Resurrection of the Scrolls

by Michael Fattorosi

A historical thriller tracing one family’s thousand-year journey from the Norman conquest of Italy through the First Crusade, their rise in power in Ravello, to their relationship with the Vatican to modern day America. It exposes one of church’s best-kept secrets that, if revealed, could shake the Vatican to its core and destroy the Catholic faith.

Genres: Thriller

254 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 25, 2016

About the author

A native of Port Reading, New Jersey, Michael doubled majored in Criminal Justice and Psychology at the American University in Washington, D.C. While at American, Michael was Editor of the student newspaper, The Eagle and Vice President of his Freshman Class. After a brief stint in politics under the tutelage of former New Jersey Governor James McGreevey, Michael relocated to Los Angeles to attend law school. He graduated from Whittier Law School where he was Editor in Chief of the law student newspaper as well as a member of the Whittier Law Review.

A practicing attorney since 1997, Michael has been an entertainment attorney, specializing in adult entertainment since 2004. He has been quote in Fox News, CNBC, TMZ, The Hollywood Reporter, Playboy Magazine, The Daily Beast, The Daily Dot and other various media outlets. He has been interviewed and appeared on KTLA-TV News in Los Angeles and has been seen on the reality TV shows “My Bare Lady 2” on Fox Reality as well as “The Right Hand” and “Webdreams” in HBO and Showcase Canada.

Reviews

[Michael McLellan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the Da Vinci Code years ago and I really liked it. Michael Fattorosi’s Resurrection of the Scrolls is vaguely reminiscent of Brown’s novel. Personally, I connected a little more with Fattorosi’s characters than I did with Brown's.

Paul Fattorosi, the protagonist, is a hard partying and self-centered adult film industry lawyer. He’s a man who discovers he’s both less and more than his narrow self-perception. With all of his flaws on open display, he humanizes the story.

The book begins with a murder. Soon after, Paul inherits an Italian Villa and grudgingly flies to Lettere to claim it. During his stay, he discovers the Codice Fattorosi—ancient scrolls holding secrets so powerful that if exposed, may ultimately destroy the mighty Catholic Church.

This tightly-written, and well-paced suspense thriller takes you from the glitzy streets of Las Vegas and Hollywood, to the cobbled roads of rural Italy, weaving a twenty-first century mystery with a medieval secret that men have killed to keep.

[Jen Pattison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this to be an enjoyable read with a tense plot and quirky characters. I particularly liked the author’s observations on aspects of Italian life and society, and anyone who has experienced the narrowness of the streets of old Italian towns will enjoy the hair-raising car chase through Angri (as if driving in Italy isn’t hair-raising enough). Overall, it is a commendable debut novel. (The only reasons it took me 20 days to read it were pre-Christmas busyness and not feeling well.)

[Gloria Antypowich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Resurrection of the Scrolls by Michael Fattorosi is written in the ilk of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code: A Novel (Robert Langdon) or Matthew Peters lesser known, The Brothers' Keepers: A Nicholas Branson Novel. All three authors wove mystery, murder and hidden secrets that could change the Christian world into their works.
However, Michael Fattorosi’s book is different in that the author wove recorded historical facts and dates discovered through research into his own family's genealogy into the element of fiction and created a remarkably interesting book. I really enjoy this kind of book and look forward to future books by this author.

