I Judas

Judas Iscariot is the historical symbol of betrayal. But what really happened at the Garden of Gethsemane? What really compelled Judas to hang himself from a tree? I, Judas reimagines Iscariot’s relationship to Jesus Christ and explores Judas's orchestration of the elaborate con of the divinity of Jesus Christ, subverting the legend of Judas as he inhabits some of our most notorious literary and historic figures in their darkest hours. Custer, Sexton, Van Gogh: These famous suicides converge through the figure of Judas in a cutting-edge piece of fiction that exposes the dangers of seeking universal truths in myth.

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER and winner of the International Literature Prize. At once an exquisite love story and a coming-of-age novel, an allegory for the state of Israel and for the biblical tale from which it draws its title, Judas is one of Amos Oz’s most powerful novels. Jerusalem, 1959. Shmuel Ash, a biblical scholar, is adrift in his young life when he finds work as a caregiver for a brilliant but cantankerous old man named Gershom Wald. There is, however, a third, mysterious presence in his new home. Atalia Abravanel, the daughter of a deceased Zionist leader, a beautiful woman in her forties, entrances young Shmuel even as she keeps him at a distance. Piece by piece, the old Jerusalem stone house, haunted by tragic history and now home to the three misfits and their intricate relationship, reveals its secrets. “[A] magnificent novel . . . Oz pitches the book’s heartbreak and humanism perfectly from first page to last.”—New York Times Book Review “Scintillating . . . An old-fashioned novel of ideas that is strikingly and compellingly modern.”—Observer “Oz has written one of the most triumphant novels of his career.”—Forward “A [big] beautiful novel . . . Funny, wise, and provoking.”—Times (UK)

From hard-hitting New York Daily News columnist Linda Stasi comes Book of Judas, a riveting religious thriller featuring beloved protagonist Alessandra Russo. When her infant son is placed in mortal danger, New York City reporter Alessandra Russo is forced to save him by tracking down the missing pages of the Gospel of Judas, a heretical manuscript that was unearthed in Al-Minya, Egypt, in the 1970s. The manuscript declares that Judas was the beloved, not the betrayer, of Jesus. The Gospel disappeared for decades before being rediscovered, rotted beyond repair, in a safety deposit box. Rumors insist that the most important pages had been stolen—pages that Alessandra now must find, if they even exist. Do the lost pages contain a secret that will challenge Christianity's core beliefs about the creation of life, or that might hold the power to unleash Armageddon? What if such explosive documents fell into the hands of modern-day terrorists, dictators, or religious fanatics? Alessandra plunges into a dark world of murder, conspiracy, and sexual depravity...and most importantly, a race against the clock to save her own child. In this exciting follow-up to The Sixth Station, award-winning journalist Linda Stasi brings her formidable investigative skills, big city street smarts, and fast-flying pen to a thriller that will leave readers breathless. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

"Judas is a dark journey through the murderousness of Christian Anti-Semitism, culminating in the mass slaughter of more than a and their associated European butchers. Lucid, study is close to definitive on the fictive figure of Judas."—Harold Bloom

Emmy and WGA Award-nominated writer Jeff Loveness (Marvel’s Nova) presents an exploration of the classical biblical character, perfect for fans of Preacher and The Goddamned. Judas Iscariot journeys through life and death, grappling with his place in “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” and how much of his part was preordained. In a religion built on redemption and forgiveness, one man had to sacrifice himself for everyone...and it wasn’t Jesus.

At the height of the Spanish Inquisition a ruthless inquisitor by the name of Bishop Promane tortures a fellow priest, Father Sanchez, for information about the whereabouts of a relic known as the Judas Robe, rumored to be the only piece of physical evidence of God on earth. Promane succeeds in recovering the robe only to lose it to Sanchez's saviors, knights belonging to The Order of Christ. In the Present Day, Joel Gardiner, a pre-med student, is attacked by a group of religious zealots after leaving a campus pub. A young woman calling herself Sophia rescues Joel and reveals that he is descended from of the Order of Christ who still has the Judas Robe in their possession. Joel dismisses it as a hoax or farce, but zealots renew their efforts to seize the robe. Joel and Sophia embark on a quest to verify the existence of the so-called relic while trying to elude the murderous cabal. Praise for Larry Rodness' new novel The Judas Robe "If you had a chance for proof-positive of God's existence on earth, would you go for it?... The author's med-student protagonist, Joel Gardiner, finds himself suddenly faced with just that dilemma...Here's a novel for those looking for an unusual plot-line with lots of action and adventure." - William Maltese: Amen's Boy; A slip to Die For; Thai Died; A Conspiracy of Ravens "In the spirit of a Dan Brown thriller, The Judas Robe cleverly fulfills the promise of its thought-provoking subject. Like the fine weave of a robe, Rodness intertwines his inspired premise with theology, mystery, action and suspense to engage the reader in the timeless battle between science and religion, which couldn't be more relevant today."-Stephen Witkin, Screenwriter, Los Angeles Excerpt Mother Natalie entered the room wearing a standard white blouse and navy skirt. That was the only thing standard about her. Standing five foot seven, she had sparse feather-like hair. Her skin was almost translucent, and her slight-build made her look like she would tip over at the slightest breeze. "Joel, isn't this a nice surprise," the nun said. "Someone in my dorm was murdered last night. Do you know anything about it?" "No, of course not. How would I?" "A couple of nights ago, I was jumped by two men." "Oh my, you weren't hurt, were you?" "I'm all right. Mostly, because this girl intervened." "What girl?" "Goes by the name of Sofia. She said the thugs who attacked me were after something called the Judas Robe." Natalie emitted a tiny gasp as the look of concern on her face turned to fear. "What did you tell her?" "I told her I had no idea what she was talking about. But I'm here because my mother and her wacked-out family have been part of some religious cult for years."

A radical reinterpretation of the relationship of Judas and Jesus • Reexamines the role and the purpose the key figure of Judas played in the crucifixion story • Reveals how Judas was “betrayed” by Jesus, and how, taken to the limits of his humanity, he lost everything he most cherished on the path to his true self The familiar story of Judas, betrayer of Jesus, is striking because of its incomprehensibility. Why would one of Christ’s disciples and companions of the heart deliver him up to his enemies and a barbarous, ignominious, and certain death for thirty pieces of silver? Jean-Yves Leloup’s careful investigation of the gospels, various apocryphal texts, and most importantly the Coptic codex known as the Gospel of Judas, leads him to conclude that there is more to the familiar story of Judas than a simple demonstration, viewed through one man, of humanity’s inherent failings. The betrayal of Jesus to the Romans was Jesus’s idea, explains Leloup. Jesus persuaded Judas to play the role of “evil” in humankind by telling him that this enactment was crucial to God’s plan and would set Judas by Jesus’s side for eternity: “There where I am,” spoke Jesus to Judas, “is where I wish you, too, to be.” But to get there, Judas--a metaphorical representation of the darker side present in all human beings and the “shadow” counterpart to his Messiah dying on the cross-- must first shed all his human qualities. His failings of greed, deceit, and cowardice--and even his faith and hope--are washed away in the despair that engulfs him. A parallel moment occurs for Jesus on the cross, when he comes to know the despair of separation from God. The moment Judas “loses” his life and all that gave it meaning--his God, his law, his justice, his Messiah--is the very moment he finds that which cannot be discarded--life eternal. Thus, in the moment of his ultimate extremity, Judas receives Jesus’s true message and his intended gift.