Mr Sandom's genre-breaking novel Gospel Truths published in 1992. Now with The God Machine, he has set the bar even higher for future religious thrillers...In The God Machine the reader gets it all:  crafty intrigue, implausable situations, historical references all tightly woven and masterfully written...Before you head to the movies this summer and spend $12 for a ticket to see another lackluster Hollywood summer bummer like Angels and Demons, order The God Machine, pull out the beach chair, pop open the umbrella, dig your toes in the sand and have fun with this well-crafted thriller. It's well worth the time."

Douglas W. Randall @ Amazon.com
"One thing I liked about The God Machine is its historical detail. I spent hours looking up enlightening things from the book. It's a good read and a great story."

Ladybug @ Amazon.com
"I loved this book! It's not a difficult read, (and) you don't have to get too bogged down in any special knowledge; the author gives you what you need. The characters are likeable and believable...A fun read for vacation, when you don't want to overinvest!"

Karen Elley @ The Book Case
Re Nikola Tesla's recent 115th Birthday, Karen writes:  "Tesla is in good company—Edison, da Vinci, and Ben Franklin—in J.G. Sandom’s page-turning thriller, The God Machine, released in paperback in May 2009."

Marcia Zand @ jgsandom.com
"The perfect balance of history, intrigue and action to leave the veteran reader sated."

Jeff Einstein @ Amazon.com
"J. Sandom just keeps getting better. Who else can write in such delicious detail about religion, microchip architecture, Ben Franklin, the Freemasons and the Enlightenment -- all under one cover? And who else can dress it all up in the habit of a disarmingly gorgeous but sociopathic killer nun? The God Machine is terrific fun, and a great read. Buy it."

gracie412 @ Amazon.com
"I loved this book...fast-paced, easy to read, and kept me on my toes until the last page...If you like books with action, adventure and really smart plots, this is the novel for you!"

seagull49 @ BN.com
"One of the best books I have ever read. Right there with the great Dan Brown...Do your shelf a favor and buy it."

abdoggett @ BN.com
"I really enjoyed this book! It's a cross between The Da Vinci Code and National Treasure. It really should be made into a movie."

Muriel Falvey @ jgsandom.com
"I love history, I love religious thrillers, and 'The God Machine' is one of the best I've read...Who needs Dan Brown when you have J. G. Sandom?"

Adam Bierman @ jgsandom.com
"Highly entertaining, and yet you don't leave your brain at the front cover!"

John Moore @ jgsandom.com
"As good as any Dan Brown has written...I could not put it down."

Travis Deputy @ Amazon.com
"This novel can definitely stand on its own two feet amongst the crowded religious thriller genre; and not only does it stand, it shines among some of the best in the field. This one's got wheels, not feet!  Definitely the best religious thriller I've read in a while...Better than The Da Vinci Code...I give it 5 stars out of 5, or 10 out of 10!  It's a rarity in the world of fiction, especially amongst those of this ilk.  Buy it now and prepare to be up for an allnighter!!!"

Amos Lassen @ Amazon.com
"This is quite a book--so much so that I read this in one sitting. It is full of adventure and paced so that, for me, it was impossible to put down...The God Machine pulled me in and kept me hooked."

To purchase your copy of THE GOD MACHINE, click here.

 

GOSPEL TRUTHS -- Reader Reviews

Dan @ Square Dancing Dan in Denmark
"The atmosphere in Gospel Truths is dark and moody. Sandom is a creative wordsmith and his characters are compelling and likeable...(GOSPEL TRUTHS) delivers a well crafted story with surprising twists...l am looking forward to reading the sequel."

To purchase your copy of GOSPEL TRUTHS, click here.

 

READERS' POLL

Check out the latest Readers' Poll, in the left margin, and test your knowledge of THE GOD MACHINE (HINT:  For excerpts from THE GOD MACHINE, click here.)

For those of you who took last month's Readers' Poll, the question was, "How did Nick Robinson characterize the enigmatic illustration found in Ben Franklin's version of the Gospel of Judas?"  Only one third of you got this one right.  The correct answer was, "A Masonic curiosity."  (Yes, I know this one was tricky.  The "phi" was the most popular answer, and it's also featured throughout the novel.)

For the results of previous polls, click here.

 

PUZZLES & e-POSTCARDS

For those of you who like puzzles and games, click here...just for fun!  Challenge yourself to THE GOD MACHINE crossword or jigsaw puzzle.

Click here to view and download some e-Postcards/Wallpapers based on THE GOD MACHINE.

 

READINGS & SIGNINGS 

Do you have ten members in your Reader's Circle or Book Club?  Want to have a Skype Reading and Book Conference about THE GOD MACHINE?  Click here to learn how you can bring J.G. Sandom into your home via a free Skype online video call.  All you need is broadband Web access and a PC.

The author appreciates your feedback.  If you'd like to say something about a reading, click here.

 

IN OTHER NEWS

Did you enjoy THE GOD MACHINE?  Read the prequel:  GOSPEL TRUTHS
Before The Da Vinci Code and The Lost Symbol...before The Last Templar...before The Secret...and before THE GOD MACHINE -- there was GOSPEL TRUTHS!  Re-released after more than a decade, it's time to read the book that started it all.

J.G. Sandom is featured under One to Watch at BookReporter.com. Check out the in-depth author interview.

Booklist called GOSPEL TRUTHS, "a splendid, tautly woven thriller...(and) an intelligent mystery of tremendous spiritual and literary depth." Library Journal said, "A masterful first novel, based on a true incident, which spins a complicated web of corruption, greed and deception." And Mostly Murder characterized it, "A fascinating mystery ... captivating and engrossing."

