The Thirteenth Commandment

Can the mindless genocide perpetrated by some unknown agent be halted before the whole world perishes? Congressman Robin Andrews faces stark choices: to attempt to save the world or to witness the possible obliteration of the human race. A Russian village and a small town in America are completely wiped out by a disease of unknown origins. Albert Kasdan, a brilliant scientist and worldwide expert on plagues, befriends Robin and shares his knowledge about a plague more deadly than any that had previously ravaged the world.

What is the mysterious significance of the "Mark of Barabbas" that appears to offer immunity from disease? Barabbas, released from the cross, devoted his life to expounding on Jewish scriptures and authored The Thirteenth Commandment. Only one known copy survived.

In the 14th Century John of Neuberg, a Catholic priest, pleads with his Jewish friend, Ephraim, to flee from an enraged mob that blames Jews for the Great Mortality that has annihilated a third of Europe’s population. Ephraim believes that the pestilence will never claim his life and persuades his Christian friend to safeguard precious artifacts that have been under his family’s protection since the time of Christ. John of Neuberg agrees. Realizing the import of the documents entrusted to him, he pens Ephraim’s words in a diary that explain the meaning of The Thirteenth Commandment.

During World War II, Jan Lipski, a young doctor and concentration camp inmate at Auschwitz, had been forced to work with Hans Hoffmann, a Nazi doctor involved in inhuman medical experiments on twin boys. During the last days of the war Lipski helped a group of twin boys to escape certain death before escaping himself with the only copy of The Thirteenth Commandment, passed on through generations of his family as a sacred trust.

Congressman Andrews obtains a copy of the rare sacred text. Will these papers offer a key to the mystery? The answers are illusive. Andrews at last receives what he believes to be a divine message. He travels to the Holy Land where his search continues. Will his journey help save the world from this hideous plague? The race is on to rediscover healing waters that promise a divine cure for mankind.