Product Description

This work presents a blisteringly high-concept serial killer thriller combined with delicious religious conspiracy theory from a hot new British talent. It shows two murders at opposite ends of America, one in the backstreets of New York City, the other in the backwoods of Montana. It presents a series of killings in every corner of the globe, from the crowded slums of India to the pristine beaches of Cape Town. There can't possibly be a connection. That's the instinct of Will Monroe, a young, British-born reporter for "The New York Times" - until the morning his beautiful wife Beth is kidnapped. Holding her are men who seem ready to kill without hesitation. Desperate, Will follows a trail that leads to a mysterious sect right on his own doorstep - fervent followers of one of mankind's oldest faiths. He will have to break through multiple layers of mysticism and ancient prophecy, unearthing riddles buried deep in the Bible - until he finds the secret that is said to have animated the world for thousands of years, a secret on which the fate of humanity may depend. But with more murders by the hour, and each clue wrapped in layers of code, time is running out...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1906 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 576 pages

Review
'The best thriller I've read in years.' Piers Morgan 'The biggest challenger to Dan Brown's crown ! a highly charged, theologically accurate tale' Mirror 'Compulsive reading ! successfully blends ancient teachings with the highly charged ways of the 21st century ! bears all the hallmarks of a blockbuster' Daily Express 'More readable than The Da Vinci Code -- the sense of menace is darker and the characters more believable' Esquire 'A turbocharged thriller' In Style 'Will be compared, inevitably, to The Da Vinci Code. The similarities are difficult to ignore, but it's far better written ! will thrill any conspiracy-theory fans ! a highly enjoyable read' Psychologies

A kitchen sink of arcane elements-twisted biblical prophecy, Oedipal complex, computer-hacker sabotage-together with such thriller staples as kidnapping and serial-killer psychodynamics makes this one messy whodunit. But it's a riveting mess. The concept's hot: One-by-one, three dozen are targeted for killing, each corpse to be laid out carefully, swaddled in a purple blanket. Bourne, a London journalist aka Jonathan Freedland (Jacob's Gift, 2005, etc.), cribs from Dan Brown's well-thumbed manual on mystic atmosphere, and creates a nefarious sect, the Church of the Reborn Jesus, who madly masterminds the murders. Those homicides are head-scratchers for the police-among them, a Manhattan pimp with a heart of gold, a Wild West, right-wing militiaman who's also a kidney donor, and a Baptist pastor in Brazil. Will, a New York Times reporter, is drawn into this blood-spattered web when his pregnant wife, Beth, is abducted by Hasidic zealots. What connects Beth's disappearance and the dead men, dropping nearly daily like dominos? Even Will's adored dad, a federal judge, can't seem to aid his son, who turns to a Jewish ex-girlfriend to penetrate the heart of Hasidism. Together, they decode the Torah passages the kidnappers send and negotiate a maze that leads, shockingly, back to Will's own father. Turns out he's none other than "The Apostle," high priest of the Reborn Jesus cult. Their mission? To bring the End Times, the Rapture, by knocking off the 36 righteous men Jewish tradition maintains are necessary, at any given time, to keep life on this dark planet alive. Turns out, too, that the Hasidic perps are actually good guys, and the Reborn vicious anti-Semites, adherents of the ultra-fundamentalist doctrine of "replacement theology"-that the Jews, as chosen people, have been replaced by Christians.Murder mystery meets conspiracy theory meets theological commentary. (Kirkus Reviews)

Norther Echo
‘Da Vinci aficionados will love every page’

Daily Mirror
"READ IT."

Customer Reviews

WASTE OF TIME!
Don't bother reading it, its tedious, convuluted poorly written and v long!I gave up after 500 pages

Great debut
Like Bourne's other novels, this tale draws heavily on historic and religious references. It features an amazing immersion into the world of the Hasidic Jews in New York. It's probably the strongest of his books, despite being the first.

The general story - a newspaper reporter uncovers a series of seemingly unrelated murders. His wife is kidnapped and he is receiving cryptic text messages from an unknown individual. The journalist has unwittingly become the central character in an apocalyptic scenario of amazing scale and imagination.

The Righteous Men is an entertaining and interesting read.

Enjoy !
This did'nt get me from the first page but once I got into the story I could'nt put it down. I did guess though who the baddie in the book was long before the end and having studied theology I did know where this book was going but that did'nt spoil it for me, I was gripped !
If you are a thriller ( with a theological stance ) buff, just enjoy this for what it is, a fine good read !