The Michelangelo Code

Translated from the Malay by Anis Mansor

2016 Longlist

When the chief prefect of archives is found mysteriously murdered in the Vatican Secret Archives, it unleashes a secret that has been safely buried for two thousand years. But a question arises from the dead: the victim was a follower of the long-lost religious group, the Cathars, a group of Medieval Christians who believes they were the heirs of the original teaching of Jesus. A renowned Daily Telegraph journalist, Jessica Keith, is assigned to cover the mysterious murder. Something unexpected happens when she meets a British numerologist, Professor Aaron Barone at a seminar in the University of London. They suddenly become fugitives when another murder takes place at his home in Hampstead. The church is trying to cover up the murder to keep their interests guarded. But the utmost of all secrets cannot be kept forever. Another secret is uncovered by the amateur art lover, Jacob Walmer. It lays embedded in the work of Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in The Last Judgment. But it is not a discovery that the world wants to hear about. It is a secret that the church wants to bury forever, before it becomes a dark history in the modern Christian era. How will Professor Aaron correlate to the mysterious murder? What about Jacob’s attempt to solve the well-guarded puzzle in history? Will Jessica succeed in exposing the truth of her religion to the world?

(from publisher)

About the Author

Nasran Ahmad bin Hizam writes under his pen name Nazehran Jose Ahmad. He is a Malaysian author born in Kelantan in 1980. With more than ten years of writing experience he has published nine books, which include three novels in Malay and one novel translated to English. His five children’s books have been reprinted several times and received good reviews from Malaysian readers. The Michelangelo Code is his first English-translation novel with AuthorHouse UK. He now lives in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.