The Lost Gospel of Ebion

Summary: Armel Marcus Bayer, professor of Egyptology, finds a medieval clay jar in a cave in the plateau called Jabal al-Tarif near the community of Nag Hammadi, in Egypt.  From inside the jar, Mel extracts a very old codex written in Koine Greek.

Mel’s translation of the text indicates that the book is a complete gospel written by someone calling himself Ebion.  Mel’s find is noted by criminals also searching for the book.  They are part of a group calling themselves Ebionites.  They worship at the mansion of a multi-millionaire named Elias Hisham.  He leads the group as they patch together different ancient texts to support their faith.  The codex found by Professor Bayer, is the answer to their prayers.  It must be acquired for the Ebionites and not confiscated by the Egyptian government.

Mel’s good friend and Director of the Ministry of State for Tourism and Antiquities, Ahmed Tawfik, is murdered in the Organics Lab at the Grand Egyptian Museum.  Mel’s inquisitive nature leads him into a firestorm of trouble as the fight over the codex takes on deadly import.  All the while, Mel’s marriage to wife Hye-jin Kim Bayer, falls apart with the breakup sending the professor into a life-threatening obsession to find Ahmed’s killer.