The Saint's Day Deaths

History

Noyer, Albert

Ancient Civilizations

Creative Arts Book Co.

Surgeon Getorius Asterius, his wife Arcadia, the eunuch archpriest of a pagan fertility cult, the female head of a heretical Arian church, and an ambitious senator in league with a Chinese merchant: these are the prime movers in this mystery set in Ravenna, Italy, in A.D. 440. When Getorius is summoned to examine the castrated body of a youth found by Thecla in her Arian church, who is the sobbing "Vestal Virgin" nearby? Is there any connection between this crime and the fact that a senator is smuggling counterfeit Western coins to the Eastern Empire, and contraband Chinese products back to Ravenna? A coded message leads to a secret tunnel and the sinister temple of Cybele, whose devotees are self-mutilated eunuchs. In a stunning climax, the conspirators try to escape Ravenna, planning to sell their products in Egypt, but failing to recognize the deadly nature of what they are carrying.

The Cybelene Conspiracy

Literature & Fiction

Contemporary

Toby Pr

A Gothic Empress, a doctor and his trainee wife, an ambitious senator, a pious abbot...these are the prime movers in this gripping mystery set in 5th century Italy. When Getorius is invited to the palace and visits the newly built mausoleum, he discovers an ancient papyrus with explosive contents that would have huge and devastating repercussions on the Empire if it were made public. Could the papyrus possibly be genuine? Who hid it in the mausoleum and why? Are they planning to reveal its contents? How is it connected to the symbol of a rooster that keeps appearing? One by one, those who were with Getorius when the papyrus was discovered begin to die under suspicious circumstances. Getorius and his wife Arcadia must get to the bottom of the mystery before the plot is unleashed, and before they become its next victims.

The Secundus Papyrus

Genre Fiction

Toby Press

In the spring of 58 BCE the Celtic tribe of Helvetii, then settled in present-day west -central Switzerland and pressured by Germanic tribes from across the Rhine River, voted to migrate to lands in Gaul near the Atlantic Ocean. Gaius Julius Caesar opposed their passage through a Roman province, subsequently defeating an army several times larger than his available legions. In eight campaign seasons, Caesar made Gaul part of Rome's growing empire: Roman institutions of government, law, and customs were veneered onto those of the Celts. The Gallo-Roman culture that prospered formed the matrix for much of modern European civilization. That long ago Helvetian decision was the determining factor in ending a millennium of Celtic dominance in Europe, yet the Roman conquest assured that when devastating barbarian invasions erupted in the third to sixth centuries, those Germanic and Gothic tribes eventually would become Latinized. This novel personalizes the Celtic struggle against Caesar by those tribesmen who opposed him, those who supported Rome, and of the legion commanders who believed that bringing Romanitas-their concept of civilization-to the known world was the sacred destiny of Rome. Book 1. After his father is killed by raiding Germanic warriors, Alberix, his mother and two uncles resettle in his aunt's village. One uncle is a crafter, the other a druid who teaches him arcane lore that controls Celtic gods. When Romans arrive to build watchtowers and warn of a Helvetii tribal migration, Alberix learns Roman concepts of justice from Lucius. A clique of warriors harass the outsiders, while a rival druid preaches rebellion. When the Helvetii move into Caesar's province and suffer defeat, a chieftain warns Alberix to find a leader among his people. Plots continue for a rebellion he is urged to join, but after a horrifying druidic ritual, he flees to Lucius and enlists in a Roman auxiliary unit. To impress Germanic tribes, Caesar bridges the Rhine. Alberix is lured across to a village where legion defectors train warriors in Roman tactics. The chief's daughter forms an escape plan, if Alberix will take her to Gaul, but he returns alone. Caesar, envisioning a Gallo-Roman province, offers Alberix a future leadership role. Yet, assailed by doubts over his "Celticness," and hearing of Vercingetorix, a rebel king, Alberix decides to speak with him. Ravens, the Celtic birds of death, follow him as he rides into central Gaul to find the leader. Visit the website at www.albertnoyer.com.

