The Shroud Codex

by Jerome R. Corsi

The priest. . . . Brought back to life on an operating room table after a horrific car crash, Father Paul Bartholomew is haunted by frightening visions—especially the moments when he seems to inhabit the body of Christ at Golgotha. The skeptics. . . . Dr. Stephen Castle, a New York City psychiatrist and renowned atheist, has built an international reputation for his book arguing that religion is a figment of human imagination. Professor Marco Gabrielli, an Italian religious researcher and chemist, has made a career of debunking supposed miracles, of explaining the unexplainable. The miracle. . . . For centuries, however, the Shroud of Turin has defied scientific explanation. Is this ancient remnant that bears such a vividly detailed pictorial representation truly the burial cloth that wrapped Christ after he was taken down from the cross? Or is it the biggest fraud ever perpetrated on the Christian community? As Father Bartholomew—newly returned to his parish, the venerable St. Joseph’s Church in upper Manhattan—celebrates Mass, blood starts running down his arm. The horrified congregation watches him collapse to the ground, his vestments soaked with the blood pouring from wounds on his wrists. The phenomenon is known as stigmata, when a person appears to manifest the wounds that Christ suffered upon the cross. But in Father Bartholomew’s case there is a mysterious added he has been transformed to resemble in almost every physical aspect the Christ-like figure represented on the Shroud of Turin. Worried that Bartholomew’s case could be proved a hoax, the Vatican employs Dr. Castle and Professor Gabrielli to investigate. But for the well-known psychiatrist and the experienced man of science both, Father Bartholomew presents the most perplexing challenge either has ever faced. Dr. Castle watches in person while the priest appears to writhe in agony, blood spurting from wounds identical to those portrayed on the famous shroud, and he wonders if he too can have been sucked into some kind of shared hallucination. Meanwhile, Professor Gabrielli—confident that he can reproduce the shroud by using materials and methods available in the Middle Ages—works frantically to prove that the shroud is a medieval forgery. But when the priest’s uncanny resemblance to the crucified Christ on the Shroud prompts the two men to investigate the famous artifact itself, each is finally forced to face mysteries that cannot be explained by sheer reason alone. It will be the most unsettling—and eventually soul-wrenching—journey of discovery they have ever undertaken. From Jerome R. Corsi, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Obama Nation, comes a magnificent, thought-provoking first novel. Grounded in the same kind of in-depth, all-encompassing research that has distinguished Corsi’s nonfiction, The Shroud Codex plumbs the farthest reaches of science and the human spirit.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Christian Fiction, Historical Fiction

352 pages, Hardcover

First published March 27, 2010

About the author

American author and political commentator.

Corsi is mostly known for his books against Democratic presidential candidates John Kerry and Barack Obama, that were published in the years of presidential elections.

Corsi has discussed topics that are considered conspiracy theories, such as the alleged plans for a North American Government, the theory that President Barack Obama is not an American citizen.

Reviews

[Leo · Rating 2 out of 5]

It didn't feel like the book had an editor before getting published and that was a real shame. A lot of mistakes sprinkled through the book and it was hard getting investing in an otherwise interesting plot

[Siri · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the story a lot, and actually learned quite a bit about the Shroud of Turin. If you like Dan Brown's novels (Da Vinci Code), you will probably like this one too. They are the same genre and remind me of each other.

The reason I feel this book deserves 2 stars is because Mr. Corsi clearly skipped the part where someone edits his work before it's published. There are so many typos, it's ridiculous. And not just punctuation typos, but words are switched around, and in more than a few places, names are reversed such that it takes a moment to stop and figure out what Mr. Corsi REALLY meant to say. I actually started thinking that parts of this book would be good to use in my classroom (I'm a reading teacher)--the kids could read different paragraphs and then have to fix the errors. It could be a great comprehension lesson.

[Andrea Sharp · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall I feel "meh" about this book. Basic editing wasn't done properly; more than once, the wrong character was referenced in a sentence. And the author re-used adjectives to an annoying level. If I read "he nodded appreciatively" one more time I was gonna puke.

