Unholy Business is the story of a simple fraud that unfortunately takes place in so complex a milieu that no book-length treatment can adequately prepare a reader to make the kinds of judgments invited by the author. Reading this book like taking a 100 mph bus tour of a foreign country with the understanding that no stops are scheduled; one is continually faced with regret over an interesting idea, theme or person into which the author simply cannot delve. That said, the book betrays the skill of an author so overwhelmed with material that she is forced to identify and then abandon the plethora of issues presented by the story of an antiquities dealer who is charged by Israeli authorities with fraud.

The defining aspect of the Holy Land is the irreducible complexity of any issues pertaining thereto. Nothing about the Holy Land is simple and any author who tries to simplify is required to make indefensible decisions. Hence, Unholy Business ends up losing much of the richness that could have accompanied the story because it focuses on the shallow, all too common motivations of a con-artist who was able to bilk knowledgeable collectors out of millions of dollars and to persuade cautious scholars to lend credence to an unsupportable thesis.

One senses that the publisher wanted to avoid "religion and politics" in favor of a simple crime story. If so, that was a bad decision. Religion and politics drive this story--the author had a chance to embrace these issues and to take a chance to demonstrate that religion continues to inform and direct the lives of everyone on this planet regardless of the level or even existence of individual belief. It is the inextricable mix of religion and politics that made the premise of the book compelling; despite a chance to discuss the deepest and most meaningful issues in today's society, we are treated to a first-rate telling of a second-rate con. Instead of "faith, greed and forgery" we simply get "greed and forgery," which are all too familiar and hardly worth the effort.

This book's reckless and summary treatment of ideas as profound as the right of Israel to exist, the meaning and purpose of religion, the value of history, the historicity of the Bible, to name but a few, is as jarring as the climactic scene in which an artifact considered sacred by some is found stuck in an old bathroom on top of a toilet. Weighed in the balance, I found it wanting.

Burleigh's 'Unholy Business' plays to her writing strengths and background as a journalist. Unlike her last book ('Mirage,' in which her skills as an historian were less impressive than her ability to report on the present), 'Unholy Business' is a less frustrating read. I don't need to discuss the storyline--enough reviewers have already covered it. What is worth mentioning is the way she makes the unfolding of this particular mystery enticing: she reveals in layers who was behind the James Ossuary and how Israeli investigators uncovered the facts of the forgery of this and other artifacts. As a work of investigative journalism with a mid-Eastern flavor 'Unholy Business' makes for solid reading.

As others have assessed, this book has its moments but overall it fails to deliver the punch of a bestselling work of nonfiction. I also read the unfinished version and I feel with some good editing, this could be a great book, but the version I read only gets 3 stars. If you are interested in the topic of religious forgery, it's worth reading, but it seems to lack the mainstream appeal of a book like the DaVinci code (although that is a work of fiction and a totally different type of book).

During my twenty-four years as an evangelical Christian I devoured anything remotely validating the Bible's authenticity, such as the Noah's Ark expeditions and other key archaeological findings in the Middle East like the Dead Sea Scrolls. Two recent discoveries came to light as I was leaving my faith: The James Ossuary and the Jehoash Tablet. After much debate and analysis it turned out that these controversial items were sophisticated fakes, and their rise and fall is smartly documented in this fascinating book.

"Unholy Business" takes us into the seamy underbelly of the Middle East antiquities trade, specifically within Israel and the Palestine territories. Nina Burleigh covers the recent period when the above finds were unearthed, tested, and found wanting. The James Ossuary, a stone burial box, was inscribed with a phrase that made it the first archaeological object to substantiate Christ's existence (not to mention his father Joseph and brother/cousin James). As for the Jehoash Tablet, it was touted as proof of Solomon's Temple, thus augmenting the Jewish claim to the Temple Mount.

Both artifacts generated religious and political firestorms while being subjected to the scrutiny of reputable scholars. After rigorous analysis, the experts came to the conclusion that both items were bogus due to various inconsistencies and anachronisms. The persons held responsible for the frauds were charged with "creating a series of forgeries and scheming to sell them," and were subjected to a drawn-out legal ordeal that further tainted the situation, thus enabling some quarters to still claim that the items are genuine. Indeed, the title "Unholy Business" is an apt description of the entire affair.

The author does a good job documenting this fascinating ride with a well-written whodunit style that keeps us guessing. She draws us into the antiquities world and highlights its impact on Israel's complicated past and tumultuous present. We meet and get to know a cast of rogues, saints, and those in-between: Shady collectors, obscure academics, true believers, fervent nationalists, and intrepid law enforcement agents. Although we see good folks of both religious and secular persuasions, it was troubling how faith, politics, and profit corrupted the search for truth in "Unholy Business."

