Matt Rubinstein

Another in the recent spate of excellent books from Australia, initially Vellum appears to be just a Dan Brown inspired religious conspiracy tale.

When a freak storm destroys the roof of the desanctified church in which Jack and his girlfriend Beth live, they discover a hidden vault containing an ancient manuscript made of vellum and written in a completely unknown alphabet.

Jack, a translator, is obsessed by the book, determined to translate it: as he labours to discover its secrets, he becomes convinced that a malevolent fraternity is after him. Instead of the Illuminati, the Knights Templar or the Priory of Sion, we are treated to theories of language, and most of the action is internal as Jack’s sanity is menaced by a conspiracy of paranoia, betrayal and hallucination…… (meer)