Description: 1517. Dismas is a relic hunter who procures "authentic" religious relics for wealthy and influential clients, and is as honest as any relic dealer can be. When Dismas and his artist friend Dèurer conspire to manufacture a shroud to sell to the unsuspecting noble, Dèurer's reckless pride exposes Cardinal Albrecht's newly acquired shroud as a fake, the Cardinal puts Dismas and Dèurer in the custody of four loutish mercenaries and sends them all to steal Christ's burial cloth-- the Shroud of Chambâery-- Europe's most celebrated relic.
Brief description: Christopher Buckley is a novelist, essayist, humorist, critic, magazine editor and memoirist. His books include Thank You for Smoking, The Judge Hunter, and The Relic Master. He worked as a merchant seaman and White House speechwriter. He has written for many newspapers and magazines and has lectured in over seventy cities around the world. He was awarded the Thurber Prize for American Humor and the Washington Irving Medal for Literary Excellence.
Review Quotes: "An inspired piece of literary gymnastics [that] tumbles into an exuberant adventure caper. . . so tightly written that it holds the reader till the very last page. . . . a smart, tart, well-researched romp into one of history's most irresistibly grubby and outrageous periods of excess."