She could feel herself slipping from his grasp. Bracing herself for the fall, she placed her arms in front of her before hitting the ground.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm okay." She dusted herself off. "I've got the flashlight."

"Forget the flashlight. Let's get you out of here."

Ignoring his protests, she shined the light straight in front of her, took a deep breath and moved closer to the casket. The air was dank and heavy and smelled of rotten flesh—hopefully a dead rat.

His voice broke the silence. "I can hear men's voices. Someone is approaching!" The creaking metal told her that he had closed the grate. "Turn off the flashlight and don't move until I see what's happening."

Finally she heard him whisper. "It's okay now. They are gone." He opened the grate. "Grab my wrist. I'll help you out."

"Okay, I'm ready." As she turned on the flashlight, she noticed something unusual at the base of the casket. Moving closer, she saw it was a large flat stone slab with deep indentations. Kneeling down to investigate, she wiped away the debris and some of the grime that covered it.

"Holy Mother of God!" . . .

more excerpts

When Pakistani archeologist, Amman Lal Ded, is murdered, a series of cataclysmic events is unleashed, affecting not only his son, Mushtaq, and Natalie Rowe, a forensic pathologist, but the entire Christian and Muslim world.

Before his death, Amman left Natalie the key to a safe-deposit box containing an ancient document, which he said would shed light on a major Christian premise. Not knowing its location, Natalie and Mushtaq embark on a harrowing journey to find it.

Their path leads them deep within a sacred Muslim shrine in Kashmir. A startling discovery provides evidence that Jesus' remains are interred in the shrine. Had Jesus, in fact, survived the Crucifixion?

With Pakistani terrorists in hot pursuit, Natalie and Mushtaq fear there may be no escape. If they survive long enough to uncover the document, will it authenticate their discovery in the shrine?

I first came across the Marium-Jesus Theory in a newspaper article.

The idea that Christ may have survived his crucifixion intrigued me so I pored over available literature and existing archives. To my surprise, a number of religious and scientific scholars are convinced that Jesus did survive and was ultimately interred in Kashmir.

All led to the plot of this novel.

The painting used for the cover of The Papyrus Document was done by a student of Garret Dow. (Dow was one of Rembrandt's students.) My great grandfather purchased the painting in Paris. He passed it on to my grandfather who then gave it to my mother. I got it from her. The painting was authenticated and restored by Yelland art galleries forty years ago. It's one piece of art that will hopefully stay in our family for generations to come.

Michael Cole