The Life of Thecla is the first English translation, with introduction and notes, of a fifth-century writing of a popular second-century noncanonical text (the Acts of Thecla), which tells the story of a young woman who leaves behind her life and family, and risks martyrdom twice, to follow the ascetic message of the apostle Paul. The Life gives readers insight into how this popular story was reimagined centuries later, at the lively shrine to St. Thecla. Gospel Thrillers explores conspiratorial fantasies about the Bible in U.S. cultures through dozens of modern novels that invent fantastic new gospel discoveries that plunge protagonists (and readers) into a world of danger and intrigue.