The Book of Lamps and Banners

by Elizabeth Hand

Overview

Acclaimed crime writer Elizabeth Hand returns to her "fiercely frightening yet hauntingly beautiful" cult-favorite series: Photographer Cass Neary is hard-up for cash and in more danger than she realizes on the hunt for an ancient, legendary book (Tess Gerritsen).
 
Photographer Cass Neary is desperate to get home, and she's already lost her camera — like losing a limb. Now her only chance is to cash in on a deal that a friend is about to cut for a legendary illuminated manuscript: The Book of Lamps and Banners. Rumored to have been rescued from the Library at Alexandria, the Book is said to contain ancient esoteric knowledge, even an otherworldly power.

So when an intruder brazenly steals the manuscript, Cass and her ex-con lover Quinn must get it back-plunging headlong into a shady underworld where antiquarian booksellers, unhinged tech entrepreneurs, and brutal nationalists all converge. This breathless psychological thriller, featuring one of the greatest amateur sleuths of the past decade, could only come from the mind of Elizabeth Hand.
 
"Kaleidoscopic, dark, and mysterious . . . This novel is a jaw-punch, written with a snarling grace." — Paul Tremblay, author of The Cabin at the End of the World

“I love Cass Neary . . . . Her latest misadventure is vivid and haunting, braiding the ancient and occult with the unholy frights of the modern world.” ―Steph Cha, author of Your House Will Pay

"Elizabeth Hand has delivered a startling book that is dirty, wise, aching, and almost magical."―Ivy Pochoda, author of These Women

 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316485937
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	09/29/2020
Series:	Cass Neary , #4
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	1,120,443
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Elizabeth Hand is the author of more than fifteen cross-genre novels and collections of short fiction. Her work has received the Shirley Jackson Award (three times), the World Fantasy Award (four times), the Nebula Award (twice), as well as the James M. Tiptree Jr. and Mythopoeic Society Awards. She's a longtime critic and contributor of essays for the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Salon, Boston Review, and the Village Voice, among many others. She divides her time between the Maine coast and North London.

Editorial Reviews

I love Cass Neary, the smart, messy, substance-abusing, death-marked ghost of punk. Her latest misadventure is vivid and haunting, braiding the ancient and occult with the unholy frights of the modern world. A thrill ride crackling with sulfurous brilliance.”—Steph Cha, author of Your House Will Pay

“Cass Neary is a remarkable heroine. As with Sherlock Holmes, her power lies in the act of seeing what ordinary people cannot, only where Holmes brings clues to light, Neary is content to linger in the dark. Her eye catches the liminal spaces between clarity and shadow so well I found myself rereading passages for the beauty of her way of seeing.”—New York Times Book Review

"The ancient manuscript at the center of The Book of Lamps and Banners is as kaleidoscopic, dark, and mysterious as Hand's amateur sleuth. This novel is a jaw-punch, written with a snarling grace. Cass Neary—the aging punk photographer living within darkest edges of our broken civilization-is my hero. And so is Liz Hand."—Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Cabin atthe End of the World

"It's hard to imagine a more perfect novel than The Book of Lamps and Banners. In her fourth Cass Neary outing, Elizabeth Hand has delivered a startling book that is dirty, wise, aching, and almost magical. Hand expertly marries muscular prose to sophisticated detail, resulting in an enviably smart, fearless novel that conjures demons, evokes an immediate sense of place, and summons the surreal."—Ivy Pochoda, author of These Women

"A wild ride that defies comparison: pill-popping idealist Cass Neary’s obsessive hunt piles on teeth-grinding, story-propelling tension, and Hand’s gifted portrayal of subcultures seamlessly
links Cass’ past in New York’s ’80s punk scene, London’s rare-book dealers, and Odinist neo-Nazis." —Booklist (starred review)

"What a story! Powered by pure adrenaline and excitement, engrossing and yet human to the core—Elizabeth Hand has written a barn burner of a thriller. What a delight." —Rene Denfeld, author of The Child Finder

