The Book of Lamps and Banners (Cass Neary #4 ) by Elizabeth Hand

 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The Book of Lamps and Banners (Cass Neary #4 )
Author: Elizabeth Hand
Release Date: 9.29.20
Publisher: Mulholland Books


Goodreads Summary:
Acclaimed crime writer Elizabeth Hand returns to her cult-favorite series: Photographer Cass Neary is hard-up for cash and in more danger than she realizes, in the hunt for an ancient, legendary book.
Cass Neary needs cash to get home to New York, and she's already sold her camera-like losing a limb, for a photographer of her experience. Her best chance is to get in on the deal that Griffin, an old flame, is about cut with a notoriously particular bookseller for a gorgeous, ancient illuminated manuscript: The Book of Lamps and Banners. This Book is more than just a beautiful object-its text and images are said to have a powerful magic capable of life-changing effects on anyone who reads it.
But before the sale can be completed, an intruder brazenly steals the Book out from under the dealer's nose. Cass and Griff are the only suspects. To clear their names, and keep the missing text out of dangerous hands, Cass plunges into a curious underworld at the intersection of antiquarian books, cutting-edge software, and modern nationalist politics. This breathless psychological thriller, featuring one of the greatest amateur sleuths of the past decade, could only come from the mind of Elizabeth Hand.

My Review: 

Confession time. I made a mistake when I requested this one for review. I had no idea it was the fourth book in a series! I simply read the summary and saw there was a search for an ancient book, rumored to have been rescued from the Library at Alexandria, believed to contain an otherworldly power. I decided to dive in to the book and see if it was necessary to read the previous books in the series and thought that I'd set this to the side if I got confused. There were a couple references to what I believe were probably earlier storylines but overall this novel stood well on its own. It was full of lots of great characters, especially the protagonist, forty-something photographer Cass Neary. Whew, was she messy! She was also determined to track down the stolen book no matter where it lead--even into some super scary places. I was literally holding my breath turning the pages toward the end of the book as she got closer and closer to the book and the people who had it in their possession. I really did like Cass so much that I'll be circling back around to read the other books in this series.