The Last Scroll

For some reason or another you can always find adventure in Europe. Look at all the Bourne Identity films, James Bond instalments, Da Vinci Code; there’s something inherently arcane and mysterious about traveling in Italy or France. Dodging danger and mystery, the protagonist finds himself at some kind of spa in Italy, and comes in contact with a recently translated Dead Sea Scroll, with a prophecy that arouses controversy, not to mention the ire of some fanatics who’d like to kill him.

    The novel reads in the first person, all in the present; he gets up, wonders where he is, sees the open window. It is unusual to see a book written this way, but it works well for the story. For some reason when you write a travel story like this you want everything in the present tense, almost like a journal. I guess it allows you to capture the sights and sounds (and even perhaps the smells) of Italy. Believe me, Italy has a unique smell, and I can remember how shocked I was when I visited Florence all those years ago. I said to my mother “it smells just like Israel, I don’t get it.” Must be something about being so close to the Mediterranean.