When City of London Police Inspector Nigel Lyman is assigned to investigate the death of a notorious Italian Banker found hanging under Blackfriars Bridge in London, the inquiry leads him to the Amiens and Chartres cathedrals in France in pursuit of a shadowy arch criminal -- leader of a corrupt Masonic lodge, the I Four -- intent on acquiring an ancient Gnostic Gospel whose discovery would undermine the very foundations of Christianity.

For an excerpt from GOSPEL TRUTHS, click here.

To challenge yourself with a GOSPEL TRUTHS puzzle, click here.

To purchase your copy of GOSPEL TRUTHS, click here.

 

THE WAVE
THE WAVE is still selling briskly @ lulu.com and through most major booksellers and online bookstores.

If you liked GOSPEL TRUTHS or THE HUNTING CLUB, if you enjoyed THE UNRESOLVED or RESURRECTION MEN, if you're loving THE GOD MACHINE, check out THE WAVE - A JOHN DECKER THRILLER.

Kirkus said, "Sandom’s strength lies in the verve of his story, with writing that has both muscle ... (and) brains ... Races from improbable to crazywild, all in good fun, with Sandom always one step ahead ... A story with enough manic energy to be worthy of a nuclear explosion."

When Cryptanalyst John Decker of the FBI is assigned to the Joint Terrorist Task Force in New York, he has no idea he is about to be thrust into a deadly plot of eco-terrorism masterminded by El Aqrab, the Scorpion, a diabolical killer recently arrested in Tel Aviv.

Following the theft of 8 kilos of Highly Enriched Uranium, an ultimatum is issued to the West: Release El Aqrab or a nuclear bomb will be detonated. But, at the last moment, El Aqrab escapes...and the authorities never get the bomb.

While Homeland Security is convinced it's headed for New York, only Agent Decker -- assisted by brilliant and beautiful oceanographer Emily Swenson -- believes the bomb’s true destination is La Palma, in the remote Canary Island chain.

Now, Decker and Swenson have less than six hours to prove their theory, defuse the bomb, and prevent a mega-tsunami from annihilating the Eastern Seaboard.

J.G. Sandom's most recent TV interview on "Breezin' with Bierman" is available at YouTube. See the author read from THE WAVE, and chat about his other recent publications.

For an excerpt from THE WAVE, click here.

To purchase your copy of THE WAVE, click here.

 

RESURRECTION MEN
RESURRECTION MEN is J.G. Sandom's third Young Adult (YA) novel, published under the pen name T.K. Welsh.

RESURRECTION MEN was recently featured in Curriculum Connections ("Murder and Mayhem Under Grey skies" by Joyce Adams Burner), a joint venture publication between School Library Journal and TeachingBooks.net that reaches more than 60,000 educators and librarians around the country every month. Click here to hear the author speak about the name T.K. Welsh through the TeachingBooks.net "Name Pronounciation Guide".

Check out the latest in-depth author interview at Wordswimmer. See what inspires T.K. Welsh to write, and learn about the author's writing process.

RESURRECTION MEN was previously named a Junior Library Guild selection.

Publishers Weekly called RESURRECTION MEN, “A haunting tour of London's underclass during the 1830s...Teens will likely be both captivated by Victor's harrowing story as well as his ability to prevail in the face of harsh injustices." BIG A, little a called the novel, “A moody, evocative tale...T.K. Welsh is fast becoming one of my favorite writers. His work transcends genre and audience classification.” VOYA said, "Teen readers will thoroughly enjoy the hair-raising suspense in this historical thriller." Kirkus Reviews called RESURRECTION MEN perfect for, “audiences that relish historical fiction." TeensReadToo termed it, “an intense, dark work of historical fiction...I highly recommend this book.” KLIATT said, "Like M.T. Anderson's The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, this look at sinister events in history makes the era come alive and lingers in the memory." Jen Robinson's Book Page called the novel, “Gripping and fast-paced, filled with intriguing historical details...The ending is utterly satisfying and consistent. Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction." The Miss Rumphius Effect said, “T.K. Welsh, where have you been? I loved this book...Pick it up and you'll find it hard to put down.” And School Library Journal said, “Part historical fiction and part adventure story, the novel brings excitement to Victorian England...Readers will be on the edge of their seats.”

Inspired by the 1831 "Italian Boy trial" of body snatchers in London, England, RESURRECTION MEN is a spine-tingling murder mystery that pits a beggar boy named Victor against a nefarious group of Resurrection Men. In this tumultuous dark underworld, where a fresh subject can fetch as much as nine guineas -- the yearly salary of a working man -- Victor must risk his life to uncover the identity of the murderer who is at the heart of London's furtive trade in human corpses.

For a sample chapter of RESURRECTION MEN, click here.

If you already own a copy, click here to access a secret section of the site...just for you. [NOTE: Make sure to enter the name Secret (S-e-c-r-e-t) and the correct Password, printed at the rear of the book.]

To purchase your copy of RESURRECTION MEN, click here!

 

THE UNRESOLVED
THE UNRESOLVED is J.G. Sandom's second Young Adult (YA) novel, published under the pen name T.K. Welsh.

This month, someone posted a question about the book's ending at YAHOO!Answers.

Nicole asked:  "OK.  So I was a bit confused.  Did she (Mallory) take over that guy's (Barnaby's) wife at the end?  Because she said she came home to him every night, and she was comforting him when he was mumbling about seeing the ghost girl.  Or, did she mean that she was just haunting him every day?  And why was she not allowed into judgment (Heaven/Hell)?  Any ideas?"

