Russian mobsters and Mossad agents perhaps, but a centuries-old Lithuanian rabbi isn’t your typical ingredient for a thriller. But when a bestselling Lithuanian novel hits the shelves this week, readers will see how these seemingly incongruous components make up a pacy page-turner that delves into the fascinating history of Lithuanian Jewry. The Gaon Code , by Rytis Sabas, centres around a real-life 18th-century Lithuanian rabbi known as the Vilna Gaon, and his spiritual code to predict future events.
The book takes the reader on a nail-biting race against time through Europe, the US and the Middle East. The main character, Paul, is a Lithuanian-American immigrant living in Chicago, and together with a Latvian-Israeli history student, Galya, he undertakes a dangerous search for a priceless and mystical artefact last seen in Lithuania in the hands of Paul’s grandfather. Sabas, 52, has already enjoyed much success with his The Da Vinci Code -style novel, with both The Gaon Code and its sequel, The Tail of the Dragon , topping bestselling lists in Lithuania, and he is in talks with Disney+ to turn the tale into a TV series.
But what inspired Sabas, who is not Jewish, to write this story in the first place? “I wanted to write a book about Lithuania to show the world how beautiful our country is and how wonderful our people are,” Sabas told me. “I decided to write about the Jewish people, the people who formed our nation, our state, our statehood. We have many stories ab.
