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The Testament of James by Vin Suprynowicz
Reviewed by Ken Holder
[email protected]

Attribute to L. Neil Smith's The Libertarian Enterprise

This mystery/thriller novel has the subtitle "From the case files of Matthew Hunter and Chantal Stevens" which implies more to come. At least I hope so.

Main character Matthew Hunter owns "Books on Benefit", a rare-books bookstore in Boston. "Benefit" is the name of the street it is on. Chantal Stevens is his girlfriend, she packs a LadySmith revolver, which comes in handy eventually. The plot is about a very rare hand-written bound manuscript that claims to be written by James, brother of Jesus, giving the true information on the career, death, and reserection of his brother Jesus.

As you might imagine, there are several people wanting that book and willing to do almost anything to obtain it. Some people want to supress it, some want to publish it, and some are just crazy. Bibliomania. It's a real condition. You can look it up. (Although Wikipedia notes "Bibliomania is not a psychological disorder recognized by the DSM-IV." So your health insurance won't help you out if you've got it!)

Now, I worked in a rare-books library at the University of Texas for about five years, and I can tell you that Vin got the "look and feel" of rare-books people down correctly. Yes, it really is a bit crazy in the rare-books world.

The story is fast paced, littered with authentic detail about rare book sellers and collectors, and even about people who wander into a rare book store thinking it's a thrift-store. I mean, used books, right? "You want $7.50 for this book?" "No, sir, that price is $750.00!" "For a used book?!?!?" And so it goes.

I enjoyed my time with _The Testament of James_, and give it my highest recomendation. Don't just sit there, start reading!

The Testament of James
by Vin Suprynowicz
Publisher: Mountain Media, Pahrump, NV
Publication Date: 2014
Binding: Hardcover
Illustrator: Cover design by Cal Bussjaeger, based on a painting by Matthias Stom
Amazon.com Kindle Edition, $5.99 at time of review.
hardback, signed leather-bound First Edition, limited to 650 copies. $32.50 + $3.75 shipping at time of review.

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