New Jerusalem

New Jerusalem is a historical adventure that runs on two timelines. In 1190 and 1191, Lord Robert de Borron and his companions press on with their dangerous quest, which carries them from twelfth-century Iberia to an abbey in England. In the first century AD, Saint Joseph flees Jerusalem and sets out on a hazardous sea voyage to the mysterious isle of Avalon, while a serial killer stalks him and his family.

Lord Robert's mission is beset by obstacles. A widowed Iberian princess tempts him and delays his holy quest. An enemy once thought dead returns with the Hashishiyya, a secret sect of assassins, to threaten his companions. A Muslim scholar and a Jewish scholar help him use the mystical Kabbalah to search for manuscripts written by a forgotten disciple. Cardinal Folquet and his knights work against him with what the book calls demonic schemes, but a bull-fighting dog joins Lord Robert and his warrior friends in opposing the cardinal and the assassins.

The story asks what secrets are hidden on the Isle of Glass and who put them there. Saint Joseph at last reaches the ancient Druid college of Avalon, where he learns a secret that could shock the Christian faith. Lord Robert, however, is sworn to keep it hidden until the next grail seeker arrives. The book continues Lord Robert's story from earlier in the series.