The Ghost Manuscript by Kris Frieswick

This was an excellent mix of thriller, history, antiquities, libraries, and action-adventure. I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this, after picking it up at the library on a whim. 

Carys Jones is a rare book authenticator who works for an auction house. She's worked on tracking down British Dark Age manuscripts for John Harper, a super rich man who has created a one of a kind library at his estate. 

Harper has been committed to an insane asylum because he's been hallucinating and insisting he's talking to a monk who was the personal holy man to the man known today at King Arthur.  Carys has been called in to look over the collection and to catalog it and prepare it for sale. Harper's son JJ is selling the library, along with the estate. 

Carys thinks she's just there to prepare the library for sale, but her meeting with Harper reveals something a bit too hard to believe: a rare manuscript written by a monk telling the true story of King Arthur, and his burial site. That site contains priceless treasures from the Dark Age, when Britain was under attack by Anglo Saxons and under constant siege. If this manuscript is the real deal, the world may finally know for sure that King Arthur was an actual person, not a myth. And it will contain treasures of a long lost age. 

Carys digs deeper and deeper, and soon finds herself being chased from Boston to Wales, where the manuscript leads her on a wild chase. There's so much to this story, I can't possibly tell you everything. It's pretty wild. Is Carys also falling prey to hallucinations, or is she really conversing with the long dead monk? Will the bad men chasing her, determined to kill to get the manuscript, succeed in tracking her down? Who can she trust? 

Oh, it's so good! I love novels that explore legends, ancient mysteries, and lost treasure. This novel is chock full of history and mystery, and I was enthralled. There were a few plot twists that gutted me, for sure. I was very invested in Carys' journey, and the supporting characters are such a part of the plot I had a few stressful moments in the thick of the action. Let's just say no one is safe in this adventure. The bad men are really bad, and will stop at nothing to succeed. 

I would highly recommend this novel for anyone who is a King Arthur fan or a  history buff. For sure I'd recommend it for fans of Clive Cussler, James Rollins, and Dan Brown. It's a solidly written tale that will keep you breathless. I hope hope hope there's a sequel, because there's room at the end for more adventures. 

Rating: 5/6 for a thrilling dive into the legend of King Arthur, set in contemporary Boston and Wales, where history could be rewritten if long lost secrets come to light. So good!  

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio book. 

Share: facebook - twitter - pinterest

The Ghost Manuscript by Kris Frieswick

The Lost Book of the Grail by Charlie Lovett

I've been a fan of Charlie Lovett since reading his first novel The Bookman's Tale a few years ago, and I just couldn't wait to read his latest. I'm happy to say it did not disappoint.

I'm a fan of ancient manuscripts, King Arthur and tales of the holy grail, and, of course, glorious old libraries.  All of Lovett's novels are love letters to books and their magical powers, and also to the people who both today and in centuries past have been stewards to the written word. In The Lost Book of the Grail, not only do we see the history of one cathedral's library, but we see all the people who have (in some instances, given their lives) committed their lives to protect precious manuscripts and the secrets they hold. 

Arthur Prescott lives and works in Barchester, England as an English professor at Barchester University. He's not terribly fond of his job, but is in complete and total rapture over Barchester Cathedral's library, where he spends most of his off time looking through ancient manuscripts and trying to solve the mystery of Barchester's connection to the Holy Grail. Yes. The Holy Grail. Arthur would spend summers at his grandfather's house in Barchester, learning about King Arthur and the Holy Grail from his grandfather. Little hints and winks from his grandfather lead Arthur to believe that somehow a connection exists between Barchester and the grail. There is the fascinating tale of Saint Ewolda, a martyred Saxon saint who was the founder of the cathedral 1500 years before, and who's Book of Ewolda has gone missing from the cathedral's library after a German bombing during World War 2. Arthur's been hired to write a new guide book for the cathedral, and he's been dragging his feet because he doesn't know the whole story of Ewolda, and doesn't feel he can properly write the guide without her story framing it.  

Bethany Davis appears, and she's trouble for Arthur. She is an American there to digitize the ancient manuscripts in the library, much to Arthur's horror. He's very much old school and doesn't know much at all about computers, digitizing, or social media. His feelings of irritation towards Bethany are soon replaced with much warmer feelings as he discovers she is much more than a modern librarian and archivist. Together with Arthur's friends David and Oscar, the four set out to solve the mystery of Barchester, Ewolda, and the Holy Grail before time runs out and the ancient manuscripts are sold to fund much needed repairs to the cathedral.  

This novel moves between the ancient life of the cathedral and the guardians of the Barchester secrets through the past 1500 years of history and Arthur's contemporary Barchester. It's a fascinating background to the modern puzzle Arthur and Bethany are trying to solve and makes for a much more interesting story. There's a whole bunch of English religious history thrown in, but it's easily digestible and makes an impact on just how long and entangled religion, books, and libraries have been in England. The modern movement to digitize fragile and valuable books and manuscripts is seen by some as horrible, but by others (such as myself) as a way to preserve for future generations precious works that could be lost to the elements of time.  It is a way to share freely with the world some of the greatest treasures we have, but are now only accessible through expensive travel and appointments.

Arthur's a bit of a poop, but he is charming and hard to resist with his love of libraries, books, and the magic of religious traditions that, combined with ancient hymns, give him a sense of peace that nothing else ever has or will. He is so aware of the majesty of it all, and I found this part of Arthur very charming and sweet. 

I just loved this book. It made me long to travel to England and experience the great cathedrals, smell the incense, feel the weight of history, and sense all those who have lived, loved, and protected the treasures (great and small) of their most holy places. 

Rating:  5/6 for an enchanting tale, delightful characters, and a very clever story. Do they find the grail? Read it and find out. 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 
 

Share: facebook - twitter - pinterest

The Lost Book of the Grail by Charlie Lovett