“A hair-raising, mind-bending trip… Exquisitely suspenseful, and the paranoia suffusing the story is very much of our present moment. The idea that any single source can make sense of everything happening around us is as alluring as it is dangerous [and] half of the mystery in The Book of Lamps and Banners is wondering whether Cass Neary will save us or take us down with her.”—BookPage (starred review)

“Cass Neary is a tough, self-destructive character who still exudes compassion, courage, and love for the beauty and the pain of life—even more so because she recognizes its impermanence. Part The Club Dumas, part The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, all punk attitude and beautiful ache.”  —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“A propulsive exploration of obsession and addiction.”—Sarah Weinman, The Crime Lady

“If The Book of Lamps and Banners had a playlist, it would feature Patti Smith and the Ramones…The high-speed narrative, jittery and swift, mirrors Cass's addiction. . . . Fans of Scandinavian crime fiction will enjoy this excellent series offering an intelligent puzzle along with gritty reality.”—Shelf Awareness

"Picture The Maltese Falcon, but instead of a black bird, there's an ancient and mystic manuscript, and instead of a private eye with a code, there's an aging punk photographer amped up on booze and speed. Elizabeth Hand's genre mash-up is a dizzying ride."—Peter Swanson, author of Eight Perfect Murders

“Intense and hard to put down... Elizabeth Hand’s writing is crisp and vividly imagined.”
 —Mystery Scene

"If Dan Brown wrote TheGirl With the Dragon Tattoo, you'd have something like Elizabeth Hand'sThe Book of Lamps and Banners. A tight, gritty page-turner that gnaws at your fingertips and gets under your skin — the best kind of addiction."
—Peter Clines, New York Times bestselling author of Paradox Bound

 “Brilliantly entertaining and surprisingly heart-wrenching . . . Pure triumph, from end to end."—Gemma Files, author of Experimental Film

“Enjoyable . . . The action hurtles toward an exciting climax on an island off the Swedish coast. That this adventure ends for once on a positive note for Cass, who so far has been living on an addict’s ragged edge, will please series fans. Newcomers will find this a good entry point.”—Publishers Weekly

"With each new book, Elizabeth Hand's great creation Cass Neary grows more complex, and fascinating. She's tough, smart, f*cked up. And I love her. If you've been following her since Generation Loss, you already know all this. If you haven't, read this book."—Ellen Datlow, winner of the HorrorWriters' Association and World Fantasy Life Achievement Awards

PRAISE FOR THE CASS NEARY SERIES


"Nerve-jangling and addictive.... With Cass—relentless in her dangerous curiosity, her ruthless art of survival—Hand has created an anti-hero for the ages. We'd follow her anywhere, into any glittery abyss, and do."—Megan Abbott, author of Dare Me

"I love Elizabeth Hand's Cass Neary novels — they're tough-minded, beautifully written, and unique. One of the best series out there."—Jeff VanderMeer, author of Dead Astronauts

"Fiercely frightening yet hauntingly beautiful, with a startling heroine you'll never forget.... I've long been a fan of Elizabeth Hand's amazing books, and once again she proves why she is truly a writer's writer, her prose so glowing it makes all the rest of us jealous."—Tess Gerritsen, author of the Rizzoli & Isles series

"Elizabeth Hand's Cass Neary novels, rightly praised for their icy tension and remarkable darkness, are threaded, like the best of punk in any medium, on a bloodied yet admirably stubborn humanism."