[Stacey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another one I wanted to love. The blurb sounded promising. And then.... the dialogue is stilted, there's a lot of repetition. I can't figure out why the Vatican wants a confirmed Church detractor to investigate a stigmata case, and they don't explain it well (like Dan Brown). So... you end up with this obnoxious psychiatrist who is a confirmed atheist who also seems to know a lot about the church. He also talks through wanting to hold a priest in the hospital against his will. Lovely.

By the time we get deeper into the story, I don't care. I don't like the psychiatrist, the priest is a cardboard cut-off and the Vatican makes me yawn.

DNF. I'd rather read Dan Brown, which is going some.

[Rhonda · Rating 2 out of 5]

First half of the book was interesting but became too wordy and proselytizing. Main character comes off a an arrogant prat. Far-fetched ending.

[James Koenig · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel is a fictional account of a man who dies, has a meeting with God, and is returned to his body to accomplish a great work - to prove to the world that the Shroud of Turin is the actual burial cloth of Jesus the Christ.

While the plot is entirely fictional, the facts about the Shroud of Turin are presented in authentic detail. I have read about the Turin Shroud ever since STURP (a highly scientific resource group) examined the Shroud in 1978. The information about the Shroud is exactly what I have read over the past decades. The only thing fictional about the Shroud itself is contained in the last chapter and is obviously the author’s dramatic account to bring a surprising and astonishing ending to the novel.

I throughly enjoyed this book. The Author writes a fast-paced novel that holds one’s interest throughout. Dr. Jerome Corsi PhD is an excellent writer, and based on this book, I intend to read several other books by Dr. Corsi.

Spoilers

The information about the Shroud of Turin will cause the reader to understand exactly what Jesus went through in his passion, torture, scourging, and crucifixion. Of course, one’s interpretation of the Shroud (real or clever forgery) will influence one’s opinion on the exact nature of the Shroud and the story the image on the Shroud conveys. For me, I realized that if the Shroud is authentic, then the Savior Jesus went through incredible and indescribable pain, humiliation, and torture all to save mankind from sin.

In most religions of the world that involve a god, the god demands specific things from mankind - good works, purity of thought, an exemplary life, to name a few. Only by completing these acts are we worthy of God. But in the case of Jesus, it is God Himself who accepts us just as we are - fallen, sinful human beings, and dies a horrific death for us to redeem us from sin. God does all the work, and we need only to accept His work to be considered worthy.

The image on the Shroud of Turin depicts a crucified man exactly like that of Jesus of the Scriptures. Some believe the Shroud to be the actual burial cloth of Christ. Critics of the Shroud claim it’s an extraordinary fake, made to reap a fortune for the clever medieval artisan.

Since absolute proof of the authenticity of the Shroud is impossible to determine, there is an element of faith involved in accepting the Shroud as authentic. The same holds true for accepting the Scriptures as the absolute inspired Word of God, and the existence of God Himself.
It is not as clear-cut as we would perhaps like it to be. For whatever reason there may be, faith is an essential element in the Christian religion.

In conclusion, if the Shroud is the authentic burial cloth of Jesus, then we can conclude that we have a loving Savior who deserves our absolute love and devotion. On the other hand, if the Shroud is nothing but a clever forgery, then the Shroud (and perhaps Christianity) doesn’t really doesn’t matter at all.

Dr. Jerome Corsi suggests all the preceding concepts in this novel. He leaves it to the reader to decide if the Shroud is real or fake.

This novel will greatly appeal to those who have an interest in the Shroud of Turin, but have never explored the intricate details of the cloth.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing book.I couldn't put it down.I liked how it put facts in with the fiction.I learned some things about the crucifixion that I never knew.I would love to see this made into a movie.The only thing I didn't care for was talk about physics was too much for me.I think it slowed the story down,it wasn't helpful to me anyway.
It is a deep and thoughtful read.I do think it was kind of gruesome with the descriptions of the pain and suffering of Jesus,but that made it more interesting though.It made me really reflect on what Jesus went through.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew Father Francis L. Filas, S.J., an expert on the Shroud of Turin and am well-versed on the Catholic relic. I also have had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Jerome Corsi speak many times on faith topics. I have put off reading this book for several years and decided to finally read it after re-discovering it on my bookshelf.

