Reagan library director taps bigger subject: Cloning Jesus – Washington Examiner

John Heubusch is the classic "local boy makes good" story.

A House aide in the 1980s who later was the Labor Department's chief of staff during former President George H.W. Bush's administration, he went on to work for Gateway Computers, ran owner Ted Waitt's foundation and is now the executive director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute.

His next job: tackling the Second Coming.

Heubusch is the author of the just-released novel The Shroud Conspiracy, dubbed a DaVinci Code meets Indiana Jones thriller that considers the cloning of Jesus. It reads so well that a sequel has been ordered by Simon & Schuster imprint Howard Books, and Heubusch is in talks for a movie.

While he tapped his Washington roots researching the book, it is not a D.C. whodunit.

"When I tell people I've written a book and its sequel, to a person they all expect it's a Brad Meltzer-type novel given all my political experience, the Hill, the administration, lobbying. That's their expectation. But the subject matter I've chosen is far, far away from the halls of Congress," he said.

However, it does touch on a subject that is in the headlines. "One of the fundamentally important elements in the book is all about human cloning," Heubusch said. "From a research nugget standpoint, it's interesting to know that while human cloning seems to be outrageous, it's actually not outlawed in the U.S. There's no federal law prohibiting it."

At a book party for the Shroud Conspiracy a block from the White House Thursday evening, the author said that he has thought about the subject since he was 17, but added, "I don't really know what if feels like to be an author, but book was published just 48 hours ago."

Still, he added, it was already No. 30 on Amazon's best seller list.

Also from the Washington Examiner

"Shut your mouth," one audience member yelled.

03/19/17 3:35 PM

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com

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Reagan library director taps bigger subject: Cloning Jesus - Washington Examiner