On my doorstep – The Lazarus Effect by Ben & Ann Witherington

Thanks are in order to the kind folks at Pickwick Publications (an imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers) for furnishing me with a review copy of The Lazarus Effect by Ben & Ann Witherington.  When it comes to fiction, I’m always in the mood for something related to Biblical archaeology.  This should fit the bill perfectly.  Here’s the synopsis from the back cover.

Archaeologist Art West makes the discovery of a lifetime in Jerusalem, finding the tombstone of Lazarus, which indicates that Jesus raised him from the dead.  But before West can make public his amazing discovery, the stone is stolen, sold to the British Library, and West is implicated in an antiquities fraud that will lead to a trial.  West’s Jewish and Muslim friends in Jerusalem rally to support his innocence and to help find the thief who stole the stone, but then West is shot and in critical condition in a Jerusalem hospital.  Can the truth be discovered in time, and West’s life be saved?  And what was on that Aramaic scroll that was found in Lazarus’s coffin?  In this fast-paced thriller, Ben Witherington, himself a NT scholar with a degree in English literature, together with his wife, Ann, introduces us to the life of an archaeologist and NT scholar and his trials and tribulations when a big find comes to light.  Set in the always volatile city of Jerusalem, the Witheringtons reveal the fascinating hidden dimensions of multi-religious life in that Holy Place, and show how even today Christians, jews, and Muslims can work together so the truth may come to light, and all may experience “the Lazarus Effect” –new life from the dead.

I let out a little shout of joy when I opened this box today.  I think I’m going to start reading it tonight.