Golgotha
Published on 4. June 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
352 pages
978-1-80454-358-0 (ISBN)
Description
Two men, decades apart, are ensnared in the deadly search for a fabled treasure in the conclusion to Lavie Tidhar's epic and audacious Maror Trilogy.
1882, Jerusalem
The foreigner. A man with no name, twin guns at his hips, a wide-brimmed hat on his head. A European exile in the backwaters of Ottoman Palestine, The foreigner is a bounty hunter in pursuit of a thief.
1948, Haifa
Burton. A man with one name, a detective inspector in the crumpled khaki uniform of the Palestine Police Force's CID. With just seven days before the British Mandate ends, he must find a murderer and a missing aristocrat, as order collapses around him.
Both men are outsiders in a land that is a palimpsest of ruins and loyalties, legacy of a history written in blood on a landscape that remembers everything. Both men will treat with bandits and mystics, dreamers and killers as they pursue their quarry; both will be ensnared in a lethal search for the fabled treasures of the Second Temple, long-lost amid the rise and fall of peoples, nations and empires. And both will be haunted by their dreams: burning red skies, a mountain of skulls, echoes of a vision from the dawn of humanity.
Before Jerusalem, before Jericho, there has always been Golgotha.
1882, Jerusalem
The foreigner. A man with no name, twin guns at his hips, a wide-brimmed hat on his head. A European exile in the backwaters of Ottoman Palestine, The foreigner is a bounty hunter in pursuit of a thief.
1948, Haifa
Burton. A man with one name, a detective inspector in the crumpled khaki uniform of the Palestine Police Force's CID. With just seven days before the British Mandate ends, he must find a murderer and a missing aristocrat, as order collapses around him.
Both men are outsiders in a land that is a palimpsest of ruins and loyalties, legacy of a history written in blood on a landscape that remembers everything. Both men will treat with bandits and mystics, dreamers and killers as they pursue their quarry; both will be ensnared in a lethal search for the fabled treasures of the Second Temple, long-lost amid the rise and fall of peoples, nations and empires. And both will be haunted by their dreams: burning red skies, a mountain of skulls, echoes of a vision from the dawn of humanity.
Before Jerusalem, before Jericho, there has always been Golgotha.
Reviews / Votes
'A searing portrait of history as both knife and the longing heart it seeks. Tidhar's best.' -- Junot Diaz 'Has the feel of a modern western... explores the creation of modern Israel through a wide cast of characters, a jumble of genres and a bleak appreciation of the complexity of the history * The Sunday Times * Tidhar never takes the direct route and has turned his historical canvas into a decidedly noir epic, almost as if a Jewish version of James Ellroy was in control -- Maxim Jakubowski * CrimeTime * Tidhar's accomplished scene-setting conjures up a long-vanished world on the cusp of conflict - one that continues to this day * Financial Times * The feel and senses of this complicated world come vividly to life, and you can almost smell the hot sand and sun-baked goats. Twists and turns abound, and the body count mounts up - as it continues to do today unfortunately in this contested place. * Historical Novels Review *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Dimensions
Height: 195 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
248 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80454-358-0 (9781804543580)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Lavie Tidhar's work encompasses literary fiction (Maror, Adama and Six Lives, cross-genre classics such as Jerwood Prize winner A Man Lies Dreaming (2014) and World Fantasy Award winner Osama (2011) and genre works like the Campbell and Neukom prize winner Central Station (2016). He has also written comics (Adler, 2020) and children's books such as Candy (2018) and A Child's Book of the Future (2024). He is a former columnist for the Washington Post and a current honorary Visiting Professor and Writer in Residence at the American International University in London.