And DumbKat responded:  "I believe the author meant that she just haunted him. I don't think it has anything to do with his wife. But by haunting him, she became intimate with him. And he came home to Mallory every night...just as he came home to his wife.  I believe her desire to see that justice was done in the case of the Slocum meant that she would be haunting him until his death. In the Epilogue, Welsh says, 'It took Barnaby seventeen winters to die.' But now that he, and all the rest who were guilty, are gone, she can finally move on. As she says, 'It's done...Will you lead me? Will you open the door, please?' This is Mallory saying it's over and it's time for her to move on to the next world. It's her cry to God to finally open the door. And, I believe, He did."

What do you think?  Post your answer here.

THE UNRESOLVED was recently added to Horn Book's list of Recommended American Historical Fiction.

Ranked one of the Top Ten Children's Books of 2006 by the Washington Post, THE UNRESOLVED was nominated for a Young Adult Library Services Association -- YALSA 2007 Teens' Top Ten, the only book award recommended and awarded solely by teens. The novel was previously named a 2007 Association of Jewish Libraries Notable Book for Teens by the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee, which recognized only six works in Jewish teen literature that year. THE UNRESOLVED was also nominated for the 2006 Cybils literary awards, and for the 2007 Best Books for Young Adults (BBYA) by the American Library Association. The novel was featured as one of the Best Teen Books of the Year 2006 at BarnesAndNoble.com.

The Washington Post said, "Welsh writes with a precision and delicacy unusual for YA fiction." School Library Journal said, "THE UNRESOLVED tells a remarkable story in a remarkable way." Horn Book Magazine called THE UNRESOLVED, "A decidedly unconventional ghost story ... (and) a tightly wound novel." Kirkus Reviews termed it, "A remarkable account." Romantic Times said, "THE UNRESOLVED is a book you shouldn't pass up." All About the Book said, "THE UNRESOLVED is a great one. Mallory is the most well-developed ghostly character I've seen in a long, long time." Midwest Book Review called THE UNRESOLVED, "a wonderfully different kind of ghost story." And Bookslut.com said, "THE UNRESOLVED scores on several levels, most notably as a drama that blows apart all preconceived notions of how history can be retold."

Inspired by the tragic events of 9/11, THE UNRESOLVED reaches back into history to explore what was, until recently, the greatest disaster in New York City history. Based on the sinking of the General Slocum steamship -- which caught fire in the East River, New York, in 1904, resulting in the death of over 1,000 mostly German immigrants on a church outing -- THE UNRESOLVED is at once a ghost story, a courtroom drama, an examination of immigrant life, and a tale of love, redemption and revenge. The novel dramatizes how a single life -- and death -- can have a powerful influence on history.

For a sample chapter of THE UNRESOLVED, click here.

To purchase your copy of THE UNRESOLVED, click here!

Reader Reviews -- THE GOD MACHINE

Here's what readers like you are saying about THE GOD MACHINE:

Caroline Thompson (author of Edward Scissorhands) @ Small & Creepy Films
"Move over, Dan Brown...All hail J.G. Sandom...(The God Machine) is a thrilling and breathless, rapturously-written and mind-blowing read. It’ll keep you up all night, turning pages as fast as your little fingers can manage."

Mandi @ Entertainment Weekly (under The Lost Symbol review)
"Just finished reading another book The God Machine by JG Sandom that also has the masons. That one was good too."

George Smith @ Amazon.com
"This is the best religious thriller I've ever read...Part historical fiction, I loved the way it brought Benjamin Franklin to life...The God Machine is perfect summer reading, a beach book that will shake you like a rag doll while you sizzle...The book is also a keen exploration of the relationship between science and religion, proof and faith, and how our culture has turned technology into a kind of 21st century deity...As well-researched and historically fascinating as Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, as relentless and fast-paced as James Rollins's Doomsday Key, and as well-written as Paul Sussman's The Last Secret of the Temple, The God Machine has it all!"

David Lincoln Ross @ Amazon.com
"Sandom is a born story-teller...(THE GOD MACHINE) is a well-oiled and humming mystery, whose pages fly by in a flurry of action and suspense."

James Wynbrandt @ Amazon.com
"An illuminating, intelligent and gripping thriller...as relentless in its pace as it is rigorous in its plotting and satisfying in its payoff...Propelled by a gallery of unforgettable supporting characters drawn not so much from imagination as from a twisted parallel universe...Sandom has managed to make both the machine and his story as real, palpable, and alternately beautiful and terrifying as what we expect to find at the heart of the eternal battle between good and evil."

Marcia Zand @ jgsandom.com
"The perfect balance of history, intrigue and action to leave the veteran reader sated."

A.G. (Gavin) Williams @ Amazon.co.uk
"The cross that anyone writing a book such as The God Machine must bear is the horrendous oversaturation of the thriller genre at the moment with Da Vinci Code similarities. (Note:  Da Vinci Code was not the first of this type of book, but was the one most easily recognised.)  So, it was with a lot of caution I started reading this book, and was fully prepared to go into "airport-lounge-rapid-page-flick" mode.  I surprised myself by actually enjoying this. Good job by J.G. Sandom to keep some elements fresh.  If you like that type of genre, it's a good book to buy."

Bonnie Brooks @ Amazon.com
"This gripping historic adventure mystery weaves through the past to the present and will keep you turning the pages."

Ted Gramkow @ Amazon.com
"The DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons were made possible by Mr Sandom's genre-breaking novel Gospel Truths published in 1992. Now with The God Machine, he has set the bar even higher for future religious thrillers...In The God Machine the reader gets it all: crafty intrigue, implausable situation, historical reference all tightly woven and masterfully written...Before you head to the movies this summer and spend $12 for a ticket to see another lackluster Hollywood summer bummer like Angels and Demons, order The God Machine, pull out the beach chair, pop open the umbrella, dig your toes in the sand and have fun with this well-crafted thriller. It's well worth the time."