Dr. Corsi has written an engrossing mystery/thriller novel based around the Shroud of Turin and the stigmata. His central character is Fr. Paul Bartholomew who is also a scientist. His background serves as a bit of a paradox. Fr. Bartholomew is a priest and a brilliant scientist. He finds himself bearing the stigmata (the five wounds of Jesus Christ); experiencing the Passion of Christ torture; bearing the full-body wounds experienced by Jesus; performing miracles on others; experiencing miraculous healing; and looing like the man featured on the Shroud of Turin. The foils for this man of faith are Dr. Stephen Castle, a psychiatrist and atheist & Professor Marco Gabrielli, a religious researcher and chemist. Castle's stand is not firm because he depends on science which he believes cannot be questioned. Castle is a lonely but wealthy man who looks for someone to take the place of his deceased wife. Gabrielli is a firm non-believer who is unable to show-up Fr. Bartholomew. The cynicism and unbelief is expressed by the two protagonists who are charged by the Church to challenge Fr. Bartholomew to see if he is being true or is a charlatan. Fr. Bartholomew represents unfailing faith and personal turmoil. Archbishop Duncan and Fr. Morelli represent the church's modern beliefs and faith which is political and brand sensitive. They are protective of the Roman Catholic Church and will not allow an attack on the Church. Brother Middagh, the expert of the Shroud of Turin sheds more on what is happening to the priest by dismissing many of Dr. castle's doubts and misinformation. Brother Middagh's extensive discourse on the Shroud is one of the highlights of this novel. Dr. Lin, a skilled CT/MRI doctor's inability to explain the miracle of the priest is taken in stride by the calculating Dr. Castle. The appearance of the priest's half-sister, Anne Cassidy does have an unexpected impact on the incredulous doctor - she reminds castle of his dead wife, Elizabeth. Professor Gabrielli is the joker because of an under-handed plan he has concocted to discredit the Church's belief in the validity of the Shroud of Turin. Fernando Ferrar, a tv reporter on religion whose support of Fr. Bartholomew mounts his own campaign with the help of Dr. Richard Whitehorse, a professor of medieval studies at Columbia University. What was quite notable was that the author avoided making Castle outright antagonistic. Rather he made Castle a man who does have scruples and a heart but remains incredulous. Gabrielli comes across as the the belligerent non-believer who makes several attempts to discredit the Shroud. In the end, he comes across foolish as he remains belligerent. Castle is left with doubts and in a state of confusion. Still, the author cleverly and fairly presents both sides even to the point of the faithful using science and logic in their stance. Dr. Bucholtz of CERN and Dr. Coretti represent esteemed professionals with faith, a conundrum to Castle. The climax of the novel beautifully illustrates that some people will never believe even after witnessing a miracle. Sadly, their disbelief will prevent them from entering heaven.

This well-paced and tightly-written novel will captivate the reader. It is cleverly developed and written with an eye for detail with suspense kept at a high level. The characters are living and full-bodied creations who propel this captivating story. The pace fluctuates but the anticipation is high from chapter to chapter. Underlying this novel is a message about faith and miracles.

