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One man’s concern about the explosive standoff that dominates the current Middle East conflict is the catalyst for this novel, The Countershaded Ibex. It is a thrilling adventure, in the mold of the most exciting exploits of Indiana Jones. Combining historical, biblical and present-day political realities and filled with nail-biting action, romantic interludes, murder, acts of terrorism, and Vatican secrets, the novel takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride across three continents and into the darkest corners of the human mind. The plot begins when Max Gilbert, a renowned professor of Middle Eastern studies and intrepid explorer, receives a middle-of-the-night phone call from a stranger who claims to know the secret of the vast buried treasure described in one of the Dead Sea scrolls.
Since its discovery in 1952, this Dead Sea scroll, known as the Copper Scroll, has thrust archeologists and treasure hunters into a frantic search for the unimaginable riches of Herod’s Temple. Yet, so far no one has been able to find the treasure, but all that is about to change. Max’s quest, which might be reminiscent to some readers of symbologist Robert Langdon’s in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, filled with constant danger and shocking revelations, is further threatened by today’s deadly Middle East political and religious collision courses. In his efforts, Max relies on his two close associates, Rebecca Logan, a Catholic nun and expert cryptologist, and Avram Rifkin, a Hassidic Jew and ardent opponent of the State of Israel.
The book’s title, The Countershaded Ibex, came from the name of the magnificent mountain goat found only in the Judean hills whose color closely matches its barren, rust-hued landscape. In other words, someone can be looking at a countershaded ibex and not see it; to see it, one needs to observe it patiently in a skewed, singular manner. This paradox of concealment in plain sight is the motif that runs throughout the book.