Douglas W. Randall @ Amazon.com
"One thing I liked about The God Machine is its historical detail. I spent hours looking up enlightening things from the book. It's a good read and a great story."

Ladybug @ Amazon.com
"I loved this book! It's not a difficult read, (and) you don't have to get too bogged down in any special knowledge; the author gives you what you need. The characters are likeable and believable...A fun read for vacation, when you don't want to overinvest!"

Karen Elley @ The Book Case
Re Nikola Tesla's recent 115th Birthday, Karen writes:  "Tesla is in good company—Edison, da Vinci, and Ben Franklin—in J.G. Sandom’s page-turning thriller, The God Machine, released in paperback in May 2009."

Jeff Einstein @ Amazon.com
"J. Sandom just keeps getting better. Who else can write in such delicious detail about religion, microchip architecture, Ben Franklin, the Freemasons and the Enlightenment -- all under one cover? And who else can dress it all up in the habit of a disarmingly gorgeous but sociopathic killer nun? The God Machine is terrific fun, and a great read. Buy it."

G. Goggins @ Amazon.com
"I enjoyed this book a lot...I like to learn something when I read, and I really felt that I learned a lot after reading both the Gospel Truths and The God Machine. J. Sandom has a good way with developing his characters."

gracie412 @ Amazon.com
"I loved this book...fast-paced, easy to read, and kept me on my toes until the last page...If you like books with action, adventure and really smart plots, this is the novel for you!"

seagull49 @ BN.com
"One of the best books I have ever read. Right there with the great Dan Brown...Do your shelf a favor and buy it."

abdoggett @ borders.com
"I just finished The God Machine and it is a great read!  It's a cross between The Da Vinci Code and National Treasure. This book would make a fantastic movie."

Muriel Falvey @ jgsandom.com
"I love history, I love religious thrillers, and 'The God Machine' is one of the best I've read...Who needs Dan Brown when you have J. G. Sandom?"

Adam Bierman @ jgsandom.com
"Highly entertaining, and yet you don't leave your brain at the front cover!"

John Moore @ jgsandom.com
"As good as any Dan Brown has written...I could not put it down."

Travis Deputy @ Amazon.com
"This novel can definitely stand on its own two feet amongst the crowded religious thriller genre; and not only does it stand, it shines among some of the best in the field. This one's got wheels, not feet!  Definitely the best religious thriller I've read in a while...Better than The Da VInci Code...I give it 5 stars out of 5, or 10 out of 10!  It's a rarity in the world of fiction, especially amongst those of this ilk.  Buy it now and prepare to be up for an allnighter!!!"

Amos Lassen @ Amazon.com
"This is quite a book--so much so that I read this in one sitting. It is full of adventure and paced so that, for me, it was impossible to put down...The God Machine pulled me in and kept me hooked!"

THE GOD MACHINE

Historical Novels Review
"Several hidden pieces of a map focus the quest to find the Gospel of Judas, a puzzle spanning A. D. 33 in Egypt to the present day in Europe and New York City.

"Joseph Koster, a brilliant architect whose Asperger syndrome helps and hurts his work, and Savita Sajan, a wealthy computer engineer, are manipulated into becoming the last pieces of a puzzle that could change governments, religions, and the very existence of human beings. Their search involves Judas Iscariot, infamously known as the traitor who betrayed Jesus Christ but whose gospel might reveal that he was the most beloved disciple who actually was chosen to be the keystone of a far larger divine plan. Representatives of the Masons, the Knights of Malta, the Templars, the Roman Catholic Church, and the United States Government are on a similar quest, but what starts out as a journey to enhance each group’s status becomes a frenzied attempt to squash the revelation of a disastrous, enigmatic puzzle’s outcome.

"History galore, violence, and intrigue fill the pages of this tightly plotted, twisting and turning adventure story, reminding one of a multilayered Russian matryoshka doll. The reader will also learn a great deal about da Vinci, Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, and many more historical geniuses . . . Those who love numbers, physics, and a truly unpredictable, suspenseful mystery will relish the facts and ponderings replete in this well-written, mysterious spin-off of The Da Vinci Code. The God Machine is a very impressive historical thriller!"

Review by Viviane Crystal

What do you think of this review?  Click on Comments, below.

To buy your copy, click here!

Bookreporter.com

February 2, 2007

Bookreporter.com: Can you describe for us the true incident that GOSPEL TRUTHS is based on?

J. G. Sandom: All of the details concerning the Banco Fabiano scandal at the beginning of GOSPEL TRUTHS are based on real events. Banco Fabiano is modeled on Banco Ambrosiano, which was at the center of the largest financial scandal in banking history. The head of Ambrosiano was a gentleman named Roberto Calvi, who --- like Pontevecchio in my novel --- was disgraced when it was learned he had secretly transferred more than $1 billion from his bank and used it to make illicit investments overseas. Calvi later made his way to London, where he was found hanged under Blackfriars Bridge. The first City of London Police inquest ruled the hanging a suicide, but since then, people have come to believe it was probably murder. To this day, the case has never been solved.

Calvi was being manipulated by the leader of a secret pseudo-Masonic Lodge called the P2, or Propoganda Due, which in the book is named the IQ, Informazione Quatro, led by a real former Nazi Black Shirt and arms dealer, Licio Gelli. And at the heart of the scandal was the head of the Vatican Bank (the Istituto per le Opere di Religione --- IOR), Paul Marcinkus. The character of Archbishop Grabowski in GOSPEL TRUTHS is based loosely on Marcinkus. In fact, it was Marcinkus who inspired me to write the novel.