[Linda Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book presents some interesting material about unique aspects of the shroud of Turin. However, the whole plot and the way it develops is just ludicrous. The relationship of the priest and his mother is just unhealthy. The implication that it mirrors the relationship of Christ and the Virgin Mary and that through the shroud of Turin because the priest extensively suffers the stigmata, they can teleport to a parallel universe we’ve always thought of as heaven just becomes a distortion of what the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is all about. But maybe the author doesn’t care about that. It also bothered me that the pope in this book was willing to spend millions of dollars, at the drop of a hat, to have a New York psychoanalyst investigate the stigmatist priest, fly him, the priest and a crew of others (including the whole investigative team of a major media outlet) , at the Vatican’s expense (on the Vatican’s personal jets,etc.) to investigate the authenticity of the priest’s stigmata as well as the shroud of Turin. Part of the psychoanalyst’s expenses included putting his new found girl friend up first, at an expensive hotel New York and then Rome, plus buying her a new tony outfit so she could accompany him to a black tie dinner. If I learned this is the way the church was spending its money, I would never give them another nickel [as it is, I’ve learned that the church as a large institution DOES handle its money in a very dubious fashion and my donations are greatly diminished]. I don’t believe the church would handle the situation described in the book as the author had it unfold. I think from the beginning, the bishop would have not allowed the priest to celebrate mass publicly (especially in New York City where once a week he had to be rushed to the emergency room — it tied up the medical professionals, the traffic, let alone the fact that it was growing into an out of control public spectacle. I think the church would have retired the priest to a cloistered place until they could get to the bottom of what was happening.
I think Steven Spielberg did a much better job with “Raiders of the Lost Ark” in dealing with supernatural phenomena with religious overtones

[Miriam Sanchez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was pretty good. I wasn't really sure what to expect when I began reading it. It is definitely not action packed if that is what you're looking for. May be considered boring, but I found it to be interesting and informative. It kept my interest right to the last page, and I'm curious to know if there may be another book in the future.

[Cynthia Chavez · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had big hopes for this book, I expected it to keep me entertained like The DaVinci code did when I read it. It started strong with good descriptions and a good hook, but once we reach the middle.of the book it starts getting so boring. The end can be described as unexpected but not a book I would recommend to anyone.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very intense, the way it is written makes you think that something like this could happen in the present day.

[Jonathan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think it was written by a toddler. Or a conspiracy theorist. Or maybe both.

[Paul Pessolano · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a mystery that revolves around, "The Shroud of Turin". The Shroud of Turin is probaly the most revered and controversial religious arifact in the world. Although the Shroud is in the possession of the Catholic Church, it really belongs to all religious denominations.

The Shroud of Turin is claimed to be the burial cloth of Jesus Chrfist and his imprint on the cloth. The image on the cloth is definately a man who has the markings of a person that has been scourged, wore a cap of thorns, and been crucified. There have been many attempts at both verifying and debunking the Shroud, but to date no one has been able to prove it one way or the other.

The mystery is about a renowned physicist, who after his mother dies, forsakes his career to become a Catholic priest. He is involved in a fatal automobile accident and is given a choice of remaining in heaven or going back to earth to fulfill a destiny involving the Shroud.

Father Bartholomew returns to earth and is given the stigmata (the wounds caused by the piercing of the nails, cap of thorns, and spear) of Jesus. The Catholic Church, always skeptical in these situations, hires a prominent psychiatrist to study Father Bartholomew. Dr. Stephen Castle is an atheist who has written several books claiming that religion is figment of human imagination. Castle has also teamed up with Professor Marco Gabrelli, a chemist, who has spent a lifetime exposing supposed miracles. Castle and Gabrelli are faced with not only the stigmata of Father Bartholomew but, he is now taking on the image of the Shroud.

This is an excellent mystery that combines a lot of fact concerning the Shroud and the controversies that surround it. The conclusion is nicely left up to the reader to determine the authenticity of the Shroud.

[Joanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been fascinated by the Shroud of Turin since I first heard of it and I've read a lot about it. When I came across a novel that revolved around it I had to read it. And I'm glad I did. However, I would have enjoyed it far more had Dr. Corsi's work been properly edited. Clearly, his research into the shroud was well done. But the typos, the transposition of names ("Huh? Who? Oh, he must have meant so-and-so, not who-sie!") and his use (somewhere in the first half of the book, if I recall correctly) of a word meaning the exact opposite of the word needed...Oy! I won't mention the psychiatric aspects as I have no experience in that area but I suspect they weren't quite correct. And that's just the beginning of the faults. Clearly Dr. Corsi had never been told "show, don't tell." His use of point of view is awkward. The descriptions of other characters...well, they made my toes curl. I kept thinking "This reads like someone's first attempt at fiction." Wait--it was his first attempt at fiction. The thing is, people's first attempts don't usually get published. This one did. It's just too bad. It could have been really good had someone taken the time to edit it. Instead, it's just so-so. I'd have given it another half star if I could, but since I can't, I chose to go down. The Shroud Codex is simply too flawed. What a shame.

