An Egyptian-American Independent Publisher Prepares a Multi-Layered October Launch While an Academic Paper Awaits Peer Review and a NetGalley Campaign Builds Momentum
ESPANOLA, N.M., July 20, 2026
Kerolos LLC, the New Mexico-registered independent publishing imprint operating under the Breaking Barriers brand, today announced a comprehensive autumn 2026 publishing slate anchored by the October 7 release of Their Judge, the English-language adaptation of the acclaimed Arabic novel قاضيهم, alongside a simultaneous academic preprint publication and an original musical score derived from the novel’s text.
The announcement marks a significant milestone in the company’s sustained strategy of building a coordinated international publishing presence that bridges literary fiction, academic research, and multimedia cultural production across both Arabic and English markets.
Their Judge: A Novel at the Intersection of Justice, Faith, and Institutional Power
Their Judge — the English adaptation of قاضيهم (Rezk, 2023), originally published in Arabic to critical recognition — is a work of literary fiction set against the backdrop of a Coptic Orthodox diocese in Egypt. The novel follows a constellation of characters caught in the machinery of an ecclesiastical administrative system where the boundaries between spiritual authority and institutional sovereignty have become dangerously blurred.
At its heart, Their Judge is a deeply human story: of a bishop haunted by the weight of absolute judgment, of a man whose faith is systematically dismantled by the very institution that formed it, and of the quiet, devastating cost of silence in the face of institutional cruelty. Written with the precision of a sociological study and the emotional depth of literary realism, the novel has been described by its author as “a phenomenological laboratory for questions that nobody in the institution dares to ask out loud.”
Their Judge is available for pre-order on Amazon as of today, with an official release date of October 7, 2026. The novel carries an ISBN:
9798950466946
NetGalley Campaign: Building Critical Momentum Before Launch
Beginning in the second half of July or early August 2026, Their Judge will join Kerolos LLC’s active NetGalley presence, running alongside the ongoing campaign for The Da Vinci Deception: How the Mary Magdalene Marriage myth shattered my life — the company’s English-language work of historical religious non-fiction that has been building its reviewer base on the platform.
Advance reader copies of Their Judge will be available to qualified NetGalley members including librarians, booksellers, educators, journalists, and book bloggers. Requests can be submitted directly through the NetGalley platform beginning in mid-July 2026.
An Original Musical Score: When the Novel Speaks in Sound
In a distinctive creative decision that reflects the Breaking Barriers imprint’s commitment to multi-sensory storytelling, Their Judge will include within its printed and digital text a link to the original musical score — composed using lyrics drawn directly from within the novel’s narrative.
The musical element is not a promotional addition but an organic extension of the fictional world: the score emerges from a moment within the novel’s plot itself, transforming a passage of text into an auditory experience that the reader encounters at the precise narrative moment the story demands it. This integration of music, text, and reader experience represents a deliberate artistic choice to treat the novel not as a static object but as a living, multi-layered work.
This approach positions Their Judge at the intersection of literary fiction and immersive storytelling — a distinction increasingly valued by readers, reviewers, and cultural commentators navigating a media landscape where the boundaries between books, sound, and digital experience continue to dissolve.
Academic Dimensions: The Sociological Study That Mirrors the Novel
Simultaneously with the literary launch, Kerolos LLC announces the publication of an academic preprint on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN): “The Metastasis of Infallibility and the Architecture of Factionalism: A Socio-Ecclesiastical Study of Functional Sacredness, Monastic Sovereignty, and Faith Deconstruction in the Contemporary Coptic Context” — authored by Kerolos Kamal Rezk.
The paper employs Their Judge as a heuristic simulation model to analyze the sociology of institutional power within closed religious communities — specifically, the structural phenomenon whereby the perceived sanctity of a religious leader radiates to his administrative inner circle, creating what the study terms a “Bureaucratic Shield” that systematically insulates institutional malpractice from accountability. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Max Weber, Michel Foucault, and Pierre Bourdieu, and grounding its historical analysis in sources ranging from the third-century Didascalia Apostolorum to the twentieth-century Coptic revival, the paper introduces several original theoretical concepts including Attribution Migration, the Origenist Fault Line as structural recurrence, and the Sovereign Judge versus Conciliar Physician typology.
This convergence of literary fiction and academic research within a single publishing project is a rare and deliberate editorial choice — one that positions Their Judge not merely as a novel but as a cultural and intellectual event.
The Breaking Barriers Series: A Publisher Building with Purpose
Their Judge joins a rapidly expanding catalog published under the Breaking Barriers imprint by Kerolos LLC, reflecting the author’s sustained commitment to ambitious, cross-genre publishing across Arabic and English markets:
The Da Vinci Deception (English) — A work of historical religious fiction interrogating the boundaries between received tradition and historical revisionism, currently active on NetGalley and available across major retail platforms.
قاضيهم / Their Judge (Arabic, 2023) — The original Arabic edition, published to recognition within Arabic literary and religious intellectual circles, and the foundational text from which the current English translation and academic study derive.
The Founding of the Church in Rome (English and Arabic, 2025) — A scholarly work of religious history available in print and digital formats across Amazon, Apple Books, and IngramSpark, examining the historical and canonical foundations of early Roman Christianity.
The Mary Magdalene Paper — An academic study published on Zenodo and SSRN, engaging with the contested historical and theological identity of Mary Magdalene through patristic and historical-critical methodologies.
The Da Vinci Deception (Arabic, forthcoming) — The Arabic adaptation of the English work, currently in formatting, extending the Breaking Barriers catalog’s bilingual reach.
About Kerolos Kamal Rezk and Kerolos LLC
Kerolos Kamal Rezk is an Egyptian anesthesiologist, independent author, and academic researcher whose work spans literary fiction, religious history, and the sociology of minority institutions. Operating across both Egypt and the United States, he writes in Arabic and English with equal fluency, publishing under the Breaking Barriers imprint through Kerolos LLC — a New Mexico-registered limited liability company.
Kerolos LLC (registered in New Mexico) operates as an independent publishing house and institutional umbrella that extends beyond serves as a personal imprint for the works of author and researcher Kerolos Kamal Rezk. In line with its strategic trajectory to function as a broader platform for diverse scholarly voices, the company is expanding its catalog to include external academic authors. Reflecting this development, Kerolos LLC’s upcoming pipeline features a major forthcoming historical work by an independent church history researcher, to be published in Arabic under the title: “The Fathers: The History of the Five Apostolic Sees in the Catholic Church” (الآباء: تاريخ الكراسي الرسولية الخمسة في الكنيسة الجامعة).
Availability and Contact
Their Judge is available for pre-order on Amazon and released officially on October 7, 2026, distributed internationally via IngramSpark. NetGalley access opens in the second half of July 2026.
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H6Y9PZ4D
The academic preprint is available on SSRN at: https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=6987838
For interview requests, academic inquiries, or rights information, contact Kerolos LLC at: support@kerolos.work
for review copies available now at: https://reviews.kerolos.work