I grew up in Europe, spending almost five years in Rome as a boy. Archbishop Marcinkus was my cousin. He'd come over for my mother's dinner parties, which were famous in Rome, overflowing with film producers and bishops, fashion designers and executives, media barons and movie stars --- Felliniesque affairs. Marcinkus was a regular at these parties. We introduced him to everyone as our Cousin Paul. They knew him as the Mayor of the Vatican City and head of the IOR.

Marcinkus was a very practical man, once quoted as saying, "You can't run the Church on Hail Marys." And I always wondered when I watched him at our dinner table --- just as Koster does in the novel, as he sits across from Grabowski --- how did this man of God, of faith, who had worked in the slums of Central America as a young priest just out of seminary, become a man of numbers, of provable verities, God's banker? This was the central question that intrigued me, the journey from Gospel Truth to Gospel Truths.

Marcinkus "retired" to Sun City, Arizona, after the Vatican was forced to pay creditors around $200 million as a result of the scandal. He worked there as a parish priest until his death in '98, of undisclosed causes, at the age of 84.

BRC: The plot centers on a quest for the Q document, the intriguing gospel upon which scholars believe the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke may have been based. What prompted your interest in Q and the other Gnostic gospels?

JGS: One of my sisters is a born-again Evangelical Christian. We've had long debates about her immovable faith in a literal interpretation of the Bible. I was raised Roman Catholic but now attend an Episcopal church. We sing the same hymns that I sang as a youngster when I attended English boarding schools, and in a world of impermanence, there's a lot to be said for such rituals.

Perhaps because of my personal feelings about my cousin, Archbishop Marcinkus, all that I knew about him, the myth and the man, coupled with the Church's political stance on certain issues, I eventually developed a crisis of faith in the Catholic Church. It also didn't help that the incense made me nauseous. In my quest for some religious truth, I studied the gospels and how they've been passed down to us. I asked questions.

This brought me to the early history of the Church, and I read Elaine Pagels's seminal work, THE GNOSTIC GOSPELS. I became intrigued with the way in which some gospels were blessed by Bishop Iraneus of Lyon, validated for inclusion in the synthesis of the Bible, while others were expunged, deemed heretical. Leveraging a technique known as form criticism, I studied how passages in the Bible are made up of various Gattung --- modes of speaking --- that enable us to calculate their age. The Beatitudes, for example, existed as logoi (sayings) long before the Sermons on the Mount and Plain. The sayings of Jesus were dropped into the narrative framework of the gospels of Matthew and Luke some time later.

As a novelist, the notion of layers is something familiar. Books don't spring forth --- from the head of Zeus, as it were --- fully formed. They're built and re-built, civilizations of letters, laid down over time.

Scholars believe the Beatitudes were present in the Q, Quelle (Source), an ancient document used in the construction of the gospels. This led me to the notion of a source manuscript, something so old that it would more truly reflect the words Jesus spoke. And I wondered, what if Iraneus got it wrong? What if some early Gnostic gospel, based on the historically accurate logoi of Christ, also revealed Him to be a heretic? This was the MacGuffin I needed. For I asked myself, as Lyman does in the novel, after the collapse of his bank, why did Calvi --- or Pontevechio --- go to London? Why not to Buenos Aires or someplace else? What did he have to trade in London that was so vital it could rehabilitate his career, force the Church to cover his massive debts? Thus, the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas became the focus of the quest. In the book I'm writing now, THE GOD MACHINE, it's the Gospel of Judas.

BRC: The book also weaves in fascinating detail about freemasonry and medieval architecture, specifically that of cathedrals and labyrinths. You clearly spent a great deal of time researching this book. What did that research involve? Did it include visiting the sites, poring over musty volumes in church libraries, or reading far less romantic reference books?

JGS: Anyone who has ever stood in one of the cathedrals of Notre Dame --- in Paris or Chartres or Amiens --- knows the power of their beauty. For the mostly illiterate people of the Middle Ages, the cathedral was a book in stone. And like peeling back the layers of the Bible to expose the more primitive texts beneath, studying the cathedrals required me to understand the history of their construction, and the masons who built them.

I read over 30 books while researching GOSPEL TRUTHS, on subjects ranging from mathematics and topology, to medieval architecture and masonry, to early Christian theology. I spent several months in Paris, Chartres and Amiens. I asked for and received special access to the cathedrals. I pored over the labyrinths that are carved within their floors. I studied ancient texts. (Thanks to my classical British education, I took seven years of Latin and Greek as a boy, and do a bad job of speaking five languages.) Like Koster, I'm convinced the labyrinths share a mathematical kinship with the layout and construction of the cathedrals themselves. They also reveal a more fundamental secret about the nature of the universe, but you'll have to read GOSPEL TRUTHS to discover what that is!

BRC: Which of the characters do you best relate to? Nigel Lyman, the British detective; Koster, the American mathematician…or perhaps another character altogether?

JGS: I spent the first 15 years of my life in Europe, mostly in England, and I have a special relationship with Lyman and his natal city of Winchester, where I went to boarding school. Perhaps my favorite section of the book is at the beginning of Chapter XIII, when Lyman and his childhood friend Teddy Bashall poach that 5-pound rainbow from the River Itchen, one of the best trout streams in all of Britain. The two sides of the moral river are more easily defined in our youth, but as we get older it gets harder to know where to stand, which side is right. That uncertainty, reflected in the uncertainty of the Gospel Truths themselves, is what makes Lyman resonate for me as a character. It's what makes him human.

Koster, on the other hand, is all about definable truths: his mathematics, his architecture, his regulated life. It's his journey from a man of numbers and provable verities to one of faith through his unquantifiable love for Mariane that balances Grabowski's journey in the novel. The archbishop and the architect start at different points, at opposite ends of the same continuum, but their journeys are integrally connected.

