The Fifth Gospel is that rare story: erudite and a page-turner, literary but compulsively readable David Baldacci 2004. As Pope John Paul IIs reign enters its twilight, a mysterious exhibit is under construction at the Vatican Museums. A week before it is scheduled to open, its curator is murdered. The same night, a violent break-in rocks the home of the curators research partner, Father Alex Andreou, a Greek Catholic priest who lives inside the Vatican with his five-year-old son. When the papal police fail to identify a suspect in either crime, Father Alex, desperate to keep his family safe, undertakes his own investigation. To find the killer he must reconstruct the dead curators secret. But just as he begins to understand the truth about his friends death, and its consequences for the future of the worlds two largest Christian Churches, Father Alex finds himself hunted down ...Abeguiling thriller Sunday Times Page-turning Irish Independent