[Charles Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Resurrection of the Scrolls" is a worldly thriller with tons of research and thought put into the story, the history, the landscape, and the characters. It is driven mostly by the aforementioned excellent story that is expertly woven, and by the colorful character development. It is gripping from the first paragraph to the last and is something I would proudly recommend to a friend. The best way to think about this book is a Dan Brown light novel. Meaning, Dan Brown is known for elegant phraseology on virtually every page with frequently heavier sentence structure and strong levels of detail. The phraseology, detail, and sentence structure is brought down a level and is more common-tongue. It has a modest level of detail. Personally, with my being a detail-snob, I’d like to see more details about the scenery, the buildings/architecture, character appearance, and the like. However, I feel that most readers will relate to the medium-level detail and the lighter sentence structure Michael Fattorosi offers in his writing in this particular book. This is about the most complex sentence you’ll find in Resurrection of the Scrolls, “Rivulets of blood ran between the paving stones, gathering into a red stream that flowed down the hill among the shattered corpses of men, women, children, and horses.” I think that reads beautifully and it gives an example of Fattorosi’s skill level, but the vast majority of the sentence structure is more as I put it, “common-tongue.” However, Fattorosi manages to be very efficient with his wording. He says a lot in a very small word-count. There are lots of translations from Latin and Italian to English and opportunities for the reader to become more educated on world cultures, languages, dialects, and so forth. In summary, I’d read anything Fattorosi wrote because I know it would be well thought out, well executed, and a gripping read. I give it 4.3 of 5 stars. Great job, Michael!

[Margaret Northrup · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an exciting historical thriller! It kept me wanting more with each chapter. The author's descriptions of places and events gave me a sense of being in the story. The religious twist had me question my understanding and beliefs of the Catholic Church . A true page turner.

[Debra Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Fattorosi has written a fast-paced historical thriller for his debut novel. It's based on research that he has done going back 1000 years in his family's history. This novel takes off at top speed and never let's up! Paul Fattorosi, a lawyer in LA in the adult entertainment industry, gets a call from a lawyer in Italy. He needs to be in Lettere, Italy the next day to sign papers granting him the Fattorosi Villa he's just Inherited! Paul had no idea that he was the only living relative of a former Italian priest, Paolo Fattorosi, who was just murdered! Why was he murdered? The police have no idea!?! Paul goes to Italy, signs the legal inheritance paperwork, visits the Fattorosi Villa, and hires a crew to begin some much-needed renovations. While putting down a water line through the surrounding fields, a buried vault (tomb) is discovered. Paul is going to see what's buried there, despite the workers superstitions. The sealed vase handed to him from the tomb is very old, and has obviously been buried for centuries. Why has it been buried and hidden on Fattorosi land for all this time? Paul knows that, whatever is written on the two scrolls inside the vase, they've been kept hidden for a reason, by HIS FAMILY. On his way to the airport, a Mercedes begins to follow his cab. The driver manages to lose them and Paul makes his plane back to LA. However, after another murder occurs, Paul knows this is some serious business. And someone wants these scrolls desperately enough to commit murder for them! Could it be the Vatican? The real question is: WHY?? WHAT WILL PAUL DO NOW? Read this suspense- filled thriller for yourself! The ending was left in such a way that......I'm hopeful of a sequel. Actually, I'm anxious for what I know will be an interesting continuation to this historical mystery!

[Joanna Elm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super debut novel weaving historical fiction with a fast-paced plot and an unlikely contemporary hero in Paul Fattorosi, a lawyer whose clients are L.A. porn stars. The novel moves beautifully between skilfully-described locations. It's impossible not to turn the pages to read just one more chapter. The writing is crisp, the dialog rings true, and the action sequences (of which there are many nail-biting ones) are well-written so that the narrative plays out like a movie. Indeed, I'll be surprised if this novel is not optioned soon.
A couple of flaws did not ostensibly detract from my enjoyment of this book : one minor one in Chapter 24 which ends with one of those clunky, annoying POV switches as in "What Paul did not know was that...
The other was in the last chapter. While I understand that the last chapter of this book (the first of a series) is supposed to be a cliff-hanger, the transition from the previous chapter seemed too abrupt resulting in a bit of confusion -- at least, for me.

[Teri · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great debut novel. This historical thriller is full of mystery and suspense that will keep you turning the pages to find out what happens next. The author paints such descriptive backdrops that you're immersed in the story experiencing it as you read. It not only takes you on a journey of mystery and intrigue but one of personal discovery as the main character Paul Fattorosi has to make life and death decisions and evaluate what's important in his life. I highly recommend this book!

[Jim Galford · Rating 3 out of 5]

a DaVinci Code style novel. while based on an overworked premise, the author handles the story well enough, blending in historical events and settings acceptably.