Out of Darkness

What happens when eight non-Mormon scholars are offered $100,000 each to spend seven weeks cloistered on a lavish estate to test the Book of Mormon and document its authenticity? With a jet at their disposal to whisk them to the cradle of Mormonism in Palmyra, New York, the olive orchards of Samaria, and Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the researchers are plunged into a tantalizing search.

Stephen Thorn, with a Ph.D. in communications, reluctantly joins the other seven scholars at the insistence of his father-in-law, a prominent televangelist. Anney, Stephen's wife, who bears an old grudge against the Mormons, fears that he has been thrust into a study that may influence his Protestant beliefs. As Stephen absorbs the truths of the Book of Mormon, a wedge is driven between them that could ultimately destroy their marriage.

This extraordinary novel rivets the reader's interest on several different levels--intellectual, emotional, and spiritual. Will Peter Polk, the project's coordinator, be able to carry off this study? Will his scholarly conclave reach any substantial conclusions about the authenticity of the Book of Mormon? And will Stephen risk losing his wife and family if he embraces a new faith?