This is the premise of A. J. Hartley’s second novel, On the Fifth Day. It is a breathtaking race to find answers and solve some of the interior problems Thomas has been harboring for years. Though many readers will expect this to be just another Da Vinci Code clone because it deals with religious artifacts and an exploration of radical theories about the early church and what is occurring today, those readers will be greatly surprised with what Hartley has produced. It is a fresh concept, embellished with some dastardly villains and some ordinary people showing remarkable courage.

I found On the Fifth Day to be very satisfying with believable characters, even the sinister ones. There were exotic places, even if some of them were chillingly creepy, and enough twists and turns to keep me guessing right to the very end. Though I did expect a huge revelation at the end that did not come, the answers that were revealed were plausible and fit Hartley’s plot and premise.

Well done! I will have to look up his first novel, The Mask of Atreus, which deals with another archeological mystery surrounding curator Deborah Miller, who makes an appearance in On the Fifth Day. Let’s hope Hartley keep producing these page-turners. They are rich with accurate detail and adventurous as any Gregg Hurwitz thriller.