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Published May 2013
396 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
At the intersection of science and spirituality lies the human mind. The Jericho Deception is a psychological adventure into the interplay of mind and spirit, science and religion, mystery and mysticism.
A mysterious death in a Yale lab, a secret facility hidden in the Egyptian desert, a desperate chase through the ruins of pharaohs: all linked together by a psychological experiment that promises to expose the innermost workings of the human mind and soul.
Ignoring the skepticism of his Yale colleagues, neuro-psychologist Dr. Ethan Lightman has dedicated his professional career to developing the Logos, a device that induces mystical experiences of the divine in his subjects through the use of electro-magnetic brain stimulation. After the mysterious death of his mentor in their Yale lab, Ethan is suspended from his research and teaching duties. Distraught, he uncovers a coded message written by his mentor on the night of his death that leads him to discover that the foundation funding their Logos project is a covert front for the CIA.
Questioning his future, Ethan jumps at a cryptic invitation from the foundation's head to meet in person. He boards a private plane that whisks him to a remote desert in Egypt where he is brought to The Monastery, a secret religious training camp run by the CIA. Ethan is shocked to learn that the CIA is using his device, the Logos, to reprogram Islamic fundamentalists into Christians in a covert operation they refer to as Project Jericho. Asked to fix a flaw in the Logos that turns certain subjects psychotic, Ethan must decide whether to continue research that could plunge the Middle East into a religious war if it is discovered or to give up on his life's work and possibly his own life.
Ethan makes his fateful decision after he befriends a Muslim doctor, falsely imprisoned as a suspected terrorist. Their escape leads to a harrowing chase through a Bedouin desert camp in the dead of night, a violent confrontation with his mentor's murderer in the majestic ruins of an ancient temple in Luxor, and a final resolution with the deputy director of the CIA's covert operations in bustling market in Cairo. Along the way, Ethan discovers that the Logos also holds the key to understanding a mysterious mystical experience he has suppressed from his past.
"A cool premise compensates for the low stakes of Small's stand-alone religious thriller, his second after The Breath of God." - Publishers Weekly
"This one pushes the envelope to the edge and beyond, captivating with plausibility and imagination. A gritty thriller - with plenty of meat on its bones." - Steve Berry, New York Times best-selling author of The King's Deception
"The Jericho Deception spins out a brilliant, plausible premise into a ripping good novel, brimming with excitement, imagination, vivid settings and personable characters. Highly recommended." - Douglas Preston, #1best-selling author of The Monster of Florence
"The Jericho Deception is a blisteringly original, wondrously structured descent into a literal and figurative hell. Jeffrey Small's stellar tale of murder, treachery and international daring-do breathes new life into the moribund religious thriller genre as it blends science seamlessly with superstition. A high-tech Da Vinci Code on steroids, only better written." - Jon Land, bestselling author of Pandora's Temple
"Chock full of fascinating insider detail, The Jericho Deception is a thrilling roller-coaster ride into the beauty and darkness of the human mind. With muscular prose and a high quotient of believability, you'll be riveted watching scientists, politicians, and spies vie for control of the Logos machine. Send out for food. You won't want to stop reading." - Gayle Lynds, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Spies
This information about The Jericho Deception was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Jeffrey Small is the author of the award-winning bestseller, The Breath of God. Small's critically acclaimed debut novel won the Nautilus Book Award Gold Medal for Best Fiction and was hailed as "a thought-provoking masterpiece" by RT Book Reviews, "visionary fiction" by Library Journal, and "a fast-paced adventure" by Kirkus.
A popular speaker on religion and spirituality, Small holds degrees from Yale, Harvard, and Oxford Universities. He lives with his wife and daughter in Atlanta.
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