[Sherrill Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Corsi saw the Shroud of Turin, Italy, in 1998. Though the Catholic church does not officially recognize it as a "relic," controversy has surrounded the Shroud for years. It was examined in 1988 and dated by three separate carbon dating organizations as being "created" from 1260 to 1390. HOWEVER. The portion of the Shroud that was tested was now declared to be taken from a part of the Shroud that was re-woven later, and has not been re-tested. So much is true.

The remainder of the book (all 332 pages) is a novel. Father Bartholomew, after suffering from an after-life event, suffers from stigmata, (which occur to him over the course of the book), and is re-united with a previously unknown half-sister (well, THAT is questionable). There is an agnostic psychiatrist (Castle) who is close friends with the current Pope, two cardinals who advise the Pope, and a couple of other minor characters.

Mr. Corsi argues convincingly for the theory of time travel and alternate universes. Since I can ALMOST understand string theory, I found this the least controversial of his arguments.

I agree, Simon & Schuster did a TERRIBLE job of editing this book. And if I had to read "Yes, I did" one more time . . .

[Joe Meditz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll start by saying I did the audio version of this and didn't actually read the book. The narrator is a big deal for me as that can make or break the book. Although this narrator isn't the greatest at voice characterizations, he did a decent job. Now, onto the story.

I thought the book was a good concept but not written in the same vein as a Dan Brown book. The author was a bit pedantic throughout the book. There were details that may not have been needed in the book; minutia that caused the book to be more wordy than it needed to be. A lot of the Shroud information in the book may or may not be true, given the fact that this story is a work of fiction. The author continued to refer to the Pope by his full name (a name that would never happen in real life but okay in fiction?) when it would have been okay to just refer to him as the Pope.

Overall, it was an interesting story about a real relic but the concept was a bit far-reaching. The only reason I finished it is because I had invested 5 hours listening to it, hoping it would get better.

[Diana Covell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book a lot but found a few flaws in it. First of all whoever the proofreader was missed a few obvious mistakes. I found three where the sentence started out with Castle saying something about Bartholomew and where it should have said "Bartholomew" it said "Castle" instead.

The other thing that disturbed me was the psychiatric diagnosis that Bartholomew had "Multiple Personality Disorder." He had no signs of MPD. The signs of MPD would have been that much younger parts of himself would have come out and would have been experiencing signs of extreme emotion such as anxiety, depression, suicide or anger. The more appropriate diagnosis, in my opinion would have been schizophrenia, where a person can have both visual and auditory hallucinations. That would be more congruent with the behaviors that Bartholomew were exhibiting.

The last disappointment for me was the missing Codex, but perhaps that is for another book!!!

[Carla H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Write a review...I found this novel thought provoking, although I felt the author really stretched the bounds of reality; not so much with the physics, but with the psychology. I was suspect when the "psychiatrst" kept insisting the patient (Father Bartholomew) suffered from 'multiple personality disorder'. THis is a controversial diagnosis, and to jump to that conclusion before even seeing the patient just didn't work for me (not to mention that he termed it "multiple personality" rather than 'dissociative identity'). ALso, I just couldn't buy the premise that a person can "think" themselves into horrific injuries with no physical impetus. Also the interpersonal relationships seemed awkward and stilted. Overall, I found the novel interesting, but I don't think the author quite made the creative leap from non-fiction to fiction writing.

