The coins of Judas - Scott McBain

For thirty pieces of silver, Judas committed the most famous betrayal in history. Thirty coins which gave their possessor such a power for evil that it could only be resisted by the greatest saint, Peter. Twenty- five of the pieces have been safely gathered and kept safe in the sacred tomb of St Peter in the Vatican. But what became of the remaining five coins? Paul, a brilliant criminal psychologist, has been responsible for an accused murderer being released. Meeting the man later, he fears the consequences of his mistake, but is distracted by an unusually attractive visitor. And the first coin appears. Paul's path to evil, the choices and the temptations on the way are brilliantly portrayed. The Church, led by the formidable Cardinal Benelli, knows of the evil performed by previous holders of the coins, such as Diocletion, but none was as terrifying as the conjunction of the hapless Paul and, through him, the rise, once more, of the Magus. Powerful, fascinating, full of historical detail, of secret histories of the Vatican, of occult practices and philosophy, The Coins of Judas is a spellbinding new novel.