Alberix the Celt Book 1: Weep the Long Sorrow

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Mystery

Plain View Press

Catholic priest Casimir “Fr. Jake” Jakubowski reaches the retirement age of 70, yet wishes to continue his Michigan ministry. As a favor to Santa Fe’s Prelate, the Archbishop of Detroit offers the liberal Fr. Jake a temporary post in Providencia, a New Mexican village on the Rio Grande. A local pastor, the saintly Fr. Jesús Mora, is ill, yet he and most villagers resent the appointment of an outsider to their church of San Isidro―only auto mechanic Armando Herrera and teacher Cynthia Plow befriend Fr. Jake. Within a month, Fr. Mora is murdered; evidence suggests he might have been involved long ago in a satanic Black Mass. When amateur archaeologist Plow uncovers corpses of Union and Confederate dead at the ruins of a nearby Civil War fort, she also finds a more recent female skeleton. Detective Sonia Mora investigates that death along with her priest uncle’s murder and that of a woman parishioner found dead in a sleazy motel. Tex Houston’s film company, Pentacle Pix, arrives to make a documentary of the fort and village, yet he has bought quitclaim deeds to the land and now owns Providencia. He plans to rebuild the village as a tourist’s horror set for his ghoulish virtual reality B films. Tex promises residents big money, yet they fight the quitclaims: his truck is torched and Fr. Jake’s church set afire in retaliation. Fr. Mora’s death has set off a chain of deadly discoveries that will engulf Fr. Jake, a sadistic deacon, the parish finance officer, an old curandera woman, the communes of both Pentecostals and anti-government survivalists, and Civil War re-enactors of the 1862 Battle of Glorieta Pass.   Noyer artfully weaves the story of Fr. Casimir 'Jake' Jakubowski, displaced from his comfortable parish in Michigan and thrown into an impoverished New Mexican village. The liberal priest's life becomes a mirage as a politically driven bishop, a dysfunctional pastor, a flimflam Texan filmmaker and a fundamentalist commune collide with the old Spanish ways of rural New Mexico. A brilliantly crafted exposé of a clash of cultures.  Page Erwin, Author Bones of Contention: A Maine Mystery Hilliard and Harris, 2008   Noyer is a natural story-teller. An artist by training, he has created an amiable character in Father Jake, who helps solve the mystery of a fellow priest against the backdrop of contemporary crisis in the Catholic church, a satanic mass and the reenactment of the Civil War Battle of Glorieta in New Mexico. Noyer knows of what he writes, keeping his readers hoping for another Father Jake mystery before too long.  Ronald Modras, Author Ignatian Humanism, Loyola Press, 2004   With an artful mesh of page-turning excitement, indigenous folklore, and historical detail, Noyer, author of the A.D. 5th century Getorius and Arcadia Mystery series, serves up another compelling literary adventure with his New Mexico-based thriller, Ghosts of Glorieta.  Lisa Polisar, Author The Ghost of Mary Prairie  University of New Mexico Press, 2007   A fifth century Nick and Nora crack secret codes, enjoy an impromptu maritime adventure, and hang out with gladiators in their second mystery caper.... Noyer's enthusiastic curiosity is effectively channeled through two attractive protagonists: a smooth narrative with fascinating historical detail.  Kirkus Reviews, The Cybelene Conspiracy, 2005

The Ghosts of Glorieta: A Fr. Jake Mystery

United States

A eunuch archpriest and an unscrupulous senator smuggle two products from China to Italy that will change the course of western history. Surgeon Getorius Asterius, his wife Arcadia, a eunuch archpriest of a pagan fertility cult, the female head of an heretical church, and an ambitious senator in league with a Chinese merchant: these are the prime movers in this mystery set at Ravenna, Italy, in A.D. 440. When Getorius is summoned to examine the castrated body of a youth found by Thecla in her Arian church, who is the sobbing "Vestal Virgin" nearby? Why is the senator smuggling counterfeit Western coins to the Eastern Empire, and unknown Chinese products back to Ravenna? The murdured Thecla's coded message leads to a secret tunnel and the sinister temple of Cybele, whose devotees are self-mutilated eunuchs. In a stunning climax, the conspirators try to escape Ravenna, planning to sell one product in Egypt, but failing to recognize the far more deadly nature of the other.

The Cybelene Conspiracy (Getorius and Arcadia Mystery)

AmazonEncore

The Secundus Papyrus (Getorius and Arcadia Mystery)

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