The Real Indiana Jones

"Secret underground laboratories, they do exist," the mysterieus author Jeanne D'Août tells us. In one of them, a previously unemployed professor works on a secret invention for an unknown employer. William Fairfax succeeds in creating a stable wormhole through which people can go on a time travel.

Two young ladies, Danielle Parker and Gabby Stanford, are sent back to the first century. Their mission is to unravel the secrets of a man named Oshu, a man who we know now as Jesus Christ. The incredible adventure results in the kidnapping of Danielle; she will only be free again if her friends find maybe the most intriguing historical artefact of the western world: the Ark of the Covenant.

A mysterious researcher is brought from his time to the present to assist professor Fairfax and Gabby: SS-Obersturmführer Otto Rahn, who was forced to commit suicide in 1939 by the Nazi's. Before World War II, Rahn already followed the trail of the Knights Templar, who where involved in some of the biggest secrets the world has ever known... And indeed, this very real Otto Rahn person provided Steven Spielberg with the inspiration for the very fictitious character of Indiana Jones...

So... Was Jesus Christ married to the Magdalene? Did he survive the Crucifixion? Where was he buried? And where can we find his bones?...

And of course... what was the Grail?

White Lie is a historical mystery novel, reminding us of Dan Brown and his The Da Vinci Code. But what makes the book special, is the original and fascinating mix of historical mystery, true treasure hunt and science-fiction themes, such as time travel. And a superbe blend of facts and (adventure) fiction.

Reading this novel, I had to think more at those lovely "amazing stories" of the Golden Age science-fiction novels, and how these writers succeeded in "suspending the disbelief", giving you "a sense of wonder" (yeah, and that's a Van Morrison record too). Jeanne D'Août gives the reader the same feeling.

The non-fiction parts of the book, nevertheless, were for me the most fascinating. What she tells us about Otto Rahn, or Oshu and Mariamne (based on the author's personal interpretation of Jesus and Mary Magdalene), for instance.

The author proves us to be very familiar with the secrets of the Languedoc region and the hidden and/or "alternative" history of southern France. And this shouldn't surprise us, because Jeanne D'Août is living in "Occitania", and organising guided tours to the stunning prehistoric caves of the region, the ancient sites of the Cathars and Knights Templar, and of course the enigmatic Rennes-le-Chateau.

By the way, Jeanne D'Août is a pseudonym. In fact, the author is a Dutch lady, and maybe that's why she also is able to write about a little known secret of Flanders (Belgium):

"They loved the old town of Tongerlo and discovered a Da Vinci museum in the abbey. With awe they gazed upon a large painting of a fabulous and yet unspoiled Last Supper! What a fantastic find! How did it get there and why? They decided to ask the person at the ticket office, who gave them an A4 copy of the history of the painting.

Allegedly, one of Da Vinci's students, Andrea Solario, had made a big copy of the Last Supper in Milan, Italy, around 1506. In 1545, this copy was brought by the abbot of Tongerlo, Arnold Streyters, to be displayed in his abbey, which was at that time very prosperous..."

But to read the rest, you will have to purchase White Lie!