Golgotha
After a short prologue set in 80,000 BCE involving a woman named Eve who links two Neanderthal tribes together, the novel is divided into two parts. The first, set in 1882, follows a lone wolf and killer-for-hire protagonist known as Foreigner. He relentlessly hunts down his targets but eventually is sidetracked by the legend of missing treasure. Here in places such as Jerusalem, Canaan, and Haifa, history is layered and complex. In these locations where the events of the Bible were enacted, the past oozes from the land.
The second part of the novel focuses on the chaotic last few days of the British Mandate in Palestine in 1948, and the complexity of the political landscape is evident; who will be in charge? What will happen? Who will keep power? And how will this power be maintained? This section is seen through the eyes of British policeman Burton, who will soon be reassigned to another part of Britain`s crumbling empire – if he survives. The only thing that remains constant in this land of fluctuations is the lure of this fabled treasure and the fact that people are willing to kill to get it. The feel and senses of this complicated world come vividly to life, and you can almost smell the hot sand and sun-baked goats. Twists and turns abound, and the body count mounts up – as it continues to do today unfortunately in this contested place.
Perhaps the treasure we seek should be the ability to co-exist together even when we are from different peoples, tribes, religions, etc., and this could be seen as one of the key themes of the novel.