—William Gibson, author of Neuromancer

"Intense and atmospheric.... An inventive brew of postpunk attitude and dark mystery. Elizabeth Hand writes with craftsmanship and passion." —George Pelecanos, author of The Man Who Came Uptown

From the Publisher

08/01/2020

Hand's punk antiheroine Cass Neary returns in her fourth adventure (after 2016's Hard Light). Still hiding out in London on a shady passport, still drinking and drugging, she finds trouble this time in the form of an ancient illuminated manuscript, The Book of Lamps and Banners, rumored to have been written by Aristotle, and to have magical properties. An old frenemy of Cass's plans to sell the book to software designer Tindra Bergstrand, who wants to use it to complete a mind-altering app. But when a bookseller is killed, the manuscript is stolen, and Tindra disappears, Cass grabs her old flame, Quinn, and staggers after all. Up against white nationalists in London, sinister residents on an island off the Swedish coast, and her own dependencies and darkness, Cass may not make it out alive. VERDICT Hand's desolate descriptions and Cass's larger-than-life persona help to carry a story that is not as intricately plotted as her 2019 stand-alone, Curious Toys, with a few characters not fully fleshed out. Still, followers of the series will be happy to see Cass return.—Liz French, Library Journal

Library Journal

★ 2020-07-14
In a dystopian world of heavy fog, Nazi demonstrations, and a creeping virus, photographer Cass Neary searches for an ancient book that might have supernatural power.

Cass is a wreck. She’s lost her camera; she hasn’t heard from the love of her life, ex-con Quinn O’Boyle, in several days; and she’s jonesing for alcohol, speed, or anything else she can get her hands on. When she runs into rare-book runner Gryffin Haselton in London, he confesses that he’s about to make the sale of a lifetime to up-and-coming tech genius Tindra Bergstrand: a mysterious, arcane book that may have been written by Aristotle. Of course, things go horribly wrong: The middleman is murdered, and Cass and Gryffin escape only to be picked up by Tindra’s people. It turns out that Tindra wants the Aristotle text to scan into an app she’s developing that's supposed to heal the brains of people suffering from PTSD—but when Cass gets a glimpse of the Ludus Mentis app, she flashes back viscerally to the greatest trauma of her life. Reunited with Quinn, Cass is soon on the run, dodging neo-Nazis as they rally in London and following clues to a remote Scandinavian island, hoping that if she recovers the book it could pay her and Quinn’s way to a new start. Cass is walking wounded; still she views the world through the eyes of a true artist, an artist who feels the full weight of her calling. “Because what is a photographer,” she asks, “but a chooser of the slain, someone who decides who or what is destined for immortality?” Cass Neary is a tough, self-destructive character who still exudes compassion, courage, and love for the beauty and the pain of life—even more so because she recognizes its impermanence.

Part The Club Dumas, part The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, all punk attitude and beautiful ache.

Kirkus Reviews

Series narrator Carol Monda's gravelly voice draws out every mile Cass Neary has traveled over the course of the author’s thrillers. In this newest installment, Cass, a photographer, finds herself down and out in London, minus her camera. A chance meeting with an old acquaintance presents an opportunity to make quick cash by selling a rare ancient book. Monda delivers clear characterizations and complementary accents for an international cast of characters who become embroiled in a high-stakes play for the coveted text. An American bookseller, a Swedish software designer, and British antiquarians complicate Cass and her ex-con lover Quinn's attempts to acquire the book. Listeners hear a nuanced Cass throughout as Monda humanizes her struggles with substance abuse in this compelling production. J.R.T. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2020 - AudioFile

Series narrator Carol Monda's gravelly voice draws out every mile Cass Neary has traveled over the course of the author’s thrillers. In this newest installment, Cass, a photographer, finds herself down and out in London, minus her camera. A chance meeting with an old acquaintance presents an opportunity to make quick cash by selling a rare ancient book. Monda delivers clear characterizations and complementary accents for an international cast of characters who become embroiled in a high-stakes play for the coveted text. An American bookseller, a Swedish software designer, and British antiquarians complicate Cass and her ex-con lover Quinn's attempts to acquire the book. Listeners hear a nuanced Cass throughout as Monda humanizes her struggles with substance abuse in this compelling production. J.R.T. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2020 - AudioFile