Resurrection Maker

The Resurrection Maker by Glenn Cooper

Sometimes stories begin “Once upon a time” and if you’ve ever read James Michener you know he begins his stories with the dinosaurs and brings you up to date.  Well, the beginning of Resurrection Maker begins before time begins. That certainly got my attention and I found myself reading the beginning pages twice, just to make sure I got the ‘before the beginning’ into my head.  Pretty interesting stuff.

The Grail.  Who doesn’t know what that is?  The cup Jesus used at the Last Supper and the subject of searches ever since.  Was it real, is it real, does it hold special powers because it is what it is?   

The Resurrection Maker takes us on another quest for the Grail, this time led by Arthur Mallory, a descendant of King Arthur and Sir Thomas Mallory, both of whom had a vested interest in where the Grail has been all these years.  Mr. Cooper takes us on this quest by guiding us back and forth between Arthur’s story, Sir Thomas Mallory’s, an order called Qem, ancient alchemists turned physicists interested in the powers of the Grail and today’s Arthur Mallory.  The background information in each of these time lines is interesting stuff. 

Arthur Mallory knows who he is descended from and finds himself the possessor of newly discovered clues which take him on the quest for the Grail but he is being both guided and followed by members of the Qem who will murder and maim in the name of the cup.  While this is a race to find the cup, this isn’t a car chase story.  Things don’t blow up.  Thank you for that, Mr. Cooper.

There’s lots of history packed into this book. There has to be to explain what’s happening. But I liked that.  I did figure the story out before we were told and there were just a couple of instances where the writing was a little off, but it didn’t make me want to stop reading.  It’s a good, well researched story and worth your time.