by Glenn Meade
When the explosions died, the priest stood. His gaze swung back to the burning pickup. The desperate passenger had stopped kicking and his body had fallen limp. As thick smoke smothered the cabin, the priest caught sight of the leather map case, lying wedged inside the windshield.
He knew it contained the ancient scroll that had been discovered that morning at Qumran, and that the pickup was on its way to the Antiquities Department in Jerusalem with its precious cargo. But the priest was desperate to ensure that the scroll never reached its destination.
His orders from Rome were clear.
This was one astonishing secret that had to be kept hidden from the world.
Flames started to lick around the map case. “Dear God, no.”
He scrambled down the rocks toward the wreckage.
GLENN MEADE was born in Finglas, Dublin, in 1957. He worked in the field of pilot training for Aer Lingus for many years and as a journalist for the Irish Times before becoming a full-time writer.
His novels have been international bestsellers, translated into more than twenty-five languages, have enjoyed critical and commercial success, and earned rave reviews in the New York Times and Washington Post.
During his free time, Meade travels in the American South anywhere below the Mason-Dixon line, where he loves the scenery, the courtesy and the kindness of the people, the strong sense of faith and respect, garnished with just a genteel touch of rebel wackiness.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 by Glenn Meade
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Howard Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Howard Books hardcover edition August 2014
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Interior design by Jaime Putorti
Jacket design by Bruce Gore
Jacket front city photograph © Getty Images
Running girl image by iStock Images
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Meade, Glenn, 1957–
The last witness : a thriller / Glenn Meade.
pages cm
1. Witnesses—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3563.E16845L37 2014
813'.54—dc23
2013044248
ISBN 978-1-4516-1187-8
ISBN 978-1-4516-1190-8 (ebook)