Renaissance Men

The Book of Unholy Mischief
Elle Newmark
Atria Books

It would seem that I am in a bit of a rut.  It might be payback for all the fantastic books that I read earlier in the year, but my last few selections have left me a little underwhelmed.  Then again, maybe it's not the books -- I've been trying to re-connect with my inner Pollyanna and the glad game has proven to be a bit of a challenge.  Could it be that I'm not in the mood to read these days?  Hmmm ...

So, The Book of Unholy Mischief is sort of like a 15th century DaVinci Code.  The hero of the narrative is Luciano -- a street urchin turned kitchen boy who comes to be a chef's apprentice in the kitchen of the Venetian doge.   At the centre of the novel are the Gnostic Gospels -- a series of books that are wanted by powerful men for a variety of reasons.  The Church wants them so they can maintain their power and combat the idea of the "god within."  Other people believe the books hold the secrets of alchemy and eternal life.  Luciano's maestro is one of the guardians of this knowledge and, well, you can predict the rest.

On the upside, the author did provide the reader with some rich descriptions of early renaissance Venice.  Now if only there had been a more imaginative plot...  One bud of garlic out of five.