As one partial to villains, I also find myself drawn to Scarcella. The scene in which he listens to the rape and torture of that young girl in the next room, I find particularly chilling. "Scarcella is not like an ordinary man, Mr. Lyman," says Mrs. Pontevecchio, the dead banker's wife. "He is pestilenziale…like a disease. There is something about him, something of the devil, I think. Something evil. It was never what he did to my husband. It was what he made my husband do." And she says this to Lyman, who is forced to snap the neck of his son's dog with his own hands after Scarcella's henchmen feed him glass.

I enjoy revisiting the Countess de Rochambaud from time to time. She's so no-nonsense and intelligent, so quirky and surprising, so full of life, although a wisp of an old woman, so unambiguous and mysterious all at once. And then, of course, there's Guy Soury-Fontaine and Mariane. I guess I should warn you here and now. This new edition of GOSPEL TRUTHS has a markedly different ending than the original. And it's rather grisly, I'm afraid.

BRC: GOSPEL TRUTHS was first published in 1992, long before THE DA VINCI CODE. Your book is far more complex, but also is a thriller that centers on the pursuit of an ancient religious artifact. How would you describe GOSPEL TRUTHS with regard to THE DA VINCI CODE and so many of the novels it inspired?

JGS: First, I have to admit that I'm one of the dozen or so people on the planet who hasn't read THE DA VINCI CODE. GOSPEL TRUTHS may have presaged the genre, but it was Dan Brown who launched it, made these concepts accessible to millions of readers. I wish him nothing but the best and hope that his next book does well. A rising tide lifts all boats.

BRC: GOSPEL TRUTHS is such a visual novel with a compelling storyline that it seems a natural for a film adaptation. Any chance we'll see this made into a film one day? And what's the production status of another of your novels, THE HUNTING CLUB, which Warner Brothers optioned?

JGS: You never know in Hollywood. The HUNTING CLUB was optioned by Warner Bros., and two knock-offs were made: Very Bad Things, a very bad movie with Cameron Diaz and Christian Slater; and the made-for-TV and more derivative Stag. The movie Ron Bass wrote for Warner Bros. based on my book, which Joel Schumacher was scheduled to direct, never got made; the option went into turnaround. But the book sold pretty well in seven countries. Since then, other producers have shown interest.

GOSPEL TRUTHS, on the other hand, was a first novel. It received great critical acclaim, but no interest from Hollywood and no foreign sales, even though the book is set largely in Europe. My new agent is looking to change that as we speak. He's received a lot of inquiries about THE GOD MACHINE too, the sequel to GOSPEL TRUTHS, which I'm working on now for Bantam.

BRC: You also write YA fiction under the name T.K. Welsh. Tell us about THE UNRESOLVED, your award-winning 2006 YA release. Share with us what you see as the differences of writing for adults and YA.

JGS: After I left the world of Internet advertising and sold my loft in New York, I moved out to the country, went through a divorce and became a single, stay-at-home dad. My daughter is six. I'd already given some thought to writing for younger readers, so when my agent at the time at ICM encouraged me to write something for young adults, I jumped at the chance.

I've written three YA books to date: THE SEED OF ICARUS, which I wrote as a practice novel back in high school; plus THE UNRESOLVED and RESURRECTION MEN, both from Dutton/Penguin.

Inspired by the tragic events of 9/11, THE UNRESOLVED reaches back into history to explore what was, until recently, the greatest disaster in New York City history. Based on the sinking of the General Slocum steamship, which caught fire in New York's East River in 1904, THE UNRESOLVED is a decidedly unconventional ghost story. It's also a courtroom drama, an examination of immigrant life, and a tale of love, redemption and revenge. THE UNRESOLVED dramatizes how a single life --- and death --- can have a powerful influence on history. Think of it as Ghost or THE LOVELY BONES meets Titanic.

RESURRECTION MEN is my second Young Adult (YA) novel, to be published by Dutton/Penguin this April. Inspired by the 1831 "Italian Boy" trial of body snatchers in London, England, it's a murder mystery that pits a beggar boy named Victor against a nefarious group of Resurrection Men. In this tumultuous dark underworld, where a "fresh subject" can fetch as much as nine guineas --- the yearly salary of a working man --- Victor must risk his life to uncover the identity of the murderer who is at the heart of London's furtive trade in human corpses.

Although THE UNRESOLVED and RESURRECTION MEN are being billed as young adult novels --- since the protagonists are teens --- I think they work just as well for adults. I don't "write down" for YA. That said, I do pen my young adult novels under the name T.K. Welsh because some of the novels written under my birth name are inappropriate for younger readers.

In the end, I think the issues that concern me, the themes I like to write about, are prevalent in all my work --- thrillers, mysteries, YA --- no matter how the market carves them up. My characters are all people who are tested by life, oftentimes harshly, and who are forced to make difficult moral decisions. Through faith, sometimes lost and rediscovered, relying upon their own personal moral compass and hard work, they generally manage to break through and overcome their hardships. Despite my European upbringing, these are particularly American themes.

BRC: You're known as one of the pioneers of Internet advertising, dating back to 1984 before most of us knew there was an Internet. How did you make the transition to fiction?

JGS: Yes, there's a listing at Wikipedia. I founded the world's first interactive advertising agency, Einstein and Sandom Interactive (EASI), back in 1984. It grew to become the largest digital marketing services firm when it was purchased by DMB&B (MacManus Group) a decade later. I continued to manage EASI on behalf of DMB&B through 1996, and then became Director of Interactive at OgilvyOne Worldwide.

OgilvyInteractive was named the "Number One Interactive Ad Agency" by Advertising Age magazine in 1999. It was a rocket ride. Unfortunately, by the time we grew to that size, I no longer knew everybody's name. I would walk down the halls and see strangers nodding at me. I missed that entrepreneurial feeling from the early days.

