Publisher's Synopsis
There is a subterranean story within the Bible that has been repressed for centuries. It is a tale of greed, betrayal and revenge. It is the story of the hijacking of the Exodus by a perfect impostor. Why is so little known about the death of Moses - the greatest prophet of the Old Testament? There are no witnesses - no body - no funeral - and ..".no one knows to this day where his burial place is." The clues to this ancient enigma lie in the disturbing circumstances surrounding his disappearance. The truth about this powerful man remains elusive, as his life has always been shrouded in mystery. The isolated details of the biblical story and the contradictory accounts of his behavior have mystified and frustrated scholars and devotees alike. For the last years of his life he chose to hide behind a mask. At times he is depicted as a meek, stuttering figure; pleading with God that he's unfit for a sacred mission. At other times his tyrannical commands terrorize the children of Israel. What is the explanation for these extreme shifts in the prophet's character? Was Moses mentally ill? The evidence suggests something much more sinister: he was assassinated and replaced by an impostor. The idea that the prophet had been murdered obsessed Sigmund Freud for forty years. But despite devoting his last book to the subject he could not identify the man who had stolen the prophet's identity. KILLING MOSES exposes a prime suspect, the Magician Reuel; a charismatic character whose influence molded the development of both Judaism and Christianity. Far from being a minor biblical character - Reuel was Moses father-in-law. He was deeply embedded in the lives of the tribal leaders; a perfect position from which to pursue his brutal agenda of vengeance. Trained in the elite art of magic at Egypt's prestigious House of Life he had learned how his sophisticated skills could serve him well in manipulating and dominating the political game. The story of Osiris (a critical tale in the education of any Egyptian magician) in which a righteous son slays his uncle in retaliation for the murder of his father provided Reuel with a blueprint for murder. His motive for murdering Moses was as old as humankind. A born actor, his commanding voice and sense of drama eventually paved the way for him to seize control over a naive and often terrified populace. To this end he concealed his face behind a mesmerizing mask. But it was his unique talent for impersonation that hid his crimes for more than 3000 years. Using time-honoured detection methods to crack this ultimate cold case file KILLING MOSES uncovers the motive, the means and the opportunity of the prime suspect in this enduring, unsolved homicide.
