Iscariot: A Novel

When a renowned art appraiser is dispatched to Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter to examine an alleged satanic artifact, he forms a relationship with a Spanish museum curator and soon finds himself surrounded by a disruptive paranormal presence.

Diarmuid O’Dowd is a renowned art appraiser from Dublin, Ireland. An alumnus of Trinity College, he has spent his career authenticating works of art the world over. With unrivaled skill, Diarmuid has become the leading expert on identifying biblical age forgeries. When the Museum of the History of Barcelona (MUHBA) acquires a purported satanic artifact dating back to the time of Christ, they retain Diarmuid to authenticate the enigmatic piece. As Diarmuid’s examination unfolds, he begins to experience unusual phenomena. In an effort to retain both his sanity and professional reputation, he retraces his every step since his arrival in Spain, including an encounter with the museum’s seductive curator…

Diarmuid returns to the museum after hours, where he visits curator Stella Maris-Ramirez. He confides in her about the strange occurrences that he’s experienced since he first touched the artifact. His initial impression of the object being a forgery begins to crumble as he and Stella dig deeper into the legend of it’s dark history. They learn the story of the object’s origin; how the Devil’s human form was turned to stone and shattered into 666 pieces by the Angel Gabriel and that the artifact is believed to be the last remaining piece of the Devil’s mortal form. Believing this to be nothing more than a tall tale, Diarmuid is confident that his examination will reveal the fiction of the object’s origin. However, when a mysterious Southerner arrives in town and makes the museum an offer to purchase the artifact, everything changes.