The Messiah Business

By Robert Jeschonek

Con man Zalmon and his gang of grifters fleece followers of Jesus Christ in biblical Galilee…until Vashti, a beautiful face from the past, makes an offer they can't refuse: unless the grifters kidnap an Apostle, their crimes will be exposed to Christ and his army of disciples. Vashti plans to use the Apostle as leverage to get Christ to raise her lover from the dead, like Lazarus…but things don't go exactly as she plans. Abduction leads to bloodshed, as Zalmon makes desperate choices, and powerful forces collide in a timeless struggle on the sands of Galilee.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert Jeschonek
• Release date: Dec 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370343805

Robert Jeschonek

Robert Jeschonek is an award-winning writer whose fiction, essays, articles, comic books, and podcasts have been published around the world. According to fantasy and science fiction luminary Mike Resnick, Robert "sees the world like no one else sees it, and makes incredibly witty, incisive stories out of that skewed worldview."Robert's young adult urban fantasy novel, MY FAVORITE BAND DOES NOT EXIST, is due in 2011 from Clarion Books, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. A collection of his fantasy and science fiction stories, MAD SCIENTIST MEETS CANNIBAL, is available from PS Publishing in England. Robert has written for POSTSCRIPTS, ESCAPE POD, DRABBLECAST, SPACE AND TIME, PODCASTLE, DAW Books anthologies, and many other publications.His credits include STAR TREK fiction published by Pocket Books. His work appeared in three volumes of STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS, winning the grand prize in Volume VI. He was also nominated for the British Fantasy Award for his story, "Fear of Rain." His story "One Awake In All the World" was called out in a Publishers Weekly starred review of the anthology DESTINATION FUTURE in 2010.His comic book work has appeared in JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA 80-PAGE GIANT 2010 #1 from DC Comics. He has also scripted stories for various indie comics, including WAR from Saddle Tramp Press and DEAD BY DAWN QUARTERLY and COMMERCIAL SUICIDE in the UK.Jeschonek is based in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. His website, www.robertjeschonek.com, features fresh daily updates on the world of writing and other alternate realities.

Book preview

The Messiah Business

THE MESSIAH BUSINESS

A BIBLICAL MYSTERY TALE

ROBERT JESCHONEK

Busted Books

CONTENTS

Also by Robert Jeschonek

The Messiah Business

About the Author

Special Preview: The Masked Family

THE MESSIAH BUSINESS

Copyright © 2023 by Robert Jeschonek

http://bobscribe.com/

Cover Art Copyright © 2023 by Ben Baldwin

www.benbaldwin.co.uk

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved by the author.

A Pie Press book

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Published by Busted Books

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Johnstown, Pennsylvania 15904

www.piepresspublishing.com

ALSO BY ROBERT JESCHONEK

Crimes in the Key of Murder

Death by Polka

Six Crime Stories Volume One

The First Detect-Eve

The Masked Family

The Other Waiter

Who Unkilled Johnny Murder?

THE MESSIAH BUSINESS

I never met Jesus Christ. I followed him around for about six months, making a nice living off him all that time, but I never talked to the guy.

I almost tangled with him, though, thanks to Vashti. It was all her idea, that scumsucking piece of work.

Leave it to her to think of kidnapping an apostle. And leave it to me--Zalmon, dope of the century--to be dumb enough to go along with it.

Before Vashti mucked everything up--and not for the first time, either--the gang and I were doing real well with our chosen field. The messiah business has always been a good one around these parts, but it was never better than when Christ was making the rounds.

I wish I could go back to those days, before things fell apart. Looking back, they were some of the best days of my life...right before some of the worst.

And it was all thanks to Christ. He had a real way about him, you know? Had lots of charisma. And he really knew how to draw a crowd. A big crowd, like a flock of sheep swarming around a shepherd.

Which the gang and I would proceed to fleece in every possible way.

People say Christ performed miracles, but let me tell you about the real magicians and the good work they did.

Huldah wasn't much to look at, a mousey type with stringy black hair and a constant sad look on her face...but she was the best pickpocket I've ever met. While Christ made his latest inspired speech, Huldah worked the crowd like a shadow, lifting coins from pockets and purses without ever drawing attention.

Asher was our fastest talker, a master of separating pilgrims from their cash with nothing but his good looks