[John Hanscom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good read, even though the outcome was predictable from the outset. The author writes well, though a little pedantic and professorial (he has a Ph.D., and flaunts it), and his religious views as a Roman Catholic seem to be as arch-conservative as his political views, based on the titles of his non-fiction work. He also never gets around to the Codex in the title of the book, other than saying it is there and needs to be deciphered, unless his recycling of string theory is the Codex itself. Finally, he gets pretty close to gnosticism and "secret knowledge," rather than his Denomination's orthodoxy. That having been said, the book is a relatively painless way to get an idea of the controversy surrounding the Shroud of Turin, and he pretty fairly presents both "sides

[Nancy]

Is it a miracle or is it a very elaborate and well staged magic trick. A man who was once a very brilliant physics scholar has changed direction and gone into the priesthood. He has an car accident that almost kills him but he comes back to earth with the purpose of proving the shroud of Tourin to be the true burial cloth of Jesus. When he begins to manifest stigmata a psychiatrist is assigned to him, an atheist psychistrist. He sets out to prove that the priest has a mental disorder. What follows is an interesting challenge for the Doctors beliefs. Also an attempted connection between the shroud, ressurection, and physics is drawn. A little hard to understand.

[Cincylitigator · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book has interesting plot twists and serves as a good vehicle to inspire thought on the shroud. Corsi is very faithful to the latest science based on the non-fiction I have read so you can be confident that the information you are getting is accurate. There was some new science regarding gravity that I had not encountered but when I researched it I found the concepts to be substantiated. Some parts are a bit hoaky but others genuinely spur thought in ways that are new to me like when the characters first encounter the shroud and are awe struck despite having studied it for years. This was probably inspired by Corsi's own experience viewing the shroud.

[Donald · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. A very interesting idea, but not executed well. It's rather plain that this is a non-fiction writer trying his hand at fiction; there were several places where the phrasing could have been much better. Overall, it comes across as a fictional account of all (or most of) the pertinent research done on the Shroud of Turin. The main character of Paul Bartholomew, who is supposed to decode the Shroud's hidden message, is never fleshed out enough and remains in the background of most of the book, and then doesn't really decode anything!

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Shroud Codex

This novel by Jerome Corsi tells the story of a priest who in a “after death” or “near death” experience is tasked by God to return to earth to convince demonstrate to the world the validity of the Shroud of Turin. When Father Bartholomew’s body shows evidence of stigmata the Vatican asks two skeptics to participate in the exploration of this phenomenon. Although some of the occurrences are somewhat “classic” in a situation of this type, the conclusion is anything but expected.

[Diane Glover · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started off like some sort of Dan Brown novel. And While I loved the ideas behind the book, and the science that seemed to prove the point... the ending was overkill. With all the science behind it... it still went on a leap of faith to believe any of it at the end. There are also several 'scenes' in which the plausibility of such events happening is near non-existent. But if you like the D.B. style, and the topic it's a good read, and a quick one.
There is some violence, I would rate it PG.

[Mick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked parts of the book. I found the information regarding the shroud interesting, and some of the physics was intriguing. However, the story, particularly in the beginning, wasn't that well written. The author had an annoying tendency to repeat information several times within a few paragraphs and there are some typos and grammatical errors. In the end, the story does cause you to think, but it wasn't enough to overcome the other deficiencies.

[Alicia Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a good book I learned a lot but I don't think I will read more books by this author its just a pain to figure who or what person he was referring to or the person that was talking. I don't recomend this book to people who have a hard time following along with a book or have trouble with grammar errors. I am disappointed with this author he should of went through final editing or if he didn't have enough money to do that then he should of put ARC's out for fans to help him..

[Erin Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am an avid reader, and I immensely enjoy mystery books. This was an enjoyable book for me, and I found it similar to Dan Brown novels. I just wish that this author had done better editing. It was very informative about the Shroud of Turin, which I hadn't even heard of despite being a Catholic. If you are looking for something different to read, and don't mind religious references, this is the book for you.

[Keri · Rating 2 out of 5]

In one sentence: what is this i don't even

Didn't really like this. Obviously it was trying to be very similar to The DaVinci Code. I found the opening chapter lame and cheesy and Corsi's character descriptions laughable and repetitive. Also, a LOT of it confused me (but I guess that's more my fault than the book's) and there were some pretty bad editing mistakes.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept in this book was interesting, but the story line was pretty week. It read mostly like a research paper that basically threw a few characters in there to justify the research. It kind of has a little bit of The Shack and The DiVinci Code element because although it is fiction, it makes you stop to think about the possiblities.