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Heavenly Fire
a novel
by
Daniel Cohen
“There never lived a man named Jesus - and he wasn’t born in Bethlehem.”
These words, screaming out from his father’s unfinished manuscript, set David and his wife Tracey on a quest to prove the secrets his deceased archaeologist father had unearthed a decade before.
But the warning in an accompanying letter, “Just make sure the people who killed me don’t find you,” sets off their alarm bells. Is this all just the fantasy of a psychotic mind spiraling out of control before his death – or were they about to find themselves in the crosshairs of religious zealots who’ll stop at nothing to keep the past hidden and shape the future to own their extreme views?
As they fight to stay alive and uncover the truth, David and Tracey are drawn into a deadly adventure deep in the quagmire of Mid-East politics and the stones & bones of ancient archaeology.
Heavenly Fire is a slow-burning thriller that challenges generations of ‘gospel truths’ as it seeks to unravel some of the greatest mysteries of antiquity:
- What was the Jewish story of Jesus & John the Baptist, and what light does it shed on the spiritual path sought by so many today?
- Who were the mysterious Essenes - peaceful mystic monks or a partisan army - and what secrets are hidden in their Dead Sea Scrolls?
- What was the fate of the fabled Ark of the Covenant that disappeared from Jerusalem's Temple - and what is its connection?
Confronting both religious and academic dogma, Heavenly Fire follows the facts to bring the fragmented pieces of this puzzle together - and finally present one coherent picture of these most critical times in our human story.
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I finished your novel last night and really enjoyed it! It has a compelling story arc and some likable protagonists... I think you are on to something.
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You should be congratulated for putting together a pacy narrative interleaved with a reconstruction of Jesus and John the Baptist as ex-Essenes.
No easy feat.
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It was good reading, a good plot, and the subject of the Dead Sea Scrolls is calling for a detective-like plot.
Word on the Street
JOSEF FEDERMAN
Veteran Mid-East Journalist. Chairman of Israel's Foreign Press Association
X
A leading journalist who asked to remain anonymous
PROF. RONNY REICH
Archaeologist & scholar - Jerusalem Prize recipient
Daniel Cohen
Author & TV documentary writer/producer
I was born and grew up in London, UK, and for the last thirty years, I have lived in the Galilee of Israel.
I am a TV documentary movie writer/producer, and I've written movies for major visitor centers in Niagara Falls, Atlantic City, Baltimore, Rome, and Jerusalem. I am also the author of two non-fiction books, one of which, The Holy Land of Jesus, has sold over 300,000 copies.
The first TV documentary I wrote was Enigma of the Dead Sea Scrolls. I was then invited by the Israel Antiquities Authority to write the movie which accompanied the Israel Museum's Dead Sea Scroll exhibition on its global travels.
My first international production was the Israeli filming of the classic BBC series: Crusades, with the legendary Terry Jones of Monty Python, directed by Alan Ereira.
Since then, I have written for National Geographic TV, PBS, Japanese and Dutch TV, and have produced major documentary programs on the subject dealt with in my book:
The Birth of Christ: 1 episode of the NY Film Festival award-winning National Geographic Mystery Files series.
Jesus: Rise to Power: a 3-part National Geographic series.
The Secret Family of Jesus: a Channel 4 special.
Flight of Faith - the Jesus Story: ITV.
Dead Sea Scrolls: An ABC Australia special.
You can see examples & more details at My Work.
Heavenly Fire sums up what I have learned through the years, and all the questions I felt were left unasked or unanswered during these projects.