The Hidden Scroll: An Archaeological Adventure

The Hidden Scroll is an archeological thriller in the genre of The Di Vinci Code, though focused on Jewish history. Jewish professor Avner Amram is following clues to a lost scroll written by Judah the Maccabee, the acclaimed Jewish leader in the mid 160’s BC. The story ranges from the mid 1930s, into the near future, and ties in story lines involving the Dali Lama, the British Mandate of Palestine, and Israel’s history through it all. The search for the missing scroll also takes the reader through much of the history of the Jewish diaspora as Amram and his colleagues follow historical clues and documents from around the world, each one leading to the next.

Anouchi straddles the line between historical facts and fiction fairly well. The story line holds together well, and will be intriguing to fans of archaeological stories and those interested in Jewish history. Elements of the dialog and descriptive text could have used more editing or rewriting, but that doesn’t take away from the story line. Anouchi’s obvious interest in his subject shows, and his protagonist mirrors some of his own experiences and history. For a debut novel, The Hidden Scroll is an engaging book set amid the history of the Jewish-Palestinian conflict.