The Ghost Manuscript by Kris Frieswick

This was an excellent mix of thriller, history, antiquities, libraries, and action-adventure. I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this, after picking it up at the library on a whim. 

Carys Jones is a rare book authenticator who works for an auction house. She's worked on tracking down British Dark Age manuscripts for John Harper, a super rich man who has created a one of a kind library at his estate. 

Harper has been committed to an insane asylum because he's been hallucinating and insisting he's talking to a monk who was the personal holy man to the man known today at King Arthur.  Carys has been called in to look over the collection and to catalog it and prepare it for sale. Harper's son JJ is selling the library, along with the estate. 

Carys thinks she's just there to prepare the library for sale, but her meeting with Harper reveals something a bit too hard to believe: a rare manuscript written by a monk telling the true story of King Arthur, and his burial site. That site contains priceless treasures from the Dark Age, when Britain was under attack by Anglo Saxons and under constant siege. If this manuscript is the real deal, the world may finally know for sure that King Arthur was an actual person, not a myth. And it will contain treasures of a long lost age. 

Carys digs deeper and deeper, and soon finds herself being chased from Boston to Wales, where the manuscript leads her on a wild chase. There's so much to this story, I can't possibly tell you everything. It's pretty wild. Is Carys also falling prey to hallucinations, or is she really conversing with the long dead monk? Will the bad men chasing her, determined to kill to get the manuscript, succeed in tracking her down? Who can she trust? 

Oh, it's so good! I love novels that explore legends, ancient mysteries, and lost treasure. This novel is chock full of history and mystery, and I was enthralled. There were a few plot twists that gutted me, for sure. I was very invested in Carys' journey, and the supporting characters are such a part of the plot I had a few stressful moments in the thick of the action. Let's just say no one is safe in this adventure. The bad men are really bad, and will stop at nothing to succeed. 

I would highly recommend this novel for anyone who is a King Arthur fan or a  history buff. For sure I'd recommend it for fans of Clive Cussler, James Rollins, and Dan Brown. It's a solidly written tale that will keep you breathless. I hope hope hope there's a sequel, because there's room at the end for more adventures. 

Rating: 5/6 for a thrilling dive into the legend of King Arthur, set in contemporary Boston and Wales, where history could be rewritten if long lost secrets come to light. So good!  

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio book. 

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