From November 1999 through 2001, I served as President and CEO, and then Vice Chairman of a new start-up --- RappDigital Worldwide, the interactive arm of direct marketing/direct response agency giant Rapp Collins Worldwide, an Omnicom Company. While I was running these agencies, I used to write on the weekends. That's when I produced and sold THE HUNTING CLUB and GOSPEL TRUTHS.

I'm proud of my role in helping to monetize the Net through advertising. In my small way, I helped to create the economic engine that powered the growth of the Internet.

Then came the birth of my daughter, 9/11 and my divorce. I reevaluated my priorities and determined to move out of the city, to find someplace and raise my daughter where she could catch fireflies at night. I exchanged client conference calls and brainstorming sessions for play dates, sandwich making and chauffeuring my daughter to riding lessons…with a little writing in between.

I still consult in the interactive realm. And I'm Chairman of CDIP, a Web 2.0 holding company. We're launching a vertical market, healthcare search engine and Net community later this year.

The interplay between my digital world and my world as a writer is interesting. While new digital media and Web 2.0 enterprises such as MySpace, facebook and YouTube are assisting to democratize media development, while they are helping to bring people together in unprecedented ways, they've also spawned the anemic language and idiom of the instant, text and email message. The way we read, and the way we write, is changing as a result of new technologies and these new communications vehicles. But there is an intimacy available only to the reader of novels, to those who care to spend some time within another person's mind, to live somebody else's life, inside another world.

BRC: Tell us what you can about your next book for adults, THE GOD MACHINE, which is scheduled for release in 2008.

JGS: When Ben Franklin's coded journal is accidentally unearthed in Philadelphia, it reveals the presence of a secret map, hidden by Franklin at the birth of our nation, a map to the possible resting place of the Gospel of Judas --- a 2,000-year-old Gnostic text that threatens to unravel Christianity and to undermine the very foundation of the Church.

Working unwittingly for a secret Gnostic Masonic lodge, mathematician and architect Joseph Koster (who appeared in GOSPEL TRUTHS), accompanied by the beautiful and intelligent engineer Savita Sajan, begin a quest to discover the gospel's hiding place, a quest that takes them from Philadelphia to England and France.

But they are not alone. For the Knights of Malta, military agents of the Catholic Church in Rome, joined by minions of the Evangelical Christian right, are right behind them...and they'll do anything, kill anyone, to prevent the discovery of the Gospel of Judas.

All seems lost when Koster realizes that Franklin's map leads not just to the Gospel of Judas, but reveals a plan for the construction of a terrible device --- a God machine --- that, if completed, would open a doorway to heaven itself...or to hell.

THE GOD MACHINE

R&B
"A fast-paced thriller of a ride which kept this reader on her toes. Side by side search and chase more than two centuries apart, the pace and mystery do not waver. A tremendous amount of research must have gone into this book, and into the hands of an author who knew what to do with it. J.G. Sandom has written previous thrillers, but this was my first introduction. It won't be my last.

"The story is historical fiction written with a factual base. Exhilarating, penetrating, even while switching between centuries as far back as A.D.33, does not lose its focus. But there are many red herrings: who does one trust? Is anyone who or what they seem? is even the quest what it seems? These are but a few of the questions that must be solved.

"The God Machine is purported to be a direct line to God. Does it work? This work of fiction will have the reader asking many questions along the way. Such luminaries as Benjamin Franklin, Leonardo da Vinci, and Thomas Edison are among the many seekers and inventors in this story. The search is claimed to be to follow clues to the hiding place of The Book of Judas, but the action mushrooms as the search changes direction. I recommend this book to readers of action, historical fiction, historical religion, and fans of thrillers."

What do you think of this review?  Click on Comments, below.

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Wordswimmer.com

January 20, 2008 -- T.K. Welsh Interview

 

T. K. Welsh's imagination is inhabited by ghosts and filled with mysteries.

His first book for young adults, The Unresolved--an "unconventional ghost story" (Horn Book) which the Washington Post named one of the top ten children's books of 2006--retells the sinking of the General Slocum steamship from the point-of-view of a fifteen year old girl who drowns in the 1904 calamity considered one of New York's great (but forgotten) tragedies.

"I do not understand it all," the ghostly Mallory Meer declares from her watery world between life and death. "Nor can I move on to the great beyond until my family and friends have mourned me, until some justice to the guilty has been meted out. It seems that only then will I let go."

Welsh's most recent novel, Resurrection Men, is equally harrowing, a tale that follows a beggar boy named Victor as he risks his life to uncover the murderer responsible for trading in human corpses.

Described as "a haunting tour of London's underclass in the 1830s" (Publishers Weekly), Welsh says that Resurrection Men, was inspired by an 1831 trial of body snatchers in London.

Some reviewers (VOYA) have compared the plot and writing style in Resurrection Men to Dickens, "but far more graphic."

Others reviewers (KLIATT) have noted that "Like M.T. Anderson's The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, this look at sinister events in history makes the era come alive and linger in the memory."

Welsh, who is currently working on an adult novel to be published under his birth name, J.G. Sandom, was kind enough to take a few moments from his current project to share his thoughts on writing with Wordswimmer.

Wordswimmer: How do you get into the water each day?

Welsh: First comes the coffee. I’m pretty useless without it. And a good breakfast. I’m also a single, stay-at-home Dad, so getting my daughter washed, fed, dressed and ready for school is a big part of the morning. She’s just turned seven. After seeing her off on the bus, I’m generally at my desk by around 8:00 AM. I’m a morning person. That is, I like the idea of being a morning person, but there are really only two things that get me up early: fishing and writing.