As a former Christian and current agnostic, I was particularly affected by religion's quest for relevance via the antiquities trade. I still remember how stoked my Christian friends and I became when something was unearthed that confirmed the Biblical record, how we rationalized away other items that contradicted it, and even our fervent desire to visit "our" Holy Land. The author's interactions with various pilgrims showed that these trends continue within the ranks of believers. It was sad how easily persons of faith and those seeking a national identity allowed their rationality to be compromised by profiteers.

In the end, some Christians will probably not be thrilled with this book due to its stance on the non-authenticity of the Ossuary and Tablet. However, the author performs a necessary service by shining a harsh light on those engaged in historical fraud, as well as on people who are willing to forego rigorous scholarship in order to validate their religious or political beliefs. "Unholy Business" is a well-written detective story about how archaeology's quest for truth can be corrupted by outside agendas and the lust for mammon. Recommended.

I lived in the Middle East many years and traveled through the region; the personalities in the book are quite familiar. I have heard their voices - can almost seen their faces - as they describe an acquaintance, an inflated middleman, or a vain local nabob.

The ethnic mélange and localized dialects in the Middle East forces its own norms and forms. You trust someone you know more than someone you met only once; you trust a local stranger more than a "foreign" one. One's personal connection with anyone takes precedence over the rank of that person. The stories related by Lenny Wolfe are so accurate that I would swear we have visited the same markets and merchants! In their culture, one's word is as good as a written contract - possibly better, since myriad lingual nuances make signing a binding document iffy at best. The unraveling scheme supports that point: one written word stops a forgery ring.

The book needs more editing, but it is well worth the read - a real "whodunit". It opens with an overly detailed account of an abundance of cats and a passing look at their eccentric keeper, a minor player in a major scheme unraveling as the book is being written.

The first few sections read more like a chatty personal journal than the introduction to the exposé of a global über scandal that rocked archaeology, museums, universities, nations, and three religions.

Burleigh is writing while the carefully conceived scheme is disintegrating; the background story begins in 2001 with later entries dating to late 2007. (The program with the "Naked Archaeologist" mentioned by the author aired in the 2006-2007 Discovery Channel season.) Writing with such immediacy encourages a journal more than a journalistic style. In 2002, few people could have foreseen the implications - least of all the magnitude - of the frenzy locked in a stone box.

It is difficult to separate the real from the fake in any historical period. Even "fakes" become valued for their antiquity or for their accurate representation of a lost treasure. In the "Holy Land", fakes have an especially colorful history; there is nothing new in "Biblical archaeology". Emperor Constantine provided "relic factories" with a regal kick off through his zealous efforts to mark the life of Jesus and to find the "true [fill-in-the-blank]". His mother, Helena obliged, authenticating sites based on evidence offered by ancestors of the same people and same mindset that continues to defraud 2000 years later. She hauled off conveniently located wood, stone or rubble as "sacred relics" and transformed mud homes and pagan temples into marble cathedrals with no more solid evidence than the hearsay provided for the ossuary.

Burleigh does regain control of the narrative and focuses her keen eye on the multifarious characters in what became a "Theatre of the Aspersions". Doubts about the veracity of the ossuary increased; the Biblical "archaeologist" and publisher promoting the box doomed one scientist after another to eternal damnation as their evidence against the box mounted. As accusations flew and grew, Burleigh examines the players more carefully than sports fans assess their "fantasy" teams. Against the odds and despite ingrained beliefs, the Israeli Antiquities Authority managed to break a major crime ring. They also uncovered new questions and uncomfortable answers about their own history and treasures.

The Biblical "archaeologists" and Biblical "scholars" who churned a sanctimonious vortex around the box continue their veneration of a perfidious counterfeit. They also contend the tomb of the holy family has been discovered and, like money changers in the temple, they charge the faithful dearly for a glimpse inside their dusty pseudo shrine. To believers, they are heroes, guarding Christianity against "heretic, Godless" scientists. As for the "holy relics" gathered by Helena and her generations of successors, it is safe conjecture that no church will subject its tiny fragments of fame to scientific scrutiny.

Of greater importance is the question of how many forgeries lie, mislabeled and misleading, in public and private collections? That number may never be admitted.
_________________________________________
This review is of an uncorrected proof not available for sale. (Still a great read!)