Gospel: a novel
Wilton Barnhardt
 The book contains two interwoven plots: the story of the gospel's author, set in the first century AD (who narrates his adventures in the form of the gospel itself); and a contemporary story surrounding Lucy Danton, a somewhat naive Roman Catholic seminary student, and Patrick O'Hanrahan, her maverick Jesuit professor, who together set out to recover that gospel. The gospel's author is revealed to be Matthias, whom the Book of Acts describes as Judas's replacement. The fictional Gospel of Matthias's descriptions of first-century Christianity are not always edifying, but often wittily call to mind contemporary religious movements. The fictional gospel revolves around whether, after his crucifixion, Jesus's body was smuggled to Egypt and mummified. However, the question remains unanswered in the end.