A long time ago, a friend of mine named Robert Nathan told me: A writer is someone who writes. Seems pretty straightforward. When I first start a book, I’ll set a minimum threshold of words for myself – say 500. No matter what happens that day, I have to complete my 500 words. Later, as the book progresses, the threshold might increase to 1,000 or even 1,500 words a day. And on good days, it could be more.

But, to alter my friend Robert’s maxim, it’s really about re-writing. On good days, I may keep nearly everything I’ve written. On bad days, very little remains. I start again. But, before I begin, I re-read the last few pages I’ve already written, to try and pick up the rhythm again. The sound of the language is very important to me.

Wordswimmer: What keeps you afloat?

Welsh: I am a pretty self-disciplined person. This is not due to some inordinate rigor on my part. It’s mostly guilt and anxiety. If I’m not writing, I feel guilty. And writing is far cheaper than therapy. Frankly, when I don’t write, I’m unable to exorcise the demons that plague me.

Generally, all of my books begin with a question. For example, I was living in New York City when 9/11 occurred. I saw the towers fall. It was such a monumental event that I began to ask myself, has anything like this ever happened to this city before? And, if so, how did people--especially young people, teens--cope? Whom did they blame? How did it change the way they looked at tragedy and loss? So I researched the city's history and came across the sinking of the General Slocum steamship, which caught fire in the East River in 1904, resulting in the death of over 1,000 mostly German immigrants on a church outing.

At first I didn't know how to tell the story. I wanted to investigate this tragedy from several viewpoints, and yet I also wanted a strong central character and a single voice. That's how I came up with the idea of Mallory, who dies in the first few pages of the book on the Slocum, and returns as a spirit to see that those responsible for the tragedy are brought to justice. Because Mallory is a spirit, she is able to move into the minds of many of the city's citizens, with all their different points of view. And since she's a Lutheran German immigrant, and the boy blamed for the fire is a Jew, it also enabled me to examine issues of prejudice and religious animosity which, clearly, played a role in the tragedy of 9/11. As a 50-year-old white male, it was a real challenge to put myself in the mind of a teenage, German immigrant girl. Having a young daughter of my own proved to be an unexpected boon in helping me find Mallory's voice.

Wordswimmer: How do you keep swimming through dry spells?

Welsh: I must admit that I’m lucky when it comes to writer’s block. Even when things are not going well, I still produce. As I mentioned above, I may not keep much of what I’ve written, but I still do my words. That rule is inviolable.

Wordswimmer: What’s the hardest part of swimming?

Welsh: Writing is, by nature, a solitary act. I find that I have to get up and look out the window periodically to make sure the world outside is still spinning.

Since I’m not that social, I often have to force myself to get out of the house and mix with people. Having a 7-year-old daughter helps a great deal. I have to take her to her equestrian classes, to play dates, etc. If she weren’t in my life, I might never leave the house. I’d end up with a Gollum-like pallor and lose a lot of weight.

Wordswimmer: How do you overcome obstacles, problems, when swimming alone?

Welsh: Most of the problems I face are corrected by my characters. That is, there is a time in the development of every book when one of my characters refuses to follow the outline I’ve painstakingly developed. I tell them: Hey, you have to go over here and do this...and they say, no way; I’m not doing that. While that may be a problem, on some level, it also bodes well for the book. It means that the characters have progressed enough to think for themselves. I never win those arguments, nor should I. In some ways, I’m just the instrument that the novel and the characters use to liberate themselves.

Wordswimmer: What’s the part of swimming that you love the most?

Welsh: I must admit that I don’t particularly care for most of what I’ve written. When I re-read my work, I constantly re-edit. I say to myself: My God, what were you thinking here? This is pure drivel! But, once in a while, I come across a phrase or sentence that is absolutely true. Perhaps this comes from my legacy as a poet. (That’s how I started as a writer, and why the sound of my work is so important to me.) When that happens--when I read a passage and think: Yes, that’s it; that gets to the heart of that character’s true nature--I find myself soaring. Strangely, I don’t feel much pride in discovering these passages. It’s almost as if the words were written by someone else, some higher power, and I just happened to have channeled them to the page. But it still fills me with a kind of bliss that is unavailable through any other endeavor I’ve experienced.

For more information about T.K. Welsh, visit his website: http://www.tkwelsh.com

And to read a handful of reviews of his work, visit:
http://kidslitinformation.blogspot.com/2007/06/review-resurrection-men.html
http://theyayayas.wordpress.com/2007/08/31/under-the-radar-resurrection-men-by-t-k-welsh/
http://wakecounty.wordpress.com/2007/10/03/book-of-the-day-the-unresolved-by-tk-welsh/
http://www.bookslut.com/bookslut_in_training/2007_10_011785.php

October 2009, Readers' Poll

Here are the results for the October 2009, Readers' Poll.

The question was, "How did Nick Robinson characterize the enigmatic illustration found in Ben Franklin's version of the Gospel of Judas?"  Only one third of you got this one right.  The correct answer was, "A Masonic curiosity."  (Yes, I know this one was tricky.  The "phi" was the most popular answer, and it's also featured throughout the novel.)

How did Nick Robinson characterize the enigmatic illustration found in Ben Franklin's version of the Gospel of Judas?

0% A symbol of the Holy Grail 0% A secret formula for life everlasting 33.3% A Masonic curiosity 66.6% The phi 0% A map to the Gospel of Judas

THE GOD MACHINE, Chapter 7 - October 2009 Excerpt

J.G. Sandom's THE GOD MACHINE, sequel to GOSPEL TRUTHS, is available through most major booksellers and online bookstores.

This month's post features Chapter 7.  Click here to view this selection.

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