by Jeffrey Small

Gold Medal for Best Suspense Fiction 2013
—Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY Awards)

At the intersection of science and spirituality lies the human mind.

The Jericho Deception is a psychological adventure into the interplay of mind and spirit, science and religion, mystery and mysticism.

A mysterious death in a Yale lab, a secret facility hidden in the Egyptian desert, a desperate chase through the ruins of pharaohs: all linked together by a psychological experiment that promises to expose the innermost workings of the human mind and soul.

Ignoring the skepticism of his Yale colleagues, neuro-psychologist Dr. Ethan Lightman has dedicated his professional career to developing the Logos, a device that induces mystical experiences of the divine in his subjects through the use of electro-magnetic brain stimulation. After the mysterious death of his mentor in their Yale lab, Ethan is suspended from his research and teaching duties. Distraught, he uncovers a coded message written by his mentor on the night of his death that leads him to discover that the foundation funding their Logos project is a covert front for the CIA.

Questioning his future, Ethan jumps at a cryptic invitation from the foundation’s head to meet in person. He boards a private plane that whisks him to a remote desert in Egypt where he is brought to The Monastery, a secret religious training camp run by the CIA. Ethan is shocked to learn that the CIA is using his device, the Logos, to reprogram Islamic fundamentalists into Christians in a covert operation they refer to as Project Jericho. Asked to fix a flaw in the Logos that turns certain subjects psychotic, Ethan must decide whether to continue research that could plunge the Middle East into a religious war if it is discovered or to give up on his life’s work and possibly his own life.

Ethan makes his fateful decision after he befriends a Muslim doctor, falsely imprisoned as a suspected terrorist. Their escape leads to a harrowing chase through a Bedouin desert camp in the dead of night, a violent confrontation with his mentor’s murderer in the majestic ruins of an ancient temple in Luxor, and a final resolution with the deputy director of the CIA’s covert operations in bustling market in Cairo. Along the way, Ethan discovers that the Logos also holds the key to understanding a mysterious mystical experience he has suppressed from his past.

“A brilliant premise and a ripping good novel, brimming with excitement, imagination, vivid settings, and personable characters.”  #1 Bestselling Author Douglas Preston

“Captivating with plausibility and imagination. A gritty thriller.” NYT Bestselling Author Steve Berry

“A thrilling roller-coaster ride into the beauty and darkness of the human mind.” Gayle Lynds, NYT bestselling author