The Magdalene Reliquary by Gary McAvoy

Hot off the heels from reading The Magdalene Deception, I found myself wanting to immediately carry on with book two of the series. So, after reading and reviewing three other books, two for NetGally and one for pleasure, I figured it was time to laze away a few hours with the secretive world of the Vatican Archives and the curious one of Fr Michael Dominic and his motley crew of talented friends and assistants. I was happy I did, because I thoroughly enjoyed The Magdalene Reliquary.

Dominic had his faith in the Catholic Church’s teachings and philosophies sorely tested in Deception. Not only that, but he and his journalist friend, Hana Sinclair, barely escaped with their lives. You would forgive both of them for wanting an easy life, and staying away from documents of dubious origins. For the most part, this works well. Dominic’s mentor, Cardinal Petrini, is now Secretary of State, having usurped the boo-hiss villain Dante and sent him to Argentina, with the pope’s blessing, of course. But Dante isn’t one for taking this lying down, and very soon he’s aligned himself once again with the ultra-nationalist group, the Novi Ustasha, led now by Ivan Govic, the son of the man Dominic killed (in self-defence, it must be said) in the previous book. Dante wants his position back, and he’s not above resorting to simple blackmail and turning a blind eye to murder.

The quest this time involves a box that contains a relic from the time of Christ. Once more there is a connection to Mary Magdalene; and once more the origins of this relic could turn the Catholic Church on its head. So far so very similar to author Gary McAvoy’s debut in the series. But McAvoy ups the stakes nicely, placing his characters in mortal danger quite early in the book. If you’re claustrophobic you might find the descent into the caves of France a touch disconcerting, especially when a gang of right-wing terrorists turn up with enough explosives to blow our heroes to Kingdom Come. Not only do Dominic, Hana, and co. have to deal with secret mysteries and bad faith actors in the Vatican, but they have a new adversary: Dmitry Kharkov is your typical Russian oligarch, with friends in high and low places. He wants whatever is in that box so he can add it to his collection of priceless art and religious iconography. He’s a bad guy and more than a match for our heroes.

When I read the first book in this series, my thoughts went back to a television miniseries called The Word, based on the bestselling novel by Irving Wallace. I watched it back in the day. It was about a new gospel, written by James the Just, the brother of Jesus, and it maintained that Jesus didn’t die on the cross but survived for a good number of years before ascending into heaven. It’s worth checking out, with a three hour cut available on YouTube. This book, The Magdalene Reliquary, brought to mind the works of Morris West, in particular The Shoes of the Fisherman. I was always fascinated by the inner workings of the Vatican City, and while West’s book is less about conspiracy and more about politics, McAvoy’s book could almost be seen as a companion piece.

The supporting characters come into their own in Reliquary, with special attention to the engaging trio of Swiss Guards. This sometimes come at a cost to Hana’s character development, but she does have her moments to shine: she knows all the right people. This book has everything that made the first book a great read, and then some. I do wish, though, that the dialogue was less clunky and expository, but I cannot fault Gary McAvoy for leading us through all the research he did for his series. I am now seriously excited to see how the trilogy comes to a close with The Magdalene Veil.