Only a handful of novels with contemporary settings dare incorporate a succinct, but coherent, history of Gnosticism in its pages. Or make its alternative Christian narrative the centerpiece of a suspenseful search for a lost gospel. Such audacity is becoming a signature characteristic of Owens' work. Fast-moving, even readers not necessarily intrigued by the legends of Jesus' mortal descendants will find The Seal of Ormus a pleasure to read, as much fun as The Da Vinci Code, and a drama which reinvigorates what I had thought an exhausted intrigue into an exciting and original work of fiction.