The Relic Master: A Novel

  • Author: Christopher Buckley
  • Narrator: James Langton
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster
  • Duration: 10:55:50
preview

Synopsis

Christopher Buckley’s “hilarious, bawdy, and irreverent frolic of a tale” about a sixteenth-century relic hunter and the artist Albrecht Dürer who conspire to fabricate Christ’s burial shroud reads “like Indiana Jones gone medieval” (USA TODAY).

The year is 1517. Dismas is a relic hunter who procures “authentic” religious relics for wealthy and influential clients. His two most important patrons are Frederick the Wise and soon-to-be Cardinal Albrecht of Mainz. While Frederick is drawn to the recent writing of Martin Luther, Albrecht pursues the financial and political benefits of religion and seeks to buy a cardinalship through the selling of indulgences. When Albrecht’s demands for grander relics increase, Dismas and his artist friend Dürer fabricate a shroud to sell to the unsuspecting noble. Unfortunately Dürer’s reckless pride exposes the trickery, so Albrecht puts Dismas and Dürer in the custody of four mercenaries and sends them all to steal Christ’s burial cloth (the Shroud of Chambéry), Europe’s most celebrated artifact. On their journey to Savoy where the Shroud will be displayed, they battle a lustful count and are joined by a beautiful female apothecary. It is only when they reach their destination they realize they are not alone in their intentions to acquire a relic of dubious legitimacy.

“A rollicking good time, Christopher Buckley has transported his signature wit and irreverence from the Beltway to sixteenth-century Europe in The Relic Master” (GQ). This epic quest, “as rascally and convivial as any that Mr. Buckley has written” (The Wall Street Journal), is filled with fascinating details about art, religion, politics, and science; Vatican intrigue; and Buckley’s signature wit “holds the reader till the very last page” (The New York Times Book Review).

Chapters

  • RelicMaster 21 Ch19

    Duration: 10min
  • RelicMaster 22 Ch20

    Duration: 21min
  • RelicMaster 23 Ch21

    Duration: 26min
  • RelicMaster 24 Ch22

    Duration: 11min
  • RelicMaster 25 Ch23

    Duration: 23min
  • RelicMaster 26 Ch24

    Duration: 13min
  • RelicMaster 27 Ch25

    Duration: 11min
  • RelicMaster 28 Ch26

    Duration: 19min
  • RelicMaster 29 Ch27

    Duration: 07min
  • RelicMaster 30 Ch28

    Duration: 08min
  • RelicMaster 31 Ch29

    Duration: 11min
  • RelicMaster 32 Ch30

    Duration: 13min
  • RelicMaster 33 Ch31

    Duration: 19min
  • RelicMaster 34 Ch32

    Duration: 11min
  • RelicMaster 35 Ch33

    Duration: 08min
  • RelicMaster 36 Ch34

    Duration: 10min
  • RelicMaster 37 Ch35

    Duration: 15min
  • RelicMaster 38 Ch36

    Duration: 11min
  • RelicMaster 39 Ch37

    Duration: 12min
  • RelicMaster 40 Ch38

    Duration: 13min
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