I, Saul by Jerry Jenkins and John MacDonald Review

Having shied away from the Tim Lahaye and Jerry Jenkins series "Left Behind" when it first came out, not because of the subject matter or the story but because the grammar at the beginning was like reading Harlequin romances (bad); I hesitated to request this title. I was however delightfully surprised by both the story, the quality of the research and the matured writing style of this book. This time Mr. Jenkins has teamed with a Bible scholar and together they bring a very real and truthful feel to a fiction mystery.
A discovery has been made in Rome, the prison where the Apostle Paul was held until his execution is being excavated. A member of the Vatican staff visits the ruins and finds a roll of parchment placed in a crevice beneath a wall , he sneaks it from the sight and upon discovering what it might be, he hides it in a safe place giving a clue to a friend as to its whereabouts. He is murdered and now the friend is in danger because the antiquities police think he knows where the manuscript is. The friend, a local tour guide, calls his friend in the United States to come help him get out of danger and retrieve the artifact. This begins a rollercoaster thrill ride of the two alluding police, alluding the antiquities policeman who is working for himself and hopes to sell the artifact on the black market, alluding his girlfriends father who also has eyes on the prize and staying alive to find the artifact and bring it to world attention.
The artifact is presumed to be a parchment written by the Apostle Paul recounting his life that has never been see or read in over two-thousand years.
The story goes from present day to Paul's time and back again explaining how the parchment came to be, why it was found where it was and telling the story of Paul's life from before his conversion to his death. The Biblical references are base on the facts in the Bible and the story of Paul's life is embellished from the known facts referenced in the Bible.
The life of Paul comes alive on the pages and is a most enjoyable read. The contemporary mystery is well documented and researched and has a very believable feel to reality today. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and will look forward to others by these authors.