The Curse of the Thirty Denarii
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The Curse of the Thirty Denarii (La malédiction des trente deniers) |
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| Date | 20 November 2009 |
| Series | Blake and Mortimer |
| Creative team | |
| Writers | Jean Van Hamme |
| Artists | René Sterne/Chantal de Spiegeleer, Antoine Aubin/Etienne Schreder |
| Original publication | |
| Language | French |
| Translation | |
| Publisher | Cinebook Ltd |
| Date | 2012 |
| ISBN | |
| Translator | Jerome Saincantin |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | The Gondwana Shrine |
| Followed by | The Oath of the Five Lords |
The Curse of the Thirty Denarii is the nineteenth Blake and Mortimer book in the series. The story was written by Jean Van Hamme. Its completion was delayed with the death of the artist, René Sterne, on November 15, 2006. The book was completed by Sterne's girlfriend Chantal de Spiegeleer and was released on the 20 November 2009.
It is a two-part installment containing "The Nicodemus script" (Le manuscrit de Nicodemus) as part 1 and "Orpheus' gate" (La porte d'Orphée) as part 2. It tells of the search for the 30 pieces of silver paid to Judas Iscariot for his betrayal of Jesus.
Volume I: Following an earthquake in the South of the Peloponnese, a shepherd boy discovered the remains of a Christian Chapel of the fifth century. There are ancient manuscripts and a reliquary in lead. Two weeks later, to the United States, a commando helicopter broke the colonel Olrik in his prison of Jacksonville. The same night, in London, Captain Francis Blake, head of MI5, is made aware of this spectacular escape and goes to the United States to help the FBI track down the criminal. While the Professor Philip Mortimer is found only for his vacation, he receives a letter from the doctor Géorgios Markopoulos, curator of the Archaeological Museum of Athens, inviting them to support him in an extraordinary case.
Quelques days later, Olrik wakes aboard the Arax where he finds his lackey, Jack. The owner of the yacht, the wealthy businessman Belos Beloukian, wants to hire him for a case that oppose it the Pr Mortimer. At the same time, Mortimer lands in Athens where he is greeted by Eleni Philippides, the niece and Assistant to Dr. Markopoulos. While they roll to the Museum, a thug Gets a flat tire from the car of Eleni to delay. But the impromptu arrival of Jim Radcliff, correspondent for the Philadelphia Chronicle and engaged to Eleni, allows them to hit the road. In the Museum, they discover the unconscious Dr. Markopoulos in his office and an individual masked fleeing with a metal box. Mortimer began pursuit of the Lincoln of the two thieves until a thunderstorm suddenly and causes an accident in the car. The Professor retrieves the box as well as a Stater of money of the reign of the Emperor Tiberius, putting immediately end to the storm, then returned to the Museum. Meanwhile, at the headquarters of the FBI in Washington, Blake is meeting with John Calloway, Chief of special operations, and her assistant, Jessie Wingo. They have traced the origin of the helicopters of the escape of Olrik until a certain Belos Beloukian, wealthy Armenian businessman and so-called former prisoner of war. However, they suspect it to be the colonel count Rainer von Stahl of SS-Totenkopfverbände whose fortune would be the nazi war chest. In Athens, Dr. Markopoulos Mortimer explains the reason for his coming: he fell in possession of manuscripts indicating that in the 1st century a.d., the leader of a Christian congregation in Greece, named Nicodemus, would have met Judas Iscariot, who failed so his suicide mentioned in the Bible. On the death of the betrayer of Jesus, he sent one of his followers buried it with his 30 pieces of silver to silver in a place unknown to all. However, one of taxpayers affected by the curse of God would have been preserved in a reliquary in lead, crossing the centuries until its discovery in the chapel. At that time, the two men are being targeted by a sniper, but they come out unscathed. The Inspector Kamantis tells them that it's Kostas, the survivor of the accident of the Lincoln who wants to avenge his brother's death. On board the Arax, Beloukian confesses to Olrik to want back the purse of Judas for having the destructive power and become the master of evil on Earth.
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