The Relic Master

The Relic Master, by Christopher Buckley, Simon and Schuster 2015

Buckley's essays and humorous stories - INSERT LINK - were so well-written - he is a better writer than his late-Dad, William F. Buckley - and entertaining, that I was intrigued by the possibility of a Christopher Buckley novel.  Kirkus said about The Relic Master that as a comic historical novel it is "The Princess Bride meets Ocean's XIII."  And Tom Wolfe called Buckley "one of the funniest writers in the English language." I would certainly agree - Buckley kept me reading one precious essay at a time all through the summer.

But The Relic Master is a different animal.  It opens in 1517.  As a nutso adventure, the book stars Dismas, a former Swiss mercenary and monk, and his best buddy Albrecht Durer.  Together they conspire to forge the Shroud of Turin.

Dismas knows whereof he works - as a procurer of "authentic" religious replicas for wealthy and influential clients.  Apparently the relic business is a healthy and growing segment of the 16th century European economy for Dismas' patrons derive revenue from their relic purchases by charging pilgrims to venerate them....And Buckley further enriches the money pile by having patrons use the holy remains - bits of digits, hair, clothing, etc.,to facilitate the sale of indulgences.  Hmmm, here comes the Protestant Reformation!

But the scheme begins to fall like Enron stock when Dismas' dreams of  a comfortable retirement fall victim to a Ponzi scheme.  He is destitute and desperate, hence the biggest scheme/scam of all -  the manufacture and potential sale of the Shroud of Turin.

We have to admit that Buckley knows his European history, or enough of of it to swing some more amazing deals.  Does it work?  Does Dismas retire to a commodious cabin in the Alps?  Does Frederick the Wise of Saxony snatch the biggest relic of all time?  And does Martin Luther survive the storm he unleashed when he questioned the sale of indulgences?  Well, you'll have to finish Buckley's book for the answers, or some of them at least.  It's a fun read, like most everything else he has written, and we'd